Broken Wings

One day, for sure.
Yeah, one day, for sure.

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The Phoenix is said to be a long-lived bird that cyclically regenerates or is otherwise born anew, from the ashes of the old. A sickly creature from birth, it defied the odds to grow into an amazing creature that would rival the most beautiful of sunsets, and that its wings blazed a trail of light in the sky as it circled the world, always in search of another companion. Some say that it had peacock-like coloring in the night, but as the sun rose into the sky its true magnificence shone upon the world: legs covered with gleaming yellow-gold scales ending in rose-tipped talons, plumage a bright and shimmering scarlet, and eyes as crystal blue as sapphire. But it was not their beauty that drew me to them, no, its profoundness was that one simple fact was clear of the Phoenix: They were forever alone.

If only I hadn't met her that day...

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30XX

The state of the Earth is one of futuristic proportions, a millennium of hard work and effort put forth by our forefathers and their descendants to never forget the sacrifices of the past, both by humanity and the ancient, now mythical, Klaxxosaur race. A promise to build a better future, no longer dependent on the Magma Energy, but finding and advancing cleaner fuels and more efficient ways of sustaining life beyond the sanitized Garden walls that held humanity captive to the sins of the past. Society is no longer stagnant embracing the ideals of old, exploring and rediscovering the things we lost to the tragic misunderstanding between humanity of times past and the Klaxxosaurs, the aptly named warning bells we took no note of until our world was at the brink of ruin. Now humanity is a shining testament of ingenuity and second chances, as the new spring approaches to welcome the blooming of the Sakura buds and the renewal of life following a weary winter.

It was on such a sunny day, with the clouds of gray despair blown away with the coming of spring, that a young boy found himself reading under the branches of the oldest known living testament of survival in the known world. The book was a common children's fairytale, a lovely story about a Beast and a Prince who sacrificed everything so they could be together, popularized for having been the favorite book of the two who inspired the Children of the Gardens to rise up and inherit the world left behind by the Adults of old, turning it into the virtual paradise it was that day. But the young child knew nothing of that, for this was one of the days he cherished when he could enjoy fresh air instead of the stuffy confines of his bland house most would have called a home. He longed for the days when he could freely enjoy the sunshine, when the winter stopped chilling his bones, setting even the most minuscule cold in his body aflame, ravaging him with a fever that constantly left him miserable and unable to enjoy his friends and youth.

"Stop running," a motherly voice called out, "You'll fall." The pensive form of the black haired child didn't even react, knowing most children enjoyed their days running around in parks such as these, whereas he preferred the quiet corners where he could read. He barely registered a flurry that came next.

"Don't worry, I'll be fine!" a high pitched, girlish voice cried back with rash enthusiasm, before pitching forward over one of the nearby roots that trickily caught unaware children. A pink haired girl fell practically into his lap, spilling candies from her open fanny-pack onto the ground. She caught herself and began to get up from the ground, when blue eyes met green.

"Are you okay?" the boy asked in concern, the girl having tripped over a tree branch, stretching out a hand to help her.

"Who are you?" she asked in response, having never seen the boy before at this special place, her bracelet catching the light as she took his hand.

"Me?" he responded, smiling as he helped her stand at the base of the ever blooming sakura, "My name is..."

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I fell in love with the Phoenix, do mainly to the multitude of stories my Mother told me when I was younger. Maybe it was the beauty of its colorful plumage, a beautiful golden red gracing feathers, framing harsh yellow eyes and scarlet talons; or the sadness in its lonely nature in the stories portrayed. Whatever it was, the Phoenix became something I began to love dearly as a sickly child in my youth. I was encouraged by the tales of the one beast whose death, whether by age, disease, or accident, could recover and be reborn from the ashes ever stronger than before. Wishing to have that power too, to overcome the blood fever that wracked my body and took everything, from my single Mother to the only home in the world I had ever known; only to be whisked away to a place that was harsh, cruel, and sterile as I was poked and prodded with needles and a battery of tests and labs, all for the sake of finding a 'cure'. A caged bird yearning for freedom: from disease, from the tests, from the doctors, and this life. I would be free as the Phoenix.

If only I hadn't met him that day...

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"What's that?" the boy said, picking up one of the candies, setting the book aside to help the girl who was scrambling to pick them up, "What flavor are these?" He pops one into his mouth before the girl can say anything, an 'O' forming on her mouth as the boy crumples the simple wrapper in his hand.

