Welcome to the third story for the Phoenix Warrior series
Welcome to the third story for the Phoenix Warrior series! Cool name, huh? Anyways, in this story, expect shocking pasts, new enemies, surprises and…er…well you'll see yourself. Here's the first chapter! Enjoy…
Chapter 1
Memories
On a bright sunny day, two children of six and four years old lay on the grass in the shade of an oak tree on top of a hill, staring up at the clouds. One was a boy with silver hair and blue eyes; the other was a girl with a blank stare and ginger hair.
"Hey, Hannah. Don't you think that cloud looks like a rabbit?" The boy asked, pointing at the sky.
"Aster, I don't know what rabbits or clouds look like." Hannah said, annoyed.
"Sorry…forgot." Aster apologised.
"Y'know, I always wondered if there was a place in the clouds." Hannah said. "It's hard to imagine things, being blind and all. But…it would be a cool thing, wouldn't it?"
"What would?" Aster asked, sitting up.
"Well…if there was a place where you could go…where nobody was unhappy, and you never ever got old." Hannah sat up, beaming. "Wouldn't it be awesome if such a place existed?"
"Well, yeah but…what would you give for something like that?"
…
Aster stood in the room Hannah stayed in before Daisy was kidnapped, recalling the childhood memory. Her room had light green paint on the walls that were decorated with white daisies with matching curtains.
That felt like such a lifetime ago. Aster thought. What time is it? Aster glanced at a clock hanging in the hallway of the flat. It read eight fifteen in the morning. Auntie Karen will be leaving soon. Aster walked out of Hannah's room and wandered into the living room. Karen sat on the sofa with two suitcases by her side. She glanced to her right and, after noticing Aster, turned around quickly.
What was that all about? Aster wondered.
"You ready to go?" James asked, appearing beside Aster.
"Well, duh! I've been waiting ages! Of course I am!" Karen exclaimed, picking up her suitcases and making her way out of the living room.
"Uh…" Aster started, but Karen walked straight past him as if he didn't exist.
"C'mon, James. I wanna get the hell outta this dump." Karen said. She put down her suitcases to open the front door.
"Karen, aren't you going to say goodbye to Aster?" James asked, walking out of the living room with Aster. Karen looked over her shoulder with a vicious glare.
"Why should I?" She asked acidly. "All of this happened because of him." Aster gasped.
"Wha…Karen, you take that back!" James snapped. "Aster woke up early specially to see you off and all you do is-"
"Oh, what would you know James?" Karen turned back to the door. "C'mon, let's go."
…
Outside, Karen loaded a red car with her suitcases, whilst Aster and James stood at the top of the steps leading to the flats.
"I'm sorry about how Karen acted. Out of all of us, she was hit the worst." James apologised.
"I can understand how she feels." Aster said. "But she does know Hannah is alive, right?"
"My guess is that she was too shocked about the whole ordeal to even know. She thinks Hannah is dead."
"Figures." Aster muttered.
"Sheesh, James. Hurry up!" Karen yelled impatiently.
"You're going with her?"
"She doesn't feel safe unless I'm with her, so yes."
"You will come back right?" Aster asked suddenly.
"What?" Aster shook his head quickly.
"I'm sorry. I'm still slightly nervous after the castle." James smiled and placed a hand on Aster's shoulder.
"I'll be back in a few hours, okay?
"Sure," James walked down the steps to the red car, paused to wave at Aster over his shoulder, and opened the passenger seat.
"Well it's about time! You can save the father son moments until later!" Karen exclaimed.
"Why are you being such a bitch?" James asked, before he stepped into the car and closed the door behind him. Karen glared over to Aster.
"Er…see you at Christmas?" Aster said nervously with a smile.
"Hannah didn't deserve what happened to her. And you should've never come here." Aster's eyes widened. "Don't think I don't know it. That sorceress is your mother. And I know that you spoke to Hannah in your dreams. Ever since you got here, you've been nothing but trouble. And now, you said Hannah was sacrificed because she had powers but…" Karen squeezed her eyes shut. "You! You're a phoenix warrior too." She opened the car door but before she stepped inside, she glared at Aster angrily.
"Why couldn't you have died instead of her?" Karen got in the car and slammed the door shut. James' and Karen's angry yells could be heard inside the car as it drove off down the road. Aster watched it leave, trembling all over after what Karen said. His eyes stung and his vision blurred.
"Why couldn't you have died instead of her?"
Aster spun around quickly and ran back into the building with one arm hiding his eyes. He ran up the stairs with Karen's harsh words echoing through his head. His flat was on the third floor so it didn't take him long to become one floor closer to being alone. Magdala opened the door to her flat just as Aster ran up the final flight of stairs.
That boy looked really sad. I wonder if he's okay… Two elderly women, one wearing a pink dress and the other a green one, walked down the stairs gossiping loudly.
