Hey guys, I've been working on a drawing of Pitru, Viglo and Echo for a while and it's finally done! The link is on my profile.

Flight of the Phoenix (2)
Celebration

As political gatherings escalated into outright hostilities, Mother let me stay at home. I did not complain. I didn't want to be around the people who said nasty things behind my back. I knew Mother couldn't protect me forever. Still...any more meetings I was forced to attend, and I might just flare up and do some damage. Like when I hurt that Kuisma boy and basically got kicked out of school. To make the best of my waning childhood, I spent time hanging out with the twins. Ever since my daring escapade into the slums, they've kept a closer eye on me than ever. No more hide and seek for us. I was sad that we couldn't play our favorite game anymore. But I welcomed their company. Pitru and Viglo were the only friends I had.

Both of them at age fifteen, they already started practicing how to shoot guns. Nothing big like assault rifles or shotguns, just pistols and other sidearms. When Mother wasn't around, I'd accompany the twins to a shooting range and watched them fire a few rounds.

I looked up at them with eyes wide with admiration. "Wow, you're really good."

Viglo lowered his pistol and removed his earmuffs. "Haha, we're not that good. Pitru's better than me, but we're not even close to being real marksmen."

"Training to be a soldier must be hard," I said. "But probably not as hard as being a lady."

I made an exaggerated curtsy and batted my eyes. The twins burst into laughter.

I took advantage of their good mood. I mustered my courage and piped up. "Could I try shooting?"

Pitru paused, then he shrugged. "Sure."

Viglo shot his brother a warning look. "Pitru, Lady Visari's going to kill us if she finds out."

"I've noticed her eyeing my pistol all day. If she wants to shoot, let her shoot."

Viglo sighed. "We're supposed to protect her, not encourage her."

He was always the cautious one; sometimes he worried too much. He doesn't admit it, but he can be quite sensitive. When I was a baby, he actually worried himself to tears when I had bumped my head. I think he cried more than me.

But that seemed all the more appropriate when I remembered he expressed interest in being a doctor. After crying, Viglo had fussed over my bruise while Pitru ran to get my mother. Viglo loved to help people, and more often than not I'd catch him poring over medical textbooks, even if they were beyond the reading level of boys his age. He often joked that because I bumped my head, I became a boy stuck in a girl's body.

It might as well be true. At that moment, I wanted to shoot with that gun more than anything. It seemed scary and exciting all at once.

Viglo looked around. When he saw no one else, he put back on the earmuffs and muttered, "Okay, let's make it quick."

Pitru was about to hand it to me when he pulled back at the last second. "Pop quiz. What's the name of this gun?"

I scrunched my brow and stuck out my bottom lip. My thinking face. Then I lit up. "The VC-15 shotgun pistol!" I exclaimed.

Pitru grinned with pride. "We taught you well, Maya."

Whenever the twins took a break, they'd teach me the names of some guns stocked in the shooting range. I didn't know them all at the top of my head, only some.

Pitru reloaded the pistol and flipped off the safety before giving it to me. "Be real careful. Here, I'll help you."

He guided my hands, one over the other, so that they rested comfortably and properly on the gun. My finger trembled over the trigger.

"Arms straight, take your time when you take aim. Use both eyes, not one." Then he slipped on his earmuffs and gave a thumbs up.

I trained my eyes hard on the target, pinpointing the vital areas within the outlined body. I fired. Even with the earmuffs, I shut my eyes at the sound. A shot went through the left hip. I cringed. "This is harder than I thought."

"Keep practicing. I know the recoil comes as a big surprise. You'll get used to it eventually when you get a better handle of the gun."

I tightened my hands and fired some more. With inexperience and shaky hands, my shots were far from perfect. Still, I felt very brave for trying. I felt particularly proud of my closest headshot: the one right at the neck. Not bad for a ten year old girl, I thought.

Viglo patted my shoulder. "Nice going. But we shouldn't be letting you do this. Let's try not to do that often, okay?"

I pouted. "Aww, okay."