"Red Bean Maple Chocolate Candies," she giggles as the boys face contorts, "They're a bit special in terms of flavor, or so my mommy says, cause it helps cover up the taste of the..." Suddenly she covers her mouth, as if she was about to let something slip. The boy ignores the slip up in favor of swallowing the candy whole and force it past his taste buds and straight into his stomach to get rid of the three contrasting levels of sweetness assaulting his senses. She shakes her head from side to side, before taking the empty wrapper from the boys hands and shoving it into her bag with the rest. "Thank you for your help, but my mommy is going to be mad if she thinks I shared my special candies," she states, grabbing his hands and looking him in the eyes through his shaggy hair, "I have to go, but if I see you again, lets be friends!"

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The Phoenix is a bird that people often mistake with another: The Jian. Due to its strong ties with the popular children's book The Beast and the Prince it is often noted by scholars that the final page, where the Prince and Princess are depicted as joining to become one mighty bird, the Jian; is often misrepresented in the current social-political climate as a rebirth of ideals, government, etc. Many other erroneous beliefs have been dissected, brought up, mulled over, discussed and disputed by various 'authorities' whose life work could be overturned by a single conversation with two separate people. Perhaps it was our mistake to leave this world alone to its own devices, but the die was cast, and together we promised each other to remain in obscurity until we no longer could hide our presence in this new world order.

The world is dying now, not from ecological destruction or threats from outside our solar system, but the sins of the past, deals made with devils in the dark that resulted in our collective infertility and need to rely on genetic clones to continue our lineage. Now our rebuilt society is falling to pieces, inheritors of a new world succumbing to newer disease borne from the imperfect creations own bodies. Truly pitiful, failing flesh that is eaten up from the inside by blood not our own. If only he had foreseen this tragedy, that with genetic diversity reaching its bottleneck after only a couple generations, it would begin releasing what is tantamount to genetic 'poison'; their bodies too weak to withstand the Saurification process.

Now I can't help but watch as my adoptive children die before me in hospital beds, leaving carcasses to be returned to the earth in massive, stinking piles. I'm sorry Hiro, Zero Two; if you ever return will there be a world left? If you were to ever return to this world, would it even be noticed?

My dear Nana, if our paths were to ever cross again, would we find that we too can succumb to this seemingly inevitable end? Why is it only now, facing this horrible realization, that my emotions can truly awaken?

If only we had made different choices back then, could we be together still?

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Some Years Later

Waking up to another day of sunshine slipping through his windowsill, the black haired boy strained to open his eyes against the burning light. Yawning, he slipped out from under the covers of his cramped bed, swinging his legs over the edge and checking to make sure his brother wasn't getting out from under the lower bunk of the bed before hopping off to get ready for the new day. The bedroom was small, a bunk bed, a larger bed for a couple of the smaller boys to group in together, and the rest of the space occupied by a closet holding clean closes and a laundry hamper, and a couple of dressers holding various things, with each drawer labeled to a different inhabitant of the room. Now that he was fully awake and getting dressed, he could smell the wafting aroma of breakfast coming up the stairs and from the kitchen.

Hurrying down, cursing his luck at not noticing the others slip out to greedily devour the best foods their Mother made, he found a place at the large set of dining tables, where the rest of the children had already gathered to continue eating their already half finished meals. "I see the lazy bones has finally woken up, eh Hiro?" one of his younger brothers taunts, mowing down on the last of the rolls, slathering butter onto it before he stuffs his face.

"Shut up 'Zorome'," the blonde with glasses, named Gordon, answers for him while putting emphasis on his name, as 'Hiro' finds a seat and begins to serve himself, heaping food onto his plate and grabbing butter and honey to slather on the last piece of toast, "You know Hiroshi likes to sleep in, so we younger siblings can get all of his food." This irked him just a bit so he socked the larger blonde in the shoulder, especially due to the fact that he was a couple months older and by no means younger than Hiroshi was.

"Well, if the two of you are able to chat away like that before school, maybe that means the two of you will be able to clean the dishes of the younger kids away today?" their Mother states, crossing her arms under her bust and giving both Zorome and Gordon the stink eye, before turning to Hiroshi, "And you mister, need to make sure you set your alarms properly if you plan on being late to the first day of a new class... for you to be making the Special Class this late in the school year, that means that that teacher of yours must have had his eye on you!" She wags her finger at him as he chokes on water, having stuffed his face too much while try to hastily eat his breakfast.

