Disclaimer: I don't own Legends of Chima. If I did, Laval wouldn't be an obnoxious Gary-Stu.
Dear Readers: Here I am! This is the first product of the summer writing challenge I'm doing. This story is inspired by the song Embers by Owl City. It's a pretty simple one-shot in the same style as Hope, my other Chima story. It's kind of AU-ish, because my memory of the canonical first Illumination is kind of foggy.
I used to hate Fluminox and Flinx because I thought the Phoenixes were kind arrogant, condescending, and OP. Plus Flinx's voice was the most annoying thing ever. Now I can understand the depth to their characters a bit more, and the song fit perfectly, so I decided to write this.
Weird Update On The Author's Personal Life (June 2017): I'm freeeeee! No school for three months! Well, more like two and a half.
Update June 2018: Just cleaning some things up and standardizing my author's notes.
Fluminox looked out the window, staring down at the land of Chima below him. Next to him, his son Flinx was sleeping, exhausted from the events of the day. Flinx had just partaken in the second Great Illumination that had restored Chima to peace. The phoenixes were no longer needed in Chima, so away they flew, back to the Mother Sun where they would find a new land to watch over. Now, all was well.
But Fluminox still remembered a time that wasn't. The very beginning, the first Illumination. Called to the very center of Mount Cavora, he stood amongst the other phoenixes. His eight brothers and sisters had all done their part. All of them were ready to risk their lives to save Chima. Yet in the end, in an inexcusable moment of weakness, Fluminox had failed. Instead of curing everything and returning Chima to peace, he had cost the lives of his tribe-kin and banished four entire tribes into an icy prison.
He had expected the first Illumination to be like a glorious sunrise, a light radiating outwards from the mountain. Something that would magically cure everything. He had clung to that one last bit of hope even as he clung to Flinx. He wished that the others would succeed without him, and for a few seconds he thought that it might be true. He clutched his son as he watched the eight phoenixes ascend, and he saw the first sparks. The light was even more magnificent than he could even imagine.
That was when it happened. The sparks of the Illumination flickered, the light pulsing like a dying ember, and then went out entirely. The cries of the Fire Wings caught in their throats as they faded with the light. Fluminox could only watch as the pulses of fiery magic turned into tendrils of ice.
"Watching from below, Fangar knew something was wrong. The great phoenixes, all-powerful firebird guardians, had failed. The icy tendrils could not be stopped, and a bitter frost spread across Chima. Fangar grinned spitefully. His mentor had failed.
But there was warmth in the Heart of Cavora. Fluminox had made a fire to warm Flinx, who was shivering from the effects of the failed Illumination. Even if all his hope was gone, he could at least save Flinx. He, barely more than a hatchling, had done nothing to deserve this.
Fangar relished in the pain of the other tribes. Even the Legend Beasts were sent into a panic at the strange corruption. Finally, his revenge was here. He could watch everyone who wronged him suffer.
Yet there was something else. He watched as a mother lion was shepherding her cubs away. A young raven girl was trying to calm down her elderly grandfather. Entire swathes of land became frozen. Fangar wasn't sure what came over him. Was it … pity? Or maybe it was just all of the screaming animals messing with his head.
"Vardy?"
"Yes, Fangar?" The leader of the Vulture Tribe walked over to him.
"We need to get up there." The mountain itself was now rumbling, and a violent earthquake shook the ground.
"Yes, of course, all in good time."
"Do you doubt me?" Fangar grit his teeth. "Chima is going to be destroyed. We need to go. Now."
"Y-yes, Fangar."
The two of them boarded Vardy's jet, and they set off for Mount Cavora.
It wasn't until much later that the phoenixes learned that Fangar had sacrificed himself to save Chima. His Hunters, who had stayed for their leader, had become encased in ice, while Chima itself was free. It was a bitter ending, and the irony of it tore at Fluminox's very soul.
What was a worse fate? Dying, or living knowing what he had done? That was a question that Fluminox had far too much time to ponder. Many nights were spent sleepless, thinking of all the chances he had to change his mind, to put his job as a protector of Chima before the life of just one young child. When he did sleep, he was broken by nightmares. Sometimes it was the cold, that even the phoenixes' fire couldn't shake. Or the weight of the eight souls he had taken. He never felt guilt or shame in his dreams, though. There was plenty of time for that in the day.
The one thing that kept him sane, his one little spark, was Flinx. He never gave up. He clung to his beloved child. He was all that Fluminox had left. Through the rain and the cold, the scorn and the guilt, he nurtured the embers of a new life. He may have let the world of Chima become broken, but he wouldn't let the same happen to this little phoenix. And Flinx, he could save.
After the return of Fangar and the Ice Hunters, new thoughts crossed Fluminox's mind. He knew Flinx was growing up, and finally Fluminox let him venture into the world and go on adventures with Laval and his friends.
At the time of the second Great Illumination, he saw it for the first time. Flinx, once a tiny child he found wandering the Heart of Cavora, all grown up. It filled Fluminox with pride. Flinx was the ninth phoenix. Just like he would've been. Seeing his son succeed where he had failed caused him finally to realize. Though the embers were cold on some nights, his spark had never gone out. He just had to find it. In nurturing Flinx, tending to the flame, his own fire had shone through as well. Now it was burning bright, shining like the great Mother Sun. He knew then, that he had made the right choice.
I know, it's kind of a cheesy ending. Hopefully it wasn't too repetitive or flow too oddly. I'd love to hear what you think, so be sure to review!
One last thing. I've started a Chima roleplaying forum called Return To Chima: Untold Legends. There's a link on my profile. We have a small fandom, so if any active writers want to stop by to chat or RP that would be awesome. Even if it's just to advertise your stories and go. I'm having a bit of difficulty getting the forum of the ground, and anyone is welcome!
Update June 2018: That forum is long gone, but I do have a new forum, the Legends of Chima Writers' Alliance. It's geared more towards writing than roleplaying.