Upon arriving at V's house, which was covered wall to wall with photographs of all sizes, he was greeted by a familiar green-eyed gaze.
The red-haired girl had leapt up from her place on V's couch, which, unsurprisingly, had more photos leaning against it, and jumped right into his arms. He hadn't been expecting it, but he still managed to keep himself upright long enough to hug her back and set her down on the grown. V watched them both fondly before carding his hand through her bangs once, and giving her a knowing smile.
"There are some things I need to look at in the study, so I'd appreciate it if you both kept the noise down for now. But feel free to show him around." He said, walking down the hallway. Suddenly, he paused. "Oh, and Dizzy?" The girl next to him looked up and Saeran was momentarily stunned. That was her name?
"Yes?" He could sense her impatience to have him all to herself through her words alone.
"Please try not to overwhelm him, okay?" She rolled her eyes at his request but nodded anyway.
"I promise not to blow his mind too much while he's here." V made a short laugh and continued on his way, yet she didn't let go of Saeran until the sound of a door closing echoed through the building.
"Finally! You don't know how hard it was not to fly over the moment he told me he was going to come get you! But that would've ruined the surprise so I had to wait but now you're here! I missed you so much..." She quickly wrapped her arms around his waist in another tight hug and he wholeheartedly reciprocated it.
"I missed you too, um-" At his stumble, she gave a quick sigh.
"Just so you know, my name isn't really 'Dizzy'. That's just a dumb nickname that V came up with for me, you don't have to use it." Even though she spoke as if she hated it, her tone said otherwise.
"Then...what would you rather I call you?"
"You can call me 'DZ'!" A sharp rush of air was pulled from his lungs as he tried to stifle his laughter.
"But, aren't those pronounced the sam-" She put her hand up to cover his mouth.
"Nope, no, completely different." When she pulled her hand away he was still smiling, but he knew better than to tease.
"Okay, DZ it is." Beaming at his confirmation, she started tugging him in the direction of the hallway. "Do you, uh, know mine?"
"Your name? Yeah! It's Saeran, isn't it?" He nodded. "V told me earlier before he went to go get you. It's kind of funny how we've been friends for so long and yet we never learned each other's names, isn't it?"
"I don't know... I mean, I thought about it once or twice, and I tried asking V earlier, but, I don't know!" There was a strange feeling in his chest as he looked at her. "I suppose it just never mattered to me that much. You were- you were just, there, and that was it for me." Her face went scarlet at his words and if she talked a little louder, a little faster, and spent more time shooting expectant glances at his face after that, then he definitely couldn't regret them.
She spent the whole afternoon showing him everywhere in the house, except for V's study of course. Although the building was somewhat small, it was still the largest house he'd ever had the privilege of being in, so he savored every moment of it.
"-and here's my room! Sorry if it's a little messy. It used to be V's back before his parents moved out, but now that he's got the master bedroom he said I could have this one since it's bigger!" As with all the other rooms, the walls were covered in photographs, some were of people he'd never met before, while the others were of various landscapes and-
"Hey...is that-?" He pointed to a photograph full of reds and golds sitting on the dresser, the subject being a majestic looking bird, its neck and wings coated in flames. DZ's face heated up to a similar shade in turn as she picked up the frame and sat down on the bed, bringing it over for a closer look.
"O-oh, yes. That's me. It was taken the first time I ever made the complete transformation! V was so happy that he said he needed a picture of me before he changed too." Her eyes softened around the edges, the gentle smile on her face sending a flutter of heartbeats through his chest. "We flew for hours that day. I got so tired out that he had to carry me all the way back to the hotel we were staying at." Then she was glaring to the side, handing the picture to him in a less-than-gentle way.
"It hasn't been the same since he and that Rika woman started dating...Before, it used to be just us. Now all he does is take photos of her and talk about how great she is. I hate it." Saeran sat down next to her and let her lean into him.
"That sounds like jealousy." She snorted softly.
"Yeah, I'm jealous. She's taking away everything from me. V's attention, his time, his love." He froze up when he heard her sniffling and tentatively curled an arm around her waist. "I'm afraid he'll forget about me...He's the only family I have left." Saeran shivered. This was an unsettlingly familiar situation.