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"I expect you to tell me how your first day goes when you return, and you let me know if the Teacher needs anything!" his Mother states, leaning down to kiss him on the cheek much to his embarrassment, hearing Zorome snicker, "Don't get into any trouble, and be respectful; oh, and make sure to help the younger kids get home tonight, I have to help Mrs. Yokishiro down the street with her potluck before I make dinner!" With this the three older kids nod and give their farewells, each shepherding a gaggle of younger boys and girls to their respective schools. Zorome was good with the three youngest ones leading them off to the elementary school, Goro taking the lead of about six other boys and girls heading to middle school, with Hiroshi at the back to keep watch. This was fine for him, since a lot of his adoptive brothers and sisters of Miss Ayaka's Home for the Wayward and Lost, were capable of keeping their hands to themselves after intense and embarrassing talks from their adoptive mother Anna about various things.

This left time for Hiroshi to enjoy the sights and sounds of the neighborhood, noticing the birds that seemed to begin to return from north now that the lonely winter was over, and spring began to arrive in the city once more. He took every opportunity to enjoy the freshness of the air, the colors of green buds beginning to grace the barren sakura branches, leaves beginning to stretch outwards to greedily drink in the sunlight. Knowing he wouldn't have much time to enjoy the sights with the beginning of a new semester, being locked behind suffocating brick walls and deceptive glass windows flaunting the world beyond the walls of the school. The truth was that he wasn't exactly excited to attend the 'Special' Class, having not been interested in attending it even when he was invited to before the beginning of the new school year. One of the kids had either lucked out and failed to keep their grades up, or the fever had gotten a hold of them, and it fell to him, as the best student of the normal classes, to step up since the Festival of Stars was coming up.

In fact, he would have passed it over to Gordon or the next person in line, if it hadn't been for that damned traitor Sakura speaking up for him. She hadn't been a part of their lives for five years now, and yet she was the same as ever, putting words into his mouth and forcing him to accept even though every rational part of his mind wanted him to stay comfortable where he was outside of everyone's scrutiny. That was the problem with being a part of the 'Special' Class, having everyone rate and grade your every action since you were part of the 'Elite', training for the chance to take part of the Festival of Stars main attraction, the School competition, which pitted the top two of each 'Special' classes against each other for the honor of taking lead in the Parade on the final night, being declared the top 'Pistil' and 'Stamen' for that year. It had some archaic roots in their history, when they battled Klaxxosaurs in FranXX, piloted by the best of the best in a war that finally ended over a thousand years ago with the sacrifice and death of the greatest pair, one of which he was named for by his own parents, before their deaths.

He didn't remember them much, but he knew they were researching the origins of the Blood Fever epidemics, when they were tragically killed in an accident that claimed their lives and left him orphaned and hospitalized in his youth. His memories were scrambled from the accident, but he knew that they had loved him dearly, and that their research could have saved millions if they hadn't been taken from him. There were occasionally fragments of him being in the hospital before the accident, of how he was sickly but managed to make a miraculous recovery, then the accident that had happened shortly after he finally was able to leave with his parents had robbed him of most of the coherent remainders. Except the persistent one of the girl with pink hair who haunted his memories late into the night, heart aching and screaming in pain, as if desperately trying to grasp some ethereal truth about her.

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Having finally made it to school, putting his things away in his locker on the far side of the building, he slowly ascended the stairs to the second floor, until he stopped in front of the door he dreaded. Knocking once, he opened the door to find an unoccupied desk at the front, and the talk that had been going on inside, ceasing. Stepping into the room, he was surprised to find only a small handful of students inside, a familiar bluenette he knew to be Sakura, but an unfamiliar green haired girl with glasses and a butterfly pin in her hair, a boy with ash-blonde hair and sharp eyes zeroed in on him, he also could see a well endowed blonde with a kind face chatting away with a hefty looking boy with a dopey smile focused towards the blonde. That was odd in itself, to have only half the class here, when it was normally a class of ten or so people, which was surprising. "Gah, move out of the way, you big dope," he panics as he feels sharp nails dig into his back, pushing him beyond the doorway and tumbling to the ground, as a red head in heels struts passed him and towards an empty seat in the classroom. This elicits a laugh from the ash blonde, before Sakura's voice raises to chastise him.

"Michael, don't laugh just because someone fell, what if Sensei was here?" she complains, and Michael just rolls his eyes and turns to sneer out the window, causing Sakura to huff and turn to the red head, who had quickly begun to file her manicured nails, "And you, Missy, don't just shove someone to the floor, just because they are in your way; where are your manners Asuka?" The red head rolls her eyes as well, obviously having heard her nagging before, as Hiro pulls himself off of the floor.

"It's alright Sakura, I'm fine, I expected things to be off with you getting a new student and all that," Hiro states as he picks up his things from the floor, before standing up and realizing all eyes are on him,a mix of confusion and disdain, "What?" At that the green haired girl stands up and helps him gather his things, depositing them onto an empty desk in the back near the window.

