It's been over three years since I've really written anything, and I hope this little story will be the start of an adequate foray back into writing. I can't make any promises when it comes to consistent updates, plain and simple. I hope you enjoy it, nonetheless.
This prologue is non-essential to the story, but it does fill in a few gaps that may otherwise confuse anyone who skips it. This is actually supposed to be an excerpt from an encyclopedia set in this story's world, so please ignore the heavy and scientific prose. I will be taking excessive liberties with stretching canon to the limits.
As a general warning, this story will not be focusing on any romance—just adventure and the wonders and hazards of exploring a new world. Expect canon-level violence. I will point out when to expect any heavy subjects or scenes of a graphic nature. Further, my only personal experience with FFVII is Crisis Core and Advent Children; everything else is from other fanfic and wiki articles. Let me know if there are any glaring canon errors, or if you just want to drop a line. Please enjoy.
Prologue
To say that a phoenix is immortal would be incorrect. Rather, the bird purges itself with fire and reverts back to a chick or egg during times of grave danger, stress, or old age. As such, the phoenix is quite capable of dying (under unique circumstances), and this specialized defense mechanism is utilized only in times of convenience.
Unfortunately, this ability is double-edged. While from the outside perspective it appears to be a useful device, it is actually detrimental to the species as a whole. Phoenixes are capable of propagation, but due to the nature of this "fire purging," the birds rarely copulate, as the birds are incapable of taking a sexually mature form and are in fact vulnerable to predators. This has lead to a slow yet steady decline in their numbers, leading to near extinction. Current populations in the world account for less then fifty as of 2019. The birds are a flighty and isolative sort. It is rare for phoenixes to stay in groups, or so careful observation has indicated.
It should not be confused that the firebirds are a species of exceptionally powerful intellect, though they are still quite smart in comparison to other creatures, magical and mundane. Notions of telepathy or other forms of higher communications have been thoroughly disproven. Instead, the birds rely on tactics of a more fundamental (and subtle) level.
[For more information on "telepathy", see section 3.1: "Mental Magics".]
In order to survive, a phoenix uses several tools of self-preservation outside of its "fire purging." The first, and most widely known, is the Phoenix Song. The calming attributes of the bird's singing helps to quell predators and disgruntled chicks alike. This sets the stage for its second tool: low level empathy. Thoughts are a difficult and complex construct to pass from one mind to another, let alone between different species. Emotions are lighter and less weighed down by logic and reason, and thus can be quickly shared.
Therefore, the belief that phoenixes innately understand human speech is a misconception, as phoenixes cannot comprehend language. Instead it is through a calculated response that the birds may predict what would best fit the given situation.
The mental capacities of the bird are not the only traits well known to this species. Phoenixes are also capable of great physical prowess. On average it is estimated that a single adult bird can carry over two hundred twenty kilograms in unencumbered flight, which can reach up to sixty-five kilometers per hour.
Phoenixes are able to travel vast distances not only through normal flight but also through a means of teleportation. With similar limits seen in Apparition, phoenixes can only return to places they have previously occupied and cannot teleport to places they have not been to. Humans who have used this form of transportation have remarked that instead of a feeling of tight compression, it more resembles being expanded into tiny particles and snapped back into one piece at the other end.
Another famous attribute of the phoenix is its 'curative' tears. Used in its pure form, the tears can instantly cauterize and close any wounds (of the proper size correlating to the number of tears) and nullify poisons. Though not to be considered a cure-all, the tears have, in fact, no actual healing properties whatsoever. They are imbued with the same fire used in the regressive phenomenon linked to all phoenixes. Or at the very least, the tears imitate this action of reverting to previous states such that when making contact with a wound, the tears revert the flesh to a previously healthy condition.
Furthermore, experiments on amputations have disproven that the tears can restore destroyed flesh. Most notable, the tears cannot make any regeneration or recovery, connective or otherwise, from mental trauma or disorder. Due to a level four breach of code of the Magical Remediations Clause of 2021, "any experimentation on the nature of [phoenix tears] in relation to the soul has been placed under indefinite moratorium."
[For more information on "phoenix tears", see section 8.5: "Esoteric Potions Ingredients".]
This information pertaining to phoenixes are held in agreement among the academic community. Comparing wild firebirds and those that have been tied to humans through magical bonds or domestication, it still held as credible. There are no significant irregularities in the disposition of the birds of either background. There have been no similarities between these traits and those of a phoenix patronus, discounting the parallels of the human's personality. The patroni rarely take the form of magical creatures, but when it does occur, none of the magical abilities are shown to exist on any perceivable level.
[For more information on "animal domestication", see section 4.5: "Magical Animal Relations and Husbandry".]
[For more information on the "Patronus Charm", see section 9.7: "Level Six Charms".]
On another matter entirely, there is one case of astounding accomplishment.
"On the night of 2 May 1998, in the [redacted] of the Department of Mysteries, Harry J. Potter managed to successfully perform the animagus transformation into a phoenix. Little was recorded during the Battle of Hogwarts and when the fighting [redacted] moved to the Ministry of Magic, [redacted]. The former Dark Lord Voldemort had [redacted]. All attempts in retrieval or communications have failed, and the Unspeakables have stipulated that no connection would ever be successfully made."
[For more information on "Battle of Hogwarts" et al., see Book 3, section 7.8: "The Second British Isle Wizarding War" of The Modern Magical Encyclopedia by Professor Hermione Granger-Weasley, Order of Merlin 1st Class.]