"Then... we'll just have to rely on each other instead, won't we?" DZ blinked at him, previous woes forgotten.
"What do you mean?"
"Well- uh, my brother...S-Saeyoung stopped coming home. V said he- that he hasn't seen him for a while so," Saeran hiccuped. "He isn't coming back for me..."
"Oh, oh no no no! I'm so sorry! I thought- h-how?!"
"He, um," The last thing he wanted to do was upset her more. "I guess he saw an opportunity and...he just took it. It's okay though! Now I can spend more time with you and not have to worry about your secret getting out, right?" He knew that he must have looked terrible. The pain of losing his twin was still fresh, but the bright girl in front of him didn't deserve to have all his troubles piled up on her. Not when she already had several of her own. Even so, she still took her chance to hold him as closely as possible, the feeling of her warmth was enough to chase away the worst of the chill in his own heart.
"I- I know he isn't here anymore, but I can be your family if you need me to... It's okay to be sad." A cut off sob escaped from his throat as he returned her hug.
"Thank you...for being there for me."
"I'll always be here for you, anytime you need me." This time, he believed her.
•••
Saeran was having the time of his life. After V and Rika had appeared at his house and convinced his mother to entrust them with his care, he was finally getting a chance to experience all the things he'd missed when he was younger. Although he still wasn't allowed in crowded public places, he could go almost anywhere he liked as long as either V or Rika was accompanying him. Plus, that wasn't the only thing that had him so excited about his new freedom.
Currently, he and DZ were lying in V's backyard. It was the only place not covered in photographs, and also it was sunny. They'd been basking in the light of the sun, lightly dozing in its gentle rays for a few hours. Before, Saeran would never have gotten the opportunity to just lay around and relax without having to do anything. It was illuminating.
A melodic laugh broke them both out of their trance, and when Saeran looked up, V's luminescent girlfriend, Rika, was looking at them.
"Hello you two! I just stopped by to see if V was available for lunch." He was sitting close enough to DZ to hear her dismissive snort, yet she sat up anyway.
"He's in his study again. How long are you planning to be out? He promised to do something with me today." Saeran knew for a fact that the 'something' was an afternoon flight with V. For some reason, she was completely against Rika knowing V's secret. It had been a source of tension between the two siblings for the past few weeks.
"Oh, we shouldn't be out long! He promised to show me some of his newest pieces, so we'll probably get something to eat and look through his album for a bit before coming back. Is that...alright with you?" DZ seized up at the question, and he had to wonder whether or not she and Rika had actually spoken to each other before.
"...It's fine. Just don't keep him too long." In any other context, it might have seemed like DZ was the older sibling in the relationship. Yet Rika took her aloofness with stride and sent them one last blinding smile before making her way to V's study. The two of them resumed lying in silence for a minute or two before the nagging voice in the back of his mind demanded to be spoken out loud.
"Why don't you like Rika? I mean, besides your whole jealousy issues over V. She's a pretty nice person." Her first response was to growl at the woman's name, before a conflicted look appeared on her face.
"It's not that I don't like her, I just- ugh." She groaned and covered her eyes with her arm. "She's like the sun, you know? V loves the sun. He thinks it's so bright and beautiful and warm. But you're not supposed to stare at the sun. I'm worried he'll be blinded by his love for her someday." He sensed that she wasn't done, and let her have a moment.
"Plus, there's this whole thing where she won't stop asking about his real name..."
"His real name?" She giggled at him and he felt like he was missing something important.
"Well, yeah! You didn't think his name was actually V, did you?" He did. "It isn't. It's just a nickname, just like how Dizzy and DZ are nicknames for me." Saeran blinked.
"So, what's your real name?" She shot up into a sitting position, her face erupting into a stunning shade of red.
"I- y-you can't just ask me that!" She covered her cheeks, and avoided his eyes completely. "I-it's really important to us, as phoenixes I mean. You're only supposed to tell it to someone when you make a soul-pact, and only then are you allowed to let other people know it too. V hasn't made a pact with anyone and neither have I, but I bet he'll want to make one with Rika soon. He's so dumb in love..." Confusion filled Saeran's brain.