"You aren't our only new student, Hiroshi; another girl was hospitalized recently with a broken arm, and a couple of boys were caught cheating and had rankings revoked, so the school recruited more children with the festival approaching," she states, brushing her hair back and giving him a thin smile, "You won't be the only commoner to join us!" Feeling his blood freeze, he recognizes the thinly veiled disgust behind those words, and wonders what he did to make her so mad. A noise at the door caused them all to turn and see the new arrivals.

"Hey man, it's a mistake I tell ya' I ain't set out for this type of class," a loud and obnoxious voice calls out as he is shoved through the doorway, a large and imposing hand gripping his shoulder and pushing him inside to reveal an imposing man with a scar running over his right eye, followed by a nervous looking blonde hiding his fear behind his glasses, "Let me go, damnit!" At that insistence Zorome was let go , falling to the ground with protest, Gordon trailing in behind him to help him up.

"Sir, I do think you must be mistaken, we never got any notice that our class schedules changed, we aren't really meant..." His gaze trail over to Sakura, then Hiroshi, who silently mimes him to stop talking, "But, uhm, I'm sure you'll tell us what this is al about..." Covering Zorome's mouth before he can insult their Sensei anymore, he drags him to an empty spot between Hiroshi and Asuka, before sitting in the seat next to Sakura, just in front of Hiro. Now that everything was settled, the one-eyed teacher gazed over everyone with a slight smirk, before turning his back to them and writing something on the board.

"For those of you who are new here, we've had some difficulties this year with cheaters thinking they can get away with slacking underneath my watch, so we had to kick them out, you are here to replace them," he states, forcefully slamming his palms onto his desk, causing Zorome to scream, and cause the others to jump and sit straighter in their chairs, "My name is unimportant, refer to me as Sensei, or Sir if you prefer, but know that this is not the last of the surprises you'll be getting today." He walks in front of the board, which now reads 'FranXX', and crosses both of his arms behind his back. "Today, you'll learn of the key difference between this years Festival of Stars, and those that followed previously, as well as introducing you to our last, newest student, who transferred in here from another province..." he turns to the door and looks outwards, which causes Hiro to stop staring out the window long enough to turn his attention to the door as well, "Well, will you come in an introduce yourself, miss?" The door slams open, and in walks a girl who could be more aptly called a woman, black hair trailing down and framing sharp, cyan eyes ringed by what appeared to be red eyeliner. This was not what caught Hiro's eyes, though, as he noticed that atop her head sat... absolutely nothing. Blinking, as if expecting something, he rubs his tired eyes and wonders if his mind was playing tricks on him, as the breath he held was let go, like he was expecting something different.

Her uniform was crisp and fresh: new white shirt underneath a wrinkle free black uniform for girls, a red bow tied at her neck to contrast the boys blue tie, a red belt with matching stockings covered by a black skirt, ending with her feet in polished black knee-high boots. "Hello everyone," the girl states aloud with no emotion in her voice, matching the disinterest on her face, before giving a slight bow, "My name is Hiyatsu Iyota, I've lived abroad for a time with my Mother before settling into Mistiltein's District 9 after her passing; I've recently decided to branch out and have moved here, to attend Cerasus District 13 High School." She goes to sit at an empty seat that is placed directly next to Sakura, but pauses as she passes her view over Hiro. Walking over to where Gordon sits in front of Hiro, she faces him, much to the blonde's confusion. "Move, I wish to sit here," she says with a commanding and dismissive tone, staring sharply down at Gordon.

"Now, listen here 'Princess'," Zorome starts, ready to defend his brother, "I don't know how they did things in fancy, uptown District Nine, but here we say 'please' and 'thanks', and realize that when a seat is occupied, we don't force someone to move!" She turns to glare coldly at Zorome, causing him to squeak as she levels her cyan eyes at him, before turning back to Gordon and taking a deep breath.

"Please... may you move?" she states, letting her breath go and causing something to pass across Gordon's face, obscured by his glasses that leave him with a smirk. He stands, grabbing his stuff and surprising the others in the room after being addressed so bluntly as to move from his spot, though his emotions remained obscured behind his glasses, as he moves to sit in the empty chair next to Sakura's. "T-Thank you," she states with surprise, before sitting down to face the front of the room with the rest of the class.