"Did you hear? Another one of those murders happened in this city." The green dressed women said.
"That's the third one in a week. This is getting scary."
"And every single time, a little girl around thirteen years old is seen running off."
"Poor soul. Wait, maybe it's "her"!" The pink dressed elderly woman exclaimed. The other gasped.
"You think so? But she went missing five years ago."
"She'll be in her teens by now. It's definitely her." The two women went down the stairs, the voices growing quieter. Magdala had heard every word of the conversation and smiled to herself.
"Looks like I've got some competition after big brother dies."
…
"Have you seen Jesse anywhere?" Melody asked Chloe, who had her ear against a door.
"Quiet. He's on the phone in that room and I'm trying to listen." Chloe hissed.
"Isn't it rude to eavesdrop on people on the phone?" Haru asked, his arms folded. He wasn't wearing his usual outfit littered with belts, but instead wore a red tartan patterned button up shirt undone over a white polo neck t-shirt with dark blue denim jeans.
"Then why did you come along?" Chloe said as a comeback.
"Er…I was curious."
"AH HA!" Melody yelled. "You wanted to know what was going on as well."
"Shut up! Do you want us to be discovered?" Chloe snapped. Melody and Haru huddled close to the door and listened to Jesse's voice.
"What? Are you serious? No it's…that's fantastic. How long until-…a week? Great!"
"Who's he calling?" Haru asked.
"The hospital I think." Chloe answered. Melody's eyes widened.
"The hospital?" She repeated. "Jesse told me his girlfriend was in the hospital. Maybe this is about her."
"Okay thanks for the call." Footsteps approached the door, and just as Jesse opened the door, the three spies fell onto the floor in Jesse's room. Jesse stared at them in surprise. "Were you spying on me?"
"Uh oh." Melody said.
"Busted!" Chloe said.
"Run!" Haru yelled. The three of them scrambled onto their feet and ran out of the room, with Jesse in hot pursuit.
"He's gonna kill us!" Melody yelled.
"I told you not to spy on him!" Haru shouted. They ran down the corridor leading to the bookcase.
"Get back here! OW!" Jesse yelled, but he suddenly ran into Aster, who had stood around the corner and had his back to Jesse. "What are you doing standing around corners, Aster?" Jesse asked. Aster said nothing, voices repeating themselves in his head.
"Even though I may appear dead, I'm not,"
"Er…Aster?" Jesse said.
"Why couldn't you have died instead of her?"
"Hello? Anyone home?" Jesse asked, tapping Aster on the shoulder. He still didn't get a response.
"Wouldn't it be awesome if such a place existed?"
"HEY!" Jesse yelled, placing a hand on Aster's shoulder and spinning him round. "It's rude to ignore people when they're…oh." Jesse's angry expression softened after seeing Aster's face. Aster's eyes shone sadly and he looked close to crying. "Hannah was your cousin, wasn't she? I'm sorry…I didn't-"
"No it's not that. It's just that…Karen left a few minutes ago and she said some things I wish I hadn't heard."
"C'mon! Is that what you're so fussed about? Compared to the injuries and burns you've had, words are just paper cuts." Jesse said.
"But Karen knows Hannah is still alive, yet she wishes I was sacrificed instead of her." Jesse's eyes widened.
"That bitch!" Jesse said angrily.
"I just need to clear my head. Sorry." Aster walked past Jesse and walked back into the passage. Jesse stared after Aster sadly.
"Quick! While he's distracted!" Chloe yelled, and she, Haru and Melody ran past Jesse and into their own rooms.
"Humph. I shouldn't bother about them anyway." Jesse muttered. He smiled to himself. "Selena. Finally. You're gonna be okay."
…
Haru ran into his bedroom and closed the door behind him quickly. He breathed a sigh of relief.
"Why do I even hang around with this lot?" Haru wondered. He turned around to his bedroom. His outfit of belts lay folded up neatly on a chair the knee high boots on top. On a chest of drawers, his green cloak hung over an object. Haru lifted it up, and underneath was Sekio's skull surrounded by belts in the water.
"I don't know why I even have this." Haru placed the cloak back over the jar, but part of the cloak brushed past a frame, which fell face down on the floor. Haru picked it up and looked into it. His eyes widened. It was a photograph of him when he was eleven years old. His blonde hair was still waist length and tied in a ponytail, but his face was filled with childhood innocence. Sekio stood by his side, belts not wrapped around his head and brown hair on top of his head at aged fourteen. Standing behind them was a girl of sixteen. She had light blue eyes and loose blue hair down to her waist. Haru looked at the photo sadly.
Nevara…He thought.
Flashback
A mother duck swam through the river with three yellow ducklings behind her. On the riverbank, an eleven year old Haru stared at the ducks with a gloomy expression.