"Sorry, I'm still not all caught up on firebird culture. What's a soul-pact?" DZ made a noise somewhere between a squawk and a chirp.
"O-oh, um, how do I put this lightly..." He watched her nervously rip up the grass from beneath her palms for a few seconds. "It's...someone you really trust? They're, uh, they're supposed to help you get your memories back after you die." Saeran blanched.
"Die!?" Did that mean V was going to die soon? His thoughts spun as the prospect of V dying buzzed in his head like a million angry , he was brought back into focus by steadying hands on his shoulders.
"Hey! Don't freak out on me, okay? V isn't dying, and I'm not dying either. It's more than that." Letting out a few shuddering breaths, he steadied himself against her.
"Then...explain it to me?"
"Well, A soul-pact is a kind of bond that you share with someone really special to you. You have to trust them with your whole existence." Despite her explanation, Saeran still couldn't wrap his mind around it.
"What does your name have to do with all this then?"
"The name is the key for everything! When you're bonded to a phoenix, it's like holding their very heart in your hands. They can call us from anywhere in the world and we'll always be able to find our way back to them, like a beacon in the darkness. When we die, our memories get foggy and sometimes disappear, but it all comes back the moment they say our name. I guess you could say they're our soulmate." Something inside of him shuddered. To be responsible for another person like that would be terrifying, and yet...
"That's...really something. But why are you so against V and Rika doing the whole pact thing?" DZ made a long, drawn out groan as she dramatically let herself fall back onto the grass, turning sideways to face him.
"I love my brother, but that doesn't mean I'm ignorant to his faults. He's impulsive. Once he sees something he wants, he devotes himself a hundred and twenty percent until he gets it. He's so smitten with Rika that he won't think about the consequences until it's too late." She sniffled and he extended his arm over her shoulder in a comforting gesture. "I just don't want him to get hurt..."
Saeran had no idea how he was supposed to deal with this. His sparse interactions with others had never prepared him for such a situation. So instead he simply rolled closer, and held her hand in his, all while ignoring the voice in his head which hoped that someday, maybe, DZ would want to make a pact with him.
•••
In time, Saeran got so used to spending time at V's house, that he forgot he didn't actually live there. Usually V would come to pick him up in the morning, then he'd go to school until either V or Dizzy (who he learned was actually homeschooled) came to get him, and after dinner they would both take him home. Due to his mother's predictable habit of not drinking when it was dark, she would either be too hungover or too tired to kick up a fuss by the time he got back. Sometimes, she was even completely asleep, which meant he wouldn't have to interact with her at all. It was a routine that he embraced and enjoyed for several months.
On the off days when neither V or DZ were too busy (presumably doing phoenix things) to come retrieve him from school, he would instead be chaperoned by Rika, who had gotten a key to V's house awhile back. Saeran still remembered just how much of a fuss Dizzy had kicked up over the event.
Currently, it was one of those off-days, so while the two siblings were away, Rika had come to get him. Now they were at V's, reading. She must have noticed how bored he looked while skimming through a book on how cameras worked, because she reached into her satchel bag and handed him a book about...beginners coding?
"Ah, sorry! I just thought you'd like something more interesting to read. V's photography books are quite interesting, but after the third or fourth time they tend to be somewhat less...engaging." Lost in her gentle smile and amused tone, he accepted the book with a quiet thanks and eventually found himself enraptured by a sea of lines and numbers.
When V and Dizzy got home, he was immediately dragged off by the excitable girl after she told him that they both needed to 'give the gross couple some room'. He'd been so engrossed in the book that he didn't even notice she was there until she pulled on his arm. He was still holding it one hand even as she shoved him into her room and locked the door behind her, a dazed expression on his face. When she realized he wasn't responding to her properly, she snapped in his face, a flash of heat appearing in the form of a short-lived flame, effectively bringing him out of his trance.
"Hey, you're acting more spacey than usual. What's that you're holding? Where'd you get it?" Remembering the object in his hands he excitably held it up to show her, forgetting her aversion to the woman who had gifted it to him.
