Phoenix lay half asleep in the corner of the room she shared with Shō. She had been given to him for safekeeping. Still wearing the shackles around her wrists and ankles, not to mention the metal collar like restraint around her neck, she felt like a pet. At least he had become her master and not one of the random Knights that could have been appointed to be responsible for her.
The chain attached to the loop on the collar lay coiled beside her. Shō used it to lead her around when they walked anywhere to keep up appearances. Despite the absolute humiliation and degradation, she kept her mouth shut when around any members of the Knights of the Ashen Flame.
Exhausted from her last training session, Phoenix closed her eyes undeterred from sleep despite laying on the cold hard floor. Training was an extremely loose term to describe the ritualistic torture they put her through to entice her to use her new ignition ability.
The Evangelist seemed pleased with her progress in harnessing her flames and bending them to her will. Wielding this new power hurt. She burned from the inside out like an Infernal, but she did not disappear into ash. Her body remained, smoking and steaming from the flames that should, but do not, consume her.
Sometimes while in her fully realized state she could no longer form coherent thoughts due to the overwhelming agony induced by her own flames. She became a servant to the one who controlled her, following his every order. So this is what they really wanted: an attack dog of sorts, a domesticated Demon Infernal, to control and sic on the Fire Soldiers.
Phoenix knew all along she could not actually be some holy beacon revered by these religious fools. She would open the path all right, murdering any and every Fire Soldier who got in their way to stop them. She would be clearing the way for the Evangelist to position the Eight Pillars to bring about the Second Cataclysm. Her flames would indeed ignite the Eight, and they hoped she burned out in the process.
"Are you all right?" Shō asked her, standing over her. He patted her head, smoothing back her white hair.
"I'm just tired," she replied, sitting up with her back pressed into the corner.
Phoenix resisted the urge to slap his hand away as he continued to pet her head. He was being thoughtful and affectionate, showing his concern for her. Both shocking and out of character for him. Over the last few weeks he had begun to change.
Perhaps that zap Haumea gave him altered something inside of his brain. Maybe it was seeing his brother, establishing a link with him, and learning the truth of his past that flipped the switch. Surely the brotherly bond he had with Shinra had been repaired, reawakening those soft, fuzzy familial emotions.
"Are you trying to kill yourself? You pushed too hard today," he admonished her gently, handing her the pillow from his bed.
"I'm okay. This is just...hard. All of of it," she said, placing the pillow on the floor and resting her head on it. It wasn't much but it was better than laying her head on her folded hands.
"I know."
He stroked her head again, sliding his hand from her forehead down to the nape of her neck. She closed her eyes and accepted his tenderness and comfort.
So far, they had been successful in avoiding any direct interactions with Haumea. If she did come around, Phoenix would begin singing the same nonsensical children's song over and over in her head. She filled her thoughts with pictures of food and flowers and water - anything but people to avoid accidentally letting on she had not lost her memory. The random and rapid fire words and images would be prove to be too much for the telepath, and she would swiftly distance herself from Phoenix.
There was a boom overhead which shook the walls and made part of the ceiling rain down on them. Phoenix gasped and sat up as Shō reached inside his cloak to rest his hand on the hilt of his sword. In shock, they looked around the room at the walls which cracked and shifted.
More resonant bangs followed loosening more of the ceiling and white particles floated through the air giving the illusion it was snowing indoors. Profound confusion rooted them to the floor. Their eyes fixed on the ceiling above them. It sounded like the explosions were coming from up there. But where exactly and what - or who - was causing them?
Phoenix lowered her forehead to her knees, covering her head with both of her arms in case any big pieces should shake loose and fall on them. Shō leaned over her, covering himself and her with his cloak to avoid breathing in any of the tiny air borne pieces of plaster dust and insulation.
Suddenly, the reverberating booms causing the underground earthquake ceased. An eerie, dreadful silence and stillness followed.
Shō pulled back his cloak and stood up. Before he could reach the door, it opened forcefully, slamming into the wall and sending up a cloud of dust from the already damaged plaster.
"Sir!" shouted the White Clad as he saluted the commander. The person's entire face was covered with a veil but the voice sounded male, and he is obviously a subordinate. "We have to evacuate you to the lower floors."
"What happened?" Shō asked, picking up the chain connected to Phoenix's collar.
She stood up because she knew she would have to follow Shō dutifully as necessity dictated at this time.
"There was a breach, but the intruders are gone now. The man known as Five-Two, the traitor who was a member of the Shadows, and the Captain of the Seventh," he informed the Commander without him having to ask.
Benimaru!, her brain screamed. She gasped before she could stop herself.