As we walked back to my family's estate, Viglo pulled me into a hug. "Don't be sad, Maya. Look what's going on in the city."

My family's house was private property enclosed in a high terrace, overlooking most of New Helghan. I looked down and my heart skipped.

"We're getting ready for the Firebird Festival!"

From here people looked like ants, milling about and preparing New Helghan for the upcoming festivity.

"It'll be your first one," Pitru said. "Viglo and I were too young to remember the last one. So I guess this will be our first, too."

Little did I know that on the day of my first festival, my life would be changed forever.

The Firebird Festival was held every 14 years. Given our lives of hardship and our totalitarian society, Helghast people were never particularly religious. So we didn't worship the phoenix as a god. But there was something about it we really liked. Maybe it had to do with the belief that the phoenix brought prosperity and good luck, things we really needed in life. Maybe it was the belief (or fact) that its fiery, enduring image and spirit reflected our people, especially my family. It certainly seemed that way when my grandfather had been alive. In its early years, the festival used to serve as one of the many ways to tout propaganda supporting Visari's rule and Helghast superiority. Needless to say, we Helghast were quite enamored with this bird of myth.

This year would be different. Now was a good time to showcase our food and culture to the Vektans. Certain important people were invited by my mother to cross the wall and get a glimpse of our side. She told me herself that she did this in hopes of strengthening the shaky alliance. I welcomed this wholeheartedly. Vektans can finally see that we're not all about war and hate. We can have fun, too.

The Firebird Festival always started around sunset and went on through the evening. I had never seen so much red and white in my life. The bright colors and images of the phoenix and flames were everywhere. The horizon itself looked like a firebird spreading its wings over the sky.

Mother started the opening ceremony, of course. I stood a few feet behind her, in the face of huge crowds and flashing cameras. Mother made sure that from an early age I felt comfortable in front of many people. One day I would take her place at the podium, speaking to the sons and daughters of Helghan and promising the protection of our people.

Mother began with a speech. Her voice rang strong and resonant. "My people, sons and daughters of New Helghan...today, for the first time on Vektan soil, we celebrate the perserverance of our culture. We celebrate the strength of our people: unburnt and undying like the phoenix. Let us take a moment of silence, to remember the millions of lives lost in Helghan."

A great hush fell over the city. I tried to feel some sort of sentiment for my grandfather, the man I've never met. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Pitru and Viglo bowing their heads with pained looks plain on their faces. Remembering their mother and father, no doubt.

Then Mother broke the silence. "As we honor our loved ones, we resolve to keep living. History has proven over and over that our people bend, but do not break. We will never be crushed! Instead we rise from the ashes, in bursts of flames. We prove to everyone that the Helghast spirit cannot be extinguished. Let us set Vekta on fire with that spirit. Let the Firebird Festival begin!"

Everyone burst into a roaring applause. Some cried out "Hail Visari!" or "Long live Helghan!" The huge torch was lit, meant to radiate a fire that would last the whole night.

To kick off the festival, we started with sports. Due to the risk of running through large crowds, New Helghan had an entire block sanctioned for the children's sport of kite running. A bird-shaped kite would be released; whoever caught it was given prize money and the promise of good luck. To top it off, the kite could be kept.

I watched boys and girls take off after a kite blowing in the wind. Pitru and Viglo, with their tall and strong legs, took the lead. I wished I could join them in running after it. I ran pretty fast. But I wore a dress, and I had to be a lady so I wouldn't humiliate myself in public and in front of Mother.

As for the adults, they enjoyed kite shooting: a contest of mixed marksmanship and gambling. It was a showdown of flyers versus snipers. Last festival's kite running winners (children back then who were now young adults this year) could fly their kites to be targeted by marksmen armed with sniper rifles. The game was timed. Snipers able to shoot down the kite won money. On the flip side, flyers could win and keep their bets if they avoided getting their kites shot. It was a lot of fun to see a sniper and a flyer of equal skill face off. Unsurprisingly, the best of both sides often came from the military.