"It's a book on coding! Rika gave it to me-" His words were interrupted by a long, drawn out groan from the girl in front of him. She threw herself facedown onto the bed, lightly pounding the sheets with her fists. He could hear her muffled ranting even through the covers.
"Now she's corrupting you too! It's always about Rika Rika Rika, what's so special about her?" Trying not to feel too upset at her reaction, he gingerly sat down on the bed and patted her shoulder.
"You know...this is the first time someone has ever given me something like this. Even if it's only temporary." There was silence for a second, before DZ turned her head to look at him with a wide-eyed stare.
"What? Really? But, what about all those books in your room?" A sick feeling emerged in his stomach and he averted his gaze, focusing on the wall instead.
"Those were...they were all Saeyoung's. He let me read them, but our mother never considered me to be worth spending anything on, so she never got me anything." He did his best to ignore the sadness clawing its way up his throat, and gave a sigh of relief when DZ sat up and wrapped her arms around him. Letting the book drop to the floor, the two of them fell back against the soft covers.
"I'm sorry... I feel like I complain about Rika too much. You should be having fun instead of putting up with my dumb problems."
"No, it's fine. I would rather you talk about it. I like knowing what you're thinking. Even if it's mostly complaining." Her laugh brought the light back into his heart as they settled into more comfortable positions, his arm slung over her waist and hers around his shoulders. "Tell me about your day? Please?" At those words, she jumped into an explanation about the different flight exercises and fire manipulation training that she'd been doing with V that afternoon. Before long, her voice and the steady warmth flowing out from where they touched lulled him into a restful, dreamless sleep.
Upon waking, he instantly noticed that he was alone, and after a quick glance at the window, just how dark it was. Sitting up in confusion, he jumped slightly when the door opened, revealing a hesitant DZ with a plate full of food in her hand.
"Oh, you're awake!" He watched her bounce over to the bed and pass the plate over to him, then she pulled a set of wrapped utensils from her pocket and handed those over too. "I saved some dinner for you. Don't worry about the time or anything, Rika already left and V went to tell your mom that you'll be staying over tonight." Saeran blinked a few times before deciding to actually eat the noodles she brought him, his silence prompting a concerned look from her.
"Hey...are you okay? You slept for a pretty long time. You'll tell me if something's wrong, right?" There was a fuzzy feeling obscuring his mind, so instead of speaking he just nodded and moved over to lay his head on her shoulder, shifting his hand to rest atop hers. Sensing his mood, she leaned into his touch and began singing softly.
In his mind, he was already home.
•••
Over the next few months, Rika gave him many more books on coding, hacking, and a menagerie of other technology based texts. He drank up the knowledge they offered eagerly, absorbing their contents like a sponge. Dizzy frequently expressed her disdain for how much attention the other woman gave him, but held herself back from being too negative about it the best she could. She didn't want to crush his spirits, even if the amount of time the spent together went down as he lost himself inside the pages more and more.
During one of the days where both phoenixes were out, Rika called his name, prompting him to set his book aside and look up at her. Her warm smile made him feel at ease, and he scooted over slightly to make room for her on the couch.
"Saeran! How are you liking the new book? It isn't too hard for you, is it?" A delighted smile lit up his face and he lifted up the book to show her what he was learning.
"It's really interesting! Thank you again. Some of the concepts are a little difficult, but I finally got it after a little while." Her expression brightened and she laid a hand on his shoulder, squeezing it softly.
"That's amazing! You must be very smart, mastering all these complicated things in such little time. I'm quite proud of you." Saeran's heart skipped a beat with the knowledge that he'd made her proud, his head swimming with joy. He couldn't wait until Dizzy got back so he could tell her about what he was learning this time. Although she didn't particularly like the fact that it was Rika giving him the books, she always responded eagerly when he offered to explain just what was written on their pages. She didn't understand them like he did, but she still took her own happiness just from watching him enjoy himself. Also, today might even be the day that he finally told her that he-
"I'm sure your new family will be very excited to hear all about your talents!" His thoughts came to a sudden halt as Rika pulled him in for a one arm hug, her words sending hairline fractures through his mind.
"N-new family...?" Not noticing his distress, she continued.