"How far did they get?" Shō inquired, standing in front of her to hide her in case her surprise showed on her face. This also allowed him to keep the chain slack as not to pull on her. The heavy links already placed an incredible weight on her neck.
The man kept talking as they exited the room.
"They entered the Holy See where Shinmon defeated every last one of the apostles there. They entered the Nether under the chapel but were stopped there by the Shadows. Joker killed the Captain of the Shadows. Captain Burns showed up as well. The three of them left together," he explained.
Her father was here as well! They were so close. Right above her head. They could have saved her. But they did not know she was here. Besides, she was sure they had another more important mission to complete - one that would save thousands, millions even, rather than just one.
"We don't know why they were here or what they wanted," the man continued as he moved quickly like a ghost in front of them.
They walked down the hall and took a right, then a left into a long corridor with no doors except for the one at the end. A single red light bulb above the gray steel door spread its bloody light in a semicircle on the black floor.
The man opened the door revealing a stairwell. The treacherously pitched steel stairs disappeared into the inky darkness below leading deeper into the bowels of the Nether. Apparently there were no boundaries to Hell down here.
Fear took hold of her heart, squeezing it until Phoenix found it difficult to breathe. She could feel the darkness closing in on her, stroking her arms with its cold fingers and raising goosebumps over her skin. Join us, it seemed to call out to her. Give up and become part of us.
Their guide waited for Shō to move forward. He reached out, grabbing the chain near her neck with a white gloved hand.
"What are you doing?" Shō demanded as the man refused to let him proceed with Phoenix in tow. He tugged on the chain but the man held fast. "Let go. That's an order."
"I'm sorry, Sir. But I cannot do that. I have orders to bring her with me," he said, snatching the chain out of the Commander's grip.
"Who's orders? Where are you taking her?" he questioned the man.
"The Evangelist's of course," he stated in a tone bordering on insubordination. "I am to take her to the Holy See."
"The Holy See? But why?"
Phoenix could feel panic setting in making her entire body tremble. As much as she hated the idea of going deeper into the Nether, she detested being separated from Shō much more.
"She is to do her job, Sir. Should any more Fire Soldiers attempt to enter our domain, she will kill them," he explained.
Phoenix stared at the floor in order to hide her reaction which took every ounce of self-control to restrain to only a widening of her eyes. Her teeth had caught hold of her lower lip to prevent any sound from escaping her.
A circle of light, the single round ray of a flashlight, cut through the darkness below. Another Knight of the Ashen Flame, the one called Arrow who often attended and answered to the Commander directly, ascended the staircase.
"Come with me, sir. We have to go," she said, waving her hand for him to follow as she pivoted on her foot on the stair below him.
Keeping his face impassive, Shō took one more glimpse at Phoenix over his shoulder. Although his face did not register the emotion, she could see the sadness and remorse in his eyes in hellish crimson light from the bare bulb above them.
"Be a good girl, Phoenix," he said. "Don't forget what you are and why you are here."
Thankfully, she had not forgotten. Even the Evangelist could not destroy her mind and resolve. The corners of her mouth twitched but she forced them downward into a deep scowl. She bowed as if accepting the orders of her master.
"Come on," growled the man behind her, jerking on the chain. "Time to go to your new home."
~\..'../~
Phoenix learned to like her new home. She had been freed from her shackles and chains upon her arrival, all of them being tossed into a corner under a candelabra. She did not ask the White Clad why he removed them because she was supposed to be mute. It did not matter anyway. She was free to roam about the Holy See which was nothing more than an abandoned Church with pages of hymnals and holy texts spread about on the floor like trash.
She wondered if Benimaru and his comrade knew they had only reached the first level of the Netherworld; the first circle of the place she preferred to call Hell, that mystical and horrifying realm of eternal torment referenced in a few ancient religious texts.
Very few of the apostles, the supposed protectors of this holy place, remained here to guard it. Most of them were still in the hospital after having their asses handed to them by Benimaru Shinmon. The ones who could still walk and halfway function wore evidence of their run in with the King of Destruction in the form of bruises, burns, and bandages.
Everyone of them steered clear of Phoenix but not without throwing a jaundiced eye her way. They knew the Evangelist believed her to be their Avenging Angel and why she was here now. They had failed miserably in their job of keeping out intruders so she had been brought here to make up for their shortcomings. They kept their distance and allowed her to do as she pleased - aside from exiting through the front gates of course.
They brought her food to her leaving it on the altar like an offering. Sacrilegious really but it was of no concern to her.