Satisfied, knowing everything had been settled, the teacher spoke up to draw all attention towards him at the front of the room. "Alright," he states with a neutral smile on his face, "Since this is the start of a new semester, and the beginning of a whole lot of changes, we'll start off with a simple question." He turns back to the board and waves his hand across as if to underline the word FranXX. "Who can tell me what they know about the FranXX, what they are, and the history behind them was?" the Teacher asks, stepping around to face his class, "How about you, Hiroshi?"

Not raising his hand, no not expecting to even be called out at all on his first day, he quickly stands up to address the room with what little knowledge he had about the subject. "Franxx where piloted in male/female pairs, referred to as a Pistol and Stamen, they were originally repurposed from the corpses of Klaxxosaurs, and were used as weapons to fight against them, before their reason for attacking humanity became public knowledge in what is now referred to as the Children's War," he responds automatically spitting out the basics he had been taught, "What not many knew was the fact that the man who created them, Frank Werner, was actually the first of many men and woman duped by the collective Alien entity we know now as VIRM, who in turn manipulated the creation of the organization APE, and piloted the use of Magma Energy as a way of achieving 'Human Immortality', depriving the Klaxxosaur race of both energy and their bonds of love, of those who sacrificed their existence to continue the ancient feud between the now extinct race and VIRM." At that the teacher smirked, nodding his head at his words, but he turned to address the whole class next.

"What Hiroshi says is true, though a more in depth analysis could go deeper, the FranXX were created by Dr. Frank 'FranXX' Werner, through many sacrifices and failures he eventually went on to create the standard FranXX, then such magnificent masterpieces as:" he slaps the blackboard, which surprises the others as it transforms digitally to reveal pictures upon its surface, "FranXX Units like Genista,." It showcases a black FranXX with green trim along its military outfit, holding a giant cannon with ease. "Argentea" This one showcases a pink and white mecha with what appears to be two pigtails, and massive orange claws overlayed upon white gauntlets. "Chlorophytum" A white Franxx with fan like wings tipped purple. "Delphinium" The screen changes to reveal a pink haired Franxx with indigo tipped gets, and two massive lances in each hand. "And finally, his final masterpiece Strelizia..." The final clip showcases a FranXX more alien than the others, a massive horn coming out of its forehead, a lance at least twice the bulk of the others, a fan like shield on its left arm, it was something that, if Hiro were to liken it to anything, a Valkyrie of old world mythologies.

"Strelitzia..." Hiyatsu breathes out, alongside Hiroshi, surprising them both. Before either could say a word, Hiyatsu's pupils seem to dilate and cause her to catch herself, pain seemingly wracking her body as she clutches her chest in silent agony. She reaches for a bag strapped at her waist, fumbling with its zipper, before reaching for something inside, pulling it out to reveal a simple candy wrapped in colorful plastic. He notices that as she fumbles with the wrapper between hisses of breath, the class oblivious to everything going on as the teacher teaches, something was itching at the back of his head, an aching familiarity about the simple piece of plastic, which she discards on the floor as she greedily tosses its contents into her mouth. Grabbing the wrapper, he picks it up to dispose of it for her, but stops to sniff the alluring scent.

"Maple, chocolate, red bean?" he mutters curiously to himself, before crumpling up the wrapper and tossing it into his open bag, "Yeah..."

"...and so, when the two chosen to represent Pistil and Stamen out of this years class entrants, they will get the opportunity to pilot a newly found FranXX model, discovered stored in Cosmos Station Archives," the Teacher declares, slapping the board once more to show a picture of a new FranXX, "Believed to be one of the Doctor's Plantation 13 models that were never deployed, the now dubbed 'Datura', appeared to be very similar to the Strelitzia model, though less pronounced with its shoulders, and sporting a yellow color and a twin lance feature, much like Delphinium, though both could be combined into one ala Strelitzia." The final picture showcases a model FranXX with less pronounced horn, smaller shoulder mounts, though everything was nearly identical to Strelitzia erstwhile.

"If only I could pilot with her..."

"If only I could pilot with him..."

"But what are the chances we could ever meet again?"

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Hachi, if only you could have seen the future, if only you had changed your mind that day and came with me, everything could have been different.

They're back, both of them!

I saw him, I saw her, together!

Under their tree, both of them, so very young but unmistakable...

And then they killed his parents, because they knew too much.

The virus isn't natural, it's man made.

Trust no one Hachi.

A/N: Written for the DitF 5,000 Word Limit Community Challenge on Reddit. Let me know if you liked it, or want me to continue it. Don't forget to favorite, like, and review! Thanks!

Btw, is it FranXX, or Franxx? I've seen it both ways, but its hard to tell since everyone seems to write it differently. Let me know your opinion!

Edit: Cleaned up some sentences and formatting.