"Oh yes! I found the perfect place for you just a short while ago. You'll be very appreciated and loved, I promise. It'll definitely be a great improvement over that woman." She huffed lightly, as if she was offended for him. "V and I will be taking you to them very soon. Isn't that exciting?" Saeran felt like all the air had left his lungs, and he choked sharply the moment he tried to talk. "Ah-! Are you okay?" After a few moments of coughing, he looked up at her with watery eyes.
"I'm f-fine...but, will I still get to see DZ?" For a second, Rika's face was almost...frightening. Then she was refocusing her beaming smile on him.
"I'm afraid that I don't know. They do live quite far away, and the location isn't that easy to get to." His hands tightened around the edges of the book, the glossy pages squeaking in his grip. "But...I'm sure we can work something out." Saeran sighed with relief, yet the uneasy feeling that had started to climb up his throat refused to dissipate until the sound of the door opening startled him out of his reverie. Upon seeing Dizzy in the doorway, he hastily threw his book aside and sprinted towards her, grabbing her hand and pulling her outside in one movement. He was so focused on getting out that he almost missed V's half-shouted cry for them to be careful and not stay out too long before the two of them dashed into the woods.
It wasn't until they were a decent distance away from the house that he slowed down, all his energy leaving him as he slumped to the ground, resting against a pile of leaves. DZ didn't speak at all while he was leading her through the trees and was now sitting beside him, lightly patting his forehead.
"...You okay? You, uh, seemed kind of freaked out back there." Reaching his arms out in the usual 'hug me' gesture, he waited until she settled herself in his arms before squeezing tightly and letting out a short sob. "H-hey hey, what's wrong? Saeran? What happened?" Trying to force down his hiccups and tears, he buried his face in her soft hair.
"I'm sorry... Rika said that she found a new place for me to live." Dizzy froze before squeezing him back just as hard. "She and V are going to take me there soon. She told me that it's really far away and even though she said I might still get to see you I'm scared that I won't be able to and that we can't be friends anymore and I don't want to stop being friends with you when I lo-" Suddenly her hands were on his cheeks, squishing them together while he looked up into blazing green eyes, hot tears dripping onto his face.
"She can't take you away from me! I won't let her! If- if I tell V that I don't want you to leave then he can make sure you'll stay and we can find some other place for you to live!" Saeran was somewhat glad that he brought them both out here, because she was shouting pretty loud. "I don't- I don't want to stop being friends with you either! You're too important to me..." Dropping her head, he felt the moisture from her face against his shoulder, and he once again pulled her closer to him.
"Y-you're my best friend...but we're just kids. What if it doesn't work?" She growled and when he glanced up, he could see the feathers of her wings bristling at all angles, the two appendages held taught with stress.
"Then I'll just kidnap you and take you somewhere else! I can carry you on my back and we can fly to a place where there's no one else to bother us! Someplace with no Rika and no terrible mothers! Maybe we could even find your brother and we can be a family, just the three of us." Saeran shuddered at the mention of his brother, but made a small smile anyway. He knew she really just wanted the best for him.
"That sounds amazing. What'll we do for jobs though? You need money for food."
"Well, I can hunt for food and eat firewood. You've been studying code and stuff, right?" He nodded. "Then you can be a hacker and take down evil organizations that try to blackmail people out of their money! And- and we can like, use some of the money for ourselves and give the rest to other kids just like us!" Saeran giggled.
"I'll learn how to swim and become a lifeguard!"
"But you hate getting wet! What if we dress you up like an airplane and make people pay us for rides?"
"No way! You're the only person who has permission to ride on my back."
"Okay, then how about-" Before long, they were both trading ideas about the future of increasing absurdity. The two of them rested against the soft leaves for several hours, doing their best to put the possibility of being separated out of their minds. Eventually they decided that it was time to go back, albeit as slowly as possible.
When they finally returned to V's house, it was quite dark out. Saeran was just about to knock on the door before it swung open, nearly hitting him in the face. They only had a second to look up and realize that it was V himself who had opened the door before the two of them were being pulled into a crushing hug.