Phoenix aimlessly traversed the maze created by the rows of pews, winding her way around them. She hummed as she strolled. Although she could talk up here because these idiots would never know she was supposed to be a mute amnesiac, there was no one for her to talk to because they were afraid of her and wanted nothing to do with her.
She listened to the crunch of the pages under her feet. Hearing the pieces of what amounted to religious propaganda crumple and sometimes rip under her bare soles elicited a certain childish dark glee in her heart.
Her mind wandered to Shō a lot, wondering where he is and what he is doing while hiding underground. She thought about Shinra and her father, Captain Ōbi and everyone from the Eighth. She missed her family. Some days she cried when thinking about them. Today was one of those days.
Phoenix permitted the hot tears to flow unchecked. The salt in them seared pink trails down her cheeks. She sat on the carpeted steps leading up to the stage where the altar hid the entrance to the world below that belonged to the Evangelist.
"Halt! Stop right there!" she heard one of the apostles yell.
"Intruder! Intruder!" another shouted before he screamed in pain and terror.
"What the hell..." she murmured, lifting her head from her knees.
"Help! Help! He - ack!" a third man shrieked, his cries getting cut off suddenly - most likely because he was killed.
Phoenix unfurled her body from her sitting up fetal position to walk cautiously down the center aisle. Could this Five-Two guy or Benimaru have returned for another seige? Is it her father? Her steps quickened into a run, carrying her faster to the double doors at the back in hopes that her rescue is imminent.
Before she could reach the doors, they blew open dramatically when hit by a battering ram made of smoke. Crossing her arms over her face, she shielded herself out of habit from the following blast of heat and steam, neither of which had any effect on her considering she could spontaneously combust yet come out unscathed.
"Are you Phoenix?" a male voice she did not recognize asked her.
She slowly lowered her arms to see a tall, skinny man with short black hair standing there. He looked like a businessman on his way home from work wearing black dress pants and an ash gray button down shirt rolled up to his elbows. He wore a black tie fastened to his shirt with a white tie clip. The design of the skull adorning the tie clip matched the one on his belt.
His right arm smoldered, orange veins like molten lava running through the black charred skin. This is what happens when one continues to use their ability despite Tephrosis. This could have easily been what happened to Phoenix; the exact outcome she had expected to occur actually. He had been burned time and time again, so many times he no longer felt it and no longer cared. He had learned to weaponize the resulting smoke from his seared arm.
"Are you Phoenix?" he repeated, his tone more insistent as his patience waned.
"Who the hell are you?" she demanded, preparing to extend her wings. Whether to fight or simply flee she had not yet decided.
"My name is Kurono Yūichirō," he announced, extending his undamaged left hand to her. "I am here on the orders of Gureo Haijima. Come with me."
"Gureo Haijima?" she muttered.
Oddly, the name did not elicit fear. She felt a little bewilderment and a lot of anger. Caught between Hell and the Devil himself. What kind of horrible choice is this? What should she do?
Phoenix glanced at the man's normal hand then back at his face. His eyes were almond shaped but large. The irises are a yellow orange with a vertical white slit. Those eyes glowing like the sun scrutinized her harshly as if trying to determine if he should just grab her and force her to go with him or wait for her to come on her own.
Milk white skin covered his narrow angular face. His thin nose turned up at the end showing his nostrils. To her, he looked like a humanized snake. Could she trust him? He was sent by Gureo Haijima after all. To retrieve the lab rat who had accidentally gotten loose years ago no doubt.
"I have been ordered not to kill you, but I will take any and all measures necessary to return you to President Haijima," he outright threatened her.
Phoenix placed her hand in his to be jerked forward. Although she had no idea what she might be getting into, she would go with him. He dragged her toward the gate and an illusion of freedom. She found it painfully ironic Haijima would send someone to steal her from the ones who stole her from them in the first place.
She might be jumping from the proverbial frying pan straight into the fire, but she honestly did not see how her situation could be made worse by returning to Haijima Industries, the place where her life tragically began. Could being in the lab possibly be worse than being held captive by the Evangelist herself?
She hoped going back to the lab would give her a greater chance of escape. Viktor Licht, that bastard, would have to return to Haijimi Industries eventually to give over whatever intel he collected on the Company Eight members. Perhaps chance would see fit that the damned spy show up at the facility where she would be detained.
When she found him, Viktor Licht would be her ticket to freedom. The fingers of her free hand formed a fist. He would help her escape. Or he would die.
~\..'../~
Shinra sucked in a deep breath, his hand resting on the knob of the door to Phoenix's bedroom. Holding his breath, he turned the knob and pushed open the door.
