"Men make their own history, but they do not make it just as they please; they do not make it under circumstances chosen by themselves, but under circumstances directly found, given and transmitted from the past. The tradition of all the dead generations weighs like a nightmare on the brain of the living.
All history is the record of man's signal failure to thwart his destiny..."—Henry Miller

Lyra

This wasn't right.

My breath was reduced to harsh puffs of hot air as I staggered on my feet. Ahead of me, leaning against a tree trunk with horrified eyes, was my target. My eyes locked on to his horrified face, eyes wide until they were straining and shaking. His normally strong frame was reduced to a thin form, his jacket and jeans simply hanging off of his body as spasms of fear took over. I took a deep breath as the sharp, metallic stench overwhelmed my nostrils.

His fear was so thick, I could smell it.

"Please," His voice quivered as he tried to press himself up against the tree. "Lyra, don't do this. Please, you've already won the battle! I said I was sorry for being mean to you! Please, just stop—"

"You should have known better than this, —." His name slipped off my tongue with ease, and yet it never reached my ears. I didn't need that though. His namesake eyes told me all I needed to know. "I'm afraid to tell you that your days of running are over. You see," The edges of my vision fogged with a crimson mist as I glared at him. "You cannot hide from the great bird of fire."

Before he had a chance to panic, I launched myself at him and slammed my fist into the rough bark of the tree.

He immediately jumped and scrambled out of reach. Instead of high-tailing out of here while he had the chance, he remained there with his hands raised. "Please...Lyra." His eyes were wet with tears as I ripped my hand off the tree, leaving a black scorch mark on once perfect bark. "This isn't you. Please, just stop." I just laughed as a burning sensation slowly seeped out from my horrible scar, the terrible scar that reminded me that every step I took was preordained and controlled by a great phoenix.

The warmth raced up my arm and consumed my shoulder as I took a few painfully slow steps towards him. As the burn reached my cheek, my vision became stained with red. It wasn't a metaphorical red, no. This was a vibrant shade of blood that consumed all of the forms in my sight, turning them the matching shade of the dreaded discharge. The only thing left unaffected was my target, pale with sweat and backing away from me. I knew what this was. This...rage.

Ho-Oh's wrath was about to be unleashed, and I was the means of this release.

"Lyra!" He was screaming now, screaming in a tone of utter desperation. "Please, snap out of it! Why are you doing this?!" I just shakily lifted my head and gave him an insane grin. Some faded corner of my mind where this hatred hadn't reached yet screamed at me to stop this and get a hold of myself. I could feel the fear from the boy in front of me and from the deepest part of myself now. I couldn't stop. I had lost control.

I let out a sharp cry before launching myself at him once again, fists readied and trying to hit him with everything I had. Horror flashed in his eyes as he bobbed and weaved, desperate to avoid me. I could see his mouth moving with some screams, but I couldn't hear him. The only sound I heard was the dull thud of my heart and the crackling of the flames that had emerged from my knuckles. The orange gleamed on his wet cheeks as the flames danced in the reflections.

I didn't want this, and yet, I couldn't stop.

I suddenly managed to land a harsh blow on the boy's gut, sending him falling backwards and tumbling feet-over-head until he crashed into a tree. A murky film covered his vibrant eyes, those eyes that I loved. He seemed to quiver before spitting out a mouthful of blood. His blood. Blood that I had forced out of him. I felt nothing but a numb pressure as I walked towards him with narrowed eyes.

"It's time you paid for your sins, —." Yet again, his name was blotted out of my ears. "You have managed to escape your righteous punishment for far too long." I stopped right at his side, my mouth twisted into a devious grin. The red world only gave thin black lines for the scenery's objects, the only color reserved for the boy shaking at my feet. I released a chuckle before stooping down and picking him up with one hand on his jacket's collar.

The fear in his face was nothing compared to the terrible face that was reflected back at me.

Blood-red eyes gleamed as they peered back at me. Black rings emphasized this change in coloration and further contrasted the ghostly white that my skin had become. The squirming slowly faded as exhaustion took over. Eyelids drooping and thick lashes holding small dewdrops of saltwater captive, he was the very picture of desperate. However, in this state, I held not an ounce of sympathy. My mind revolted with loud yells of rejection and fear as I lifted my scarred right hand towards his face.

"Goodbye, Silver." The name rang out above all else as I grinned at my victim. My hand started to glow with that dreaded orange as the flames of Ho-Oh's punishment were summoned from deep within myself. My rival, the one I held so dear, simply looked at me with wide eyes and seemed to silently beg for mercy. But as much as I wanted to give him such things, I couldn't. I was no longer in control. The flames grew in size until they ate my hand and grew into a ravaging ball of red heat. I took a deep breath and suddenly launched the flames straight at his face.

In that moment, it was over.

Author's Note: Lyra's greatest nightmare is just terrible and what is this— /table flip/

So she fears losing control and hurting someone she cares about, i.e Silver. Ho-Oh's wrath is something she fears more than anything, for this raw hatred is beyond what she could ever control. When she's in this state, the great bird of rebirth is the one pulling the strings. Lyra is simply his 'vengeance puppet', as she said in "Irritation".

Well, looks like Silver's next. Hopefully, we won't have to go through such torture again...