"Dizzy, Saeran! We were just about to go looking for you two!" He turned around for a second to shout into the house. "Rika! It's okay! They came back!" Saeran once again found himself pressed against V's collarbone. "Where did you both go? I thought I told you not to stay out too long..." He didn't get a chance to answer, because suddenly Rika was there, pushing V out of the way and dragging Saeran into a tight embrace. He coughed as the woman squeezed his midsection, Dizzy too preoccupied with V's concerned questions to help him.
"Saeran! We were so worried!" Before, he would've been happy about her worrying over him, but now he just felt sick.
"It- it's okay, we're okay. We were just out talking." He felt her nails dig into his shoulders, shaking slightly as her saccharine gaze focused on him.
"Now, now. If this is how you act with us, what do you think will happen when you're living with your new family? You weren't planning on running away, were you?" Paralyzed by her cold verdant stare, he was rescued when Dizzy grabbed his hand and yanked him inside, but not before she let out a remark in her most scathing tone of voice.
"Saeran can't talk right now, he doesn't like you." He gasped at her bluntness but was then thoroughly distracted when she continued to tug him in the direction of the kitchen. "Come on! V promised to make cocoa!"
Thoughts of Rika's unsettling behavior forgotten, he did his best to force his worries to the back of his mind and just enjoy Dizzy's company instead.
•••
Unfortunately, regardless of how much Dizzy begged and pleaded with V, both he and Rika still had their minds set on his new prospective residence. Saeran didn't want to leave his only friend behind, but they were convinced that he would do better in a new place with a family that could look after him. He didn't understand why he couldn't just stay with V and Dizzy, but assumed that it had something to do with the two of them being phoenixes. Saeran resolved himself to spending as much time with Dizzy as possible, staying over several nights in a row while the last few details were finalized by the adults. After that fateful day in the woods, he'd come to two conclusions. The first being that Rika might not actually be as benevolent as she wanted other to think she was. The second was that after Dizzy had interrupted him in the middle of his panicked speech, he'd never finished confessing how he really felt. Sometime after she'd explained the soul-pacts to him, he realized that maybe, the emotions that controlled him when they were together weren't entirely platonic.
He wanted to be trustworthy enough to deserve her affection. Just in case- and he didn't even want to think about it -something happened to her that he couldn't prevent, he wanted to be able to help her. He wanted to be the light that she could always come home to, no matter where he was. Of course, he didn't know how he would explain it to her. She'd never offered to tell him her real name after their talk and he was too nervous to ask either.
It was his last day at V's house. Time was running out. He had to decide soon before Rika took him to the new place, and he would have to leave early so he could go back to his mother's house (it had stopped being home sometime after he'd been rescued) and pack up his meager belongings.
The normally animated phoenix girl by his side had been quite inactive for most of the afternoon. Her wings were hanging listlessly at her sides, and she'd barely responded to him at all. It was getting close to when they would have to go and his nerves were spiking from anxiety. If he didn't tell her now-!
"Hey...Saeran?" The question brought him out of his spell.
"Y-yes?" He hoped that she didn't notice his stutter, but it seemed that she herself was lost in her own mind.
"If I... If I offered to make a pact with you...would you want it?" A spark lit itself in his chest and then he was all but throwing himself at her, clutching her hands in his and searching her wide-open eyes with his own, all caution thrown to the wind.
"I- I wanted to ask you that exact same question! Dizzy- I mean, DZ- ngh!" He let out a frustrated noise before pulling her close and pressing their foreheads together. "I want- no, I need to know every part of you... You're the first good thing to ever happen to me. I can't- I can't handle losing you. But if you leave a piece of yourself with me, then maybe we can find our way back to each other again."
"...If it makes you feel better, I've trusted you for a long time now, and I trust you with this too." Saeran felt like crying even as her hands found their way to his shoulders, holding him in silence for a few moments. "I promise I'll tell you soon, but there's something else I want to show you first." Climbing off the bed, he barely registered Dizzy telling V that she was taking him back to his house before they were out the door and running in a direction that definitely did not lead back to his house.
"Where are we going?" The question was out before he knew it, but the smile she gave him in return erased any doubt or worry from his mind. He trusted her.