Dazzling sunlight streamed in through her window creating four squares of light on the floor where the panes separated the glass it shined through. Stepping inside her room, he placed his feet in the middle of those squares as he looked around. Perhaps he hoped the sunlight would fill the dark emptiness inside of him.
Shinra had just returned from the joint expedition to the Chinese Peninsula. While there he had stayed busy, distracted, unable to think about Phoenix as he literally fought to discover more about the truth behind the Evangelist. He had even battled a Demon Infernal, Tempe, who had been a devout follower of the Holy Sol Temple and been transformed by a bug given to him by the Evangelist personally.
His fingers tightened into a fist, willing himself not to feel the pain as he thought about the Evangelist and the White Clads. They took Phoenix and his little brother away from him. It was their fault his mother had been turned into an Infernal. They had stolen everyone he loved from him.
He could not save his mother, but he could save Shō and Phoenix. He would get them back. He would have his family.
Shinra walked over to the bed which was still neatly made just like she left it. He picked up the blue teddy bear Vulcan had made for her to give her when she returned. A device inside the bear made a heartbeat sound when he flipped the switch on the back. Vulcan said the sound would help Phoenix fall asleep because heartbeats are always soothing and conducive to sleep.
Shinra recalled the way she would lay her ear against his chest just to listen to his heart. It was her favorite thing to do after they made love. She would drift off to sleep in his arms. So it must be true. His finger flicked the switch to turn it off. Presently, the sound made him ache all over as the loneliness of losing her radiated from his heart and permeated his entire body.
An image formed in his head of Phoenix transformed. He envisioned her white and blue wings. All the shades of blue were contained in those beautiful but terrible feathers of flames. This bear is the same deep ocean blue color that had been on the tips.
Closing his eyes, he could picture the new barely blue color of her eyes. The same shade as a clear, cold winter sky. The color blue, no matter what hue, represented sadness. If one is depressed, they are said to be feeling blue. He definitely felt blue today. And the color made him sadder than ever now.
Hugging the bear to his chest, Shinra meandered to her desk. He touched her mother's diary she read like a favorite novel. He pushed around the pieces of paper scattered over the top of her desk containing her random musings. He ran his fingers over the pens in every color of the rainbow she had used to scribble down those thoughts. Picking up one of the loose pages of her haphazard journal, he felt a pinprick of guilt but read it anyway.
I love Shinra Kusakabe.
The first line made his belly tighten and his heart beat faster. Such a simple almost childish sentence to see in writing, but it was a profound declaration from her lips. His favorite way to hear her say it was when he held her close, and she would whisper those three little words directly into his ear. He adored the way her breath tickled his neck and how her lips inevitably grazed his cheek as she whispered those sweet messages to him. His pulse pounded in his ears as the dizziness took him by surprise. He plopped down in the desk chair to continue reading.
I love him with with every fiber of my being. Mind, body, and soul, I am his. I want to be with him forever. I want to have his children. I want to be a family.
I will help him find Shō and bring him home no matter what. Shinra's happiness is everything to me. I would sacrifice, anything and everything, even myself, to make sure he has every bit of joy he deserves in this life.
He rifled through the pages and picked up another one.
I don't know what I am or what is going to happen to me. I am afraid I am a failure that will self destruct. I am not special as the White Clads believe. I am only a half baked experiment. A ticking time bomb. An Infernal waiting to burn away to nothing.
Shinra crumpled that piece of paper and threw it in the small waste bin beside her desk.
I am afraid of dying. I don't want to die and be without Shinra. However, I would willingly sacrifice my life to give him his brother back.
"Dammit, Phoenix," he mumbled as the ache grew in his heart.
The sting of tears prickled the backs of Shinra's eyes. He did not notice when they began to fall until the wetness dripped onto the piece of paper in his hand. Clutching the stuffed animal to his chest, he stood up and walked away from the desk before he was tempted to pick up another page and read more words that would stab him right in the heart.
"Shinra," Captain Ōbi called to him from the open door. "Have you been able to contact Phoenix with that weird mind thing you two can do?"
Shinra placed the bear back on her bed, leaning it against the pillow. He shook his head, casting another glimpse around her room as he walked toward the door. The Captain backed out for him to exit the room and close the door.
"I haven't been able to reach her. Not since I was possessed by that...that woman," he muttered. "I think she might have broken the link."
Ōbi clapped his hand on Shinra's back almost knocking him down with the display of good natured affection.
"Don't worry, Shinra. She's alive somewhere, and we will get her back," he assured his subordinate.
She's alive somewhere. Of that he had no doubt. But...where?