"There you are!"
Haru turned around, and spotted a young sixteen year old girl behind him. She wore a long short sleeved beige dress down to her ankles that was split on both sides up to the middle of her thighs.
"What do you want, Nevara?" Haru snapped.
"C'mon. That's no way to talk to your big sis." Nevara sat down next to Haru. "Now what are you doing sitting out here on your own? You're supposed to be with your big brother training."
"Exactly."
"Huh?" Nevara said.
"Every single time I learn a move, I always mess it up somehow. But Sekio gets it almost perfect. It's not fair." Nevara looked at her younger brother.
"Is that why you come here? So you don't look like an idiot in front of your brother?" Haru nodded.
"Sometimes I think the whole thing is pointless."
"You're right. Everything is pointless, if you don't believe in yourself." Haru turned to Nevara, surprised. "And y'know, this morning, Dad said to Mom that out of the two of you, you're the one that seems to be getting better. Not Sekio." Haru beamed.
"Really? That's what Dad said?" Nevara nodded. The mother duck and her ducklings waddled onto the riverbank towards the two siblings. "Wow. That's the first time I've heard Dad praise me." He laughed slightly and stroked a nearby duckling's feathers. "It's kinda embarrassing, really." Nevara laughed.
"Now you're going to start believing in yourself, right?" Nevara asked. Haru stood up smiling.
"Yeah. And I'll become the best stone wielder ever. Thanks Nevara." Haru ran off across the field.
"Wait for me!" Nevara yelled, running after Haru, laughing.
That was only six years ago now. Haru thought, staring at the photo. And I've kept my promise, sister. I've believed in myself and become stronger. But...then you left.
Flashback
Clatter! Clunk! Scuff!
Haru opened his eyes sleepily from the noises. He sat up in bed and listened. Seconds later, the noises stopped, and he spotted Nevara walk past his doorway with a beige bag.
"Nevara?" Haru whispered. He climbed out of bed and followed her through their small house. When Haru next turned a corner, he spotted Nevara go out the front door.
Where's she going? Haru thought. He opened the front door, and spotted Nevara walking away.
"Nevara." He called out. She stopped walking and turned around.
"Haru?" Nevara said. Haru ran up to his sister.
"Where are you going? Are you running away?" Haru asked. Nevara turned away.
"No. I'm leaving because…I have to." Haru's eyes widened.
"Have to?" Haru repeated. Nevara nodded.
"Unlike you and Sekio, I don't have the powers of a stone wielder. I…I control the powers of winter. Because of that…" Nevara closed her eyes for a moment before opening them again. "I have to leave the family. And I'm never coming back." Haru gasped.
"Never coming back?"
"Yes. I'm sorry, Haru. But that's what Mom and Dad said. Because I'm not a stone wielder like the rest of you, I have to leave home. Goodbye Haru. I'll definitely miss you the most." Nevara turned around and began to walk away.
"Don't go!" Haru yelled, clinging onto Nevara's waist. Nevara gasped.
"But, Haru…I have to."
"I don't care that you're not a stone wielder like the rest of us. You're still my sister, and I can't let you go. I won't let you leave." Nevara turned around and kneeled down to eye level with the eleven year old Haru.
"Remember what I told you a month ago?" Haru nodded.
"To always believe in myself and become stronger."
"Well, when I'm gone, I want you to become stronger than any stone wielder has ever become. Never stop believing in yourself, and you'll be able to beat anyone. Do that, and know I'll always be with you." Haru hugged Nevara tightly.
"I'll miss you, big sister." Haru cried. Nevara returned the hug.
"Always know that I love you, Haru…little brother." Tears fell down Haru's face as he gave his final goodbye to Nevara in the light of the full moon.
"Sister…" Haru whispered. He felt something roll down his face.
"Why am I crying?" Haru muttered, wiping his brown eyes with his hand. "That was six years ago now. She's a thing of the past." He placed the photo frame back next to the covered jar containing the skull and collapsed onto his bed.
This is all too hectic. Haru thought. He felt his eyelids droop. Maybe if I shut my eyes for a moment, everything will be clearer. Before he could stop himself, Haru's eyes were shut and he fell asleep right there and then.
…
Not too far away, a shadow in the shape of a woman stood on top of a hill overlooking domino city.
"I feel it…a worthy opponent." It muttered.
"Madam." Mokuren said, getting down on one knee behind the shadow. "Everything's ready. When do we attack and where?"
"That's simple enough. We attack the hospital. The phoenix boy and his friends are bound to come running." She smiled.
And, hopefully, I'll see my enemy. She thought.
Well, that's it, folks. Sorry if that chapter was a tad bit short, but the next one should be a bit better. Then again, this chapter did show that Haru has a sister…Ah well, both good. See ya next time!