It wasn't long until they found themselves in the middle of a secluded field. Looking around, Saeran noticed that the trees were noticeably singed with most of the grass gone, the ground being either dried up or scorched. It wasn't a very pretty location, but Dizzy looked energetic, bouncing and flapping in every direction. Leading him to the center of the burned earth, she took his hands in her smaller ones and squeezed them before letting go and stepping back, closing her eyes as well.
"Uh..DZ?" For a second it seemed like she was just standing there, then her body was enveloped in searing flames. He jumped back with a sharp cry and watched as the fire grew until it reached above the treetops, only to disperse and reveal-
'Ta da!' Saeran yelped at the sudden words echoing through his skull. That was Dizzy's voice! 'Up here!' Craning his neck back, he realized just was he was looking at. Standing in front of him was a phoenix. He'd seen V's photos of Dizzy's true self before, but this was this was the real deal. She towered over him but surprisingly took up less space than he would've imagined, yet he supposed that if she spread her wings she'd appear much bigger. Still, that hadn't explained the voice.
'Saeran...it's me!' Suddenly, her face was right in front of his, emerald eyes blazing.
"D-DZ8?" She shoved her beak against his chest lightly, prompting him to wrap his arms around it. He could barely connect his hands, but somehow managed. "How are you in my head?" A soft chirping noise filled his ears and he realized she must be laughing at him.
'Beaks aren't very suited for talking, so we speak with our minds instead.' Her eyes glittered with amusement and Saeran held in a shout as her beak withdrew from his arms, and picked him up by the back of his shirt instead. He was gently lifted onto her back, his legs reflexively gripping her shoulders the moment he was set down. 'Calm down! Did you think I was going to drop you?' Taking a moment to secure himself, he laughed breathlessly.
"Sorry, I'm just not used to being so high up...wow." His body flooded with delight as he finally comprehended the situation he was in. He was on the back of a phoenix. Even though he wasn't as high up as her head, it was still high enough that he could see just over the trees. A sea of yellows and reds filled his vision as he looked around. "Is this what you always see when you're in this form?"
'Yup! Beautiful, isn't it? But, that's not what I wanted to show you.' Her beak cracked open into what might be considered a smile on a human and Saeran felt her tense beneath him. 'Hold on tight, okay?' Gasping sharply, he clutched a bundle of her neck feathers in each of his hands and nearly screamed when they were suddenly launched into the sky with a flap of her wings.
It wasn't long until the trees he'd just been marveling at were barely visible at all, leveling out as soon as they broke past the cloud cover. He buried his face against her shoulder, the soft feathers tickling his nose. They must be thousands of feet away from the ground by now.
'Doing alright back there?'
"Y-yeah!"
'Great! Now all you have to do is open your eyes!' He didn't particularly want to risk glancing down, but Dizzy was a bird, so she must have known it was safe. With that thought at the forefront of his mind, he tentatively peeked from beneath his lashes, the scenery blurring as they flew. However, there was one constant that remained within his field of sight despite how fast they were going. When Saeran opened his eyes completely, the deep gold of the sunset shone back at him.
"This is amazing! I've never seen the sky like this before!" His heart gave a short pang of sorrow as he thought about how much his brother would have loved such a view, but the sensation was rapidly replaced with something much different as Dizzy's chirpy laughter filled his ears.
'I'm glad you like it! Now get ready, I'm gonna do a loop!' Saeran's stomach did a loop of its own.
"W-what!? Wait- no! Don't you dare! Dizzy-!" The last syllable of her nickname dissolved into a scream as the pair spun through the air. Their cries of joy and terror echoing through the sky in tandem. Once she was done showing off, Saeran found himself being set down between her talons as she perched on the edge of a cliff facing the sea. When his head and stomach finally caught up with the rest of him, he gasped at the view. The sun was sinking below the horizon, the reflections of the light dancing over the water. He'd only seen pictures and heard descriptions of similar sights in his books, but now it was right in front of him. Before he knew it, the tears were falling from his eyes.
'Saeran...? What's wrong?' Sniffling lightly, he wiped his face with the back of his hand and smiled when he saw her neck craning to look at him with her head upside down. 'Did...did you not have fun?' Even though she was speaking through his mind, he could feel her nervousness.