After a good bout of competing, we enjoyed dinner. The air was thick with aroma as people enjoyed fresh food made and sold by vendors. Eggs were the delicacy of the festival, prepared in every way imaginable: fried, boiled, scrambled, poached, stuffed...you name it. I enjoyed omelettes myself. They came in huge dishes, so I shared mine with the twins. After running a long way to snag the kite, Pitru and Viglo were famished. They were more than happy to help me finish our larger-than-life dinner. Normally highborn Helghast dined separately from the rest, under a nice pavillion. But I insisted on eating at one of the vendors, so I was accompanied by many bodyguards. I didn't mind the crowded and casual atmosphere. Though I still had to show my manners, I felt more relaxed than I would if I dined next to my mother and the High Council.

"It's such a beautiful night," Viglo remarked.

"Not with that ugly wall ruining the view," I muttered darkly.

With one hand holding the kite and another holding a fork to eat, Pitru nudged me sympathetically. "It's beyond your control, Maya. Don't worry over it."

I wanted to protest, but I didn't want to kill the party. I quickly changed the subject. "Are you two going to enter the kite shooting contest next time?"

"Yup!" Pitru replied brightly. "Hmm...Viglo and I would be twenty-nine, and you would be twenty-four by then."

I flashed the twins a cheeky grin. "I'll be the one to snipe your kite."

Viglo laughed. "You're joking. Right, Maya?"

"Uh...y-yeah. Sure," I stammered.

I cut and picked at my food with grace and precision, though I was sorely tempted to join the twins in wolfing everything down.

"I wish everyone from the other side could come," I said. "I'm glad that Mother sent invitations, but it'd be even better if everyone can enjoy tonight."

Pitru shrugged. "At least they can see the fireworks from here."

The Helghast people's investment in military weapons extended to our expertise in producing great fireworks. We spent the remainder of our dinner marveling at the show taking place in the night sky. People ooh'd and aah'd at the particularly big ones that boomed above us.

After dinner, the twins and I took a walk through the bustling marketplace. Artisans enjoyed the festival just as much as the chefs did. Tailors sold bird masks and shirts with winged sleeves or attachable tail feathers. Artists displayed their galleries of beautiful artwork. Fans in the shape of phoenix plumages or tails were particularly popular. Children could decorate plastic eggs with paint.

I loved strolling through and seeing it all. Even when I had the power and wealth to buy whatever I wanted, just taking in the beauty and happiness of the festivities was enough for me.

"Maya Visari!"

I turned to see a tall, important-looking man approaching me. He had light brown hair and pale skin, an interesting contrast. He looked friendly.

"Your mother wanted me to meet you. My name is Justus Harkin. I'm an ambassador for Vekta, like my father before me." He winked. "But guess what? I'm half and half, just like you."

I beamed. A half-breed, just like me! "It's an honor to make your acquaintance."

I reached out to shake Harkin's hand. He clasped mine firmly for a brief second. Then what he did took me completely by surprise. With the other hand he pushed me back with a rough shove. My heart stopped. Somehow, in that exchange of false friendliness, he had strapped a firecracker to my hand.

I didn't have any time to react. As I fell back into a crowd of onlookers, the firecracker went off. The flash blinded my eyes. The explosion shattered my ears. Next thing I knew, I lay sprawled on the ground. My right shoulder gushed out blood from where my arm should be. I felt blood on my face too, covering my eyes and choking my throat as I screamed in sheer pain and terror. There were people all around me screaming too. The ones closest to me when I fell had half of their faces blown off. In the distance I heard more explosions. They shook the ground and the buildings, sending people and debris flying. I felt like I was on fire. My body unmoving and blazing in pain...I wanted to die.

Hope you enjoyed it! I apologize for the delay. I'm the kind of person that tries to stick faithfully to official material the best I can. That's why I really needed the rest of Echo's bio from one of the game's collectible dossiers before I continued with the fic. Even in that file, much of her early history is not known. Which gives me the fun challenge of writing her untold story! :D

Speaking of untold stuff...we know almost nothing about non-military Helghast culture, so I made up the Firebird Festival.