"I'm sorry, I'm just happy. I never thought I'd get a chance to experience anything like this... It's incredible!" He grinned and reached for her beak, stroking the sides gently. "Thank you so much..." Her response was to ruffle his hair and settle back onto her legs before resting her head next to him.
'We can go back at any time, but I'd much rather stay here with you...'
"...Dizzy? What's your real name?" There were a few moments of near unbearable silence where he felt her body heating up against him, then she exhaled.
'It's Dzira. My real name is Dzira.' Saeran ran the name through his mind a few times.
"Dzira... I like it. It suits you." Her feathers bristled beneath his hand and he grinned. "Thanks for trusting me with it." She turned her head and his breath hitched as her eye centered on him.
'I've trusted you ever since that day you saved me from falling from your window.' Her beak tapped his forehead and she chirped with amusement. 'Besides, you're mine now. Even if Rika takes you away, I'll find you.' Leaning against her neck, he sighed as they watched the sun get swallowed by the slowly darkening sky.
•••
When Dzira finally touched down on Saeran's roof, the moon was just beginning its ascent. She carefully opened his window with her beak and lowered him inside before shifting back into her human form so she could follow. Her feet hadn't even met the floor by the time Saeran wrapped his arms around her, hugging her tightly.
"I'm going to miss you..." She frowned and squeezed him back, pulling them in as close to each other as possible.
"I'll miss you too. B-but you have to be strong, okay?" He gave her a watery smile.
"Y-yeah, okay. You'll come visit me, right?"
"You know I'll always come back to you wherever you are. I promised that, and I never ever break promises!" She held him for a few more moments before they finally had to let go, Saeran's eyes anxiously darting towards the door.
"I guess I should tell mother that I'm back..." Giving her hand one last squeeze, he headed for the door. "Stay here, just in case?" He waited for her to nod before opening it and slowly walking down the stairs.
When he reached the living room, his mother was waiting him.
She'd been lying on the bed waiting for Saeran to come back when the screams started. Let it be known that she didn't have the best impulse control, but when she heard his calls, every part of her cried out to go to his side. She hadn't wanted to come here in the first place, but she couldn't deny him anything. Now she was racing down the stairs only to get an eye full of the abhorrent woman who had hurt her everything-mine-heart-soul-mine with her hands around his neck, shrieking incessantly as she shook him back and forth.
"You ungrateful child! Your good for nothing brother has left me, and now you do too? Well I don't care what those rich brats think! You're going to stay here until your father's pockets are dried up completely!" Even through her hateful words, she could see Saeran struggling to get a grip on her arms in a feeble attempt to try and pry them away from his throat.
Dzira could feel the heat and scales climbing up her fingertips as her legs set her running.
"Let go of him!" Springing into a jump at the last second, her now talon-tipped hands made contact first, the force causing all three of them to fall to the ground. Saeran's mother thankfully lost her grip on him, focusing her rage on her instead.
"So you're the little slip who started this whole mess! I knew I should've accepted her first offer! You ruined everything!" Scrambling to her feet, Dzira took a step back away in an attempt to avoid her.
"S-saeran! You have to run! Go get help!" He must have still been disoriented from the loss of both air and blood because he stood up much slower than her. His panicked eyes scanned the room until they met with hers, and she did her best to put on a brave face. "Don't worry about me! I'll be fine!" He must have believed her, she thought as she watched him stumble towards the front door and successfully open it to escape outside.
"You...! I'll never get my payment now because of you!" A defiant smile found itself on her face as she glared up at the drunken woman towering over her. Rough hands clutched her slim neck in a grip that had her choking out wheezy laughs, her own claws digging into Saeran's mother's wrists.
"I-it doesn't ma-atter n-now!" Hot tears rolled down her cheeks and immediately evaporated into steam as they hit the floor, the temperature of her skin steadily rising. Before long, the older woman's angry shrieks dissolved into cries of terror as Dzira kept her from pulling away completely, small fires appearing on her clothing and throughout the room. "You hurt him! So now you get to burn." Taking one last look at the door, she let out a harsh sob before the building erupted into flames.
'I'm sorry, Saeran. I didn't get to keep my promise."
