As they examined their chosen weapon, making sure its adequately sharp and useable, a magnificent wave of magic arrived unexpectedly, like water out of a floodgate, and washed all over them, making them stumble on their feet, and gasp as they felt their own magic react to it, fortifying their core energy as if they just had extra strengthened Pepper Up potions. It was even stronger and more lively than they had felt yesterday, full of vivacious power that could put even the most grumpy person in a buoyant mood. All the huge trees to small vines near them reacted to the power zestfully, absorbing it, growing a tad bigger, and thriving a bit brighter. The merry chirping of birds and carefree tattering of squirrels and other small animals made it even more noticeable that something definitely happened.
":It happened again!:" The Pack Elder exclaimed happily from where he was sitting in the lotus position and supervising the Pack Warriors in their preparations. ":Stronger than even yesterday!:"
Hadrianus! Marvolo thought with a chuckle, relishing the magic and feeling nostalgic. It had been decades since he felt it, but it was no doubt, him. What did you do now, Little Mamba? Marvolo thought, fond and exasperated, Whose life did you save? Another XXXXX creature? Another soul condemned to the void?
":We must find out what is causing it!:" Marvolo heard Baba yell to the pack, standing up, his staff in his hand. ":It can't be Devi Nagini this time!:"
Now Marvolo is torn between decisions. He and Nagini had discussed it last night and decided not to tell anyone about their child's mysterious stunts, if Baba finds out, he would never let Hadrianus leave the pack, announcing him a deity or such rot and have all the pack members worship him day and night. The child's personal life and future would be ruined. Marvolo would never let that happen.
Everyone paused to marvel at how the trees and wines around the nearby houses are pulsating with beautiful and very powerful magical residuals. As everyone stumbled out of their way, trying to figure out what was emitting such high-spirited energy while Marvolo quickly considered some ideas to distract them, a scream of despair arose somewhere near the river bank, where all of them are heading.
Marvolo felt his heart stop, a chilled shiver rushing through his spine. It was Hadrianus's.
Without wasting another moment, Marvolo dropped everything and immediately started to run toward the source of the sound, all his focus is on nothing but his son's screams and the blood rushing in his ears, adrenaline kicked up to the highest notch. He didn't even notice as the lively magic stopped flowing, or how the equally alarmed Pack Warriors are right on his heels.
As he reached the river bank and screeched to a halt, Marvolo felt his stomach dip to the ground seeing a bright orange flame in his child's hands. He took only a moment to notice that there also was a weird greenish fire at the end, surrounding Hadrianus's forearms, before whipping out his wand and aiming towards him, "Aguamenti!"
Marvolo frowned noticing that before the jet of water even hit the child's hand, the weird greenish fire went out, but it had no effect on the bright orange fireball.
"Aguamenti! Aguamenti!" That fire is waterproof, Marvolo realized with dread, "Fumos! Fumos Maxima! Damn it!" And doesn't need oxygen to survive! What is it?
Desperate, Marvolo grabbed his crying child's arms and shook violently, starting to drag the child towards the river to dunk his hand until the fire went out, but to his surprise, the orange fireball dropped to the ground as soon as he shook the hands. Blinking away the surprise, he quickly turned Hadrianus's hand to assess the damage, but to his further astonishment, neither of those flames have harmed this son's hand at all.
Frowning, he looked back at Hadrianus who was still sobbing his heart out and twisting within his hold, attempting to reach towards the fireball on the ground that other Nagas are trying to put off. It doesn't look like bluebell flame as it was bright orange, neither did the green fire, yet both were waterproof, what is it? It had to be a magical fire. But it was not Fiendfyre.
Azure was screeching and flying around them, watching over the progress.
"What happened? What is that?" Marvolo asked once he conceded his son was not in any immediate physical danger, emotional trauma can be dealt with later, once he finds out what the hell is going on.
"I didn't mean to!" Hadrianus sniffled, twisting within his hold and looking at him through his unshed heartbroken tears, "I only wanted her to live!" Azure came flying towards his human, sitting on his shoulder and cooing, trying to soothe him.
Her? Is that...is that the owl he rescued this morning? How did he set the old bird and himself on fire? Is that why he was crying?
"Hadrianus, tell me exactly what did you do!" Marvolo felt like pinching the bridge of his nose. Nagini too arrived at that moment, gasping for breath which indicated she too had been running to reach her crying Hatchling, her new friends following her closely behind.
"I..." He was interrupted when the orange flame gave one final loud shriek and the next second there was nothing but a smoldering pile of ashes on the floor. Without answering, Hadrianus burst out crying all over again, this time completely inconsolable, thinking it was his fault. Azure, restless, flapped his wings in confusion from where he was perching.
As Nagini took her Hatchling away from a bewildered Marvolo and hugged him, trying to console him, a chicken-like squawk caught their attention from the waterlogged ashes. Silence fell across the river bank as they all looked over to find a tiny, wrinkled, newborn hatchling poking its head out of the ashes, its eyes closed, featherless, and thoroughly drenched in water. It drew several gasps from surrounding Nagas, and whispering started among them as they stared at the newborn hatchling in awe.
It's not every day one witness the birth of a Phoenix.
Marvolo was startled to see it as well, "What the..? Is that a phoenix?"
"It can't be!" Hadrianus argued back as he hurriedly picked up the hatchling from the wet ground, so it doesn't get cold, "You said she was a very old Himalayan great-horned snowy eagle owl!"
"That's what it looked like!"
"Maybe...a hybrid, then?" Nagini offered her arguing boys, looking down at the tiny hatchling in her son's cupped hands, curious, "A cross between owl and phoenix? Half phoenix? looks like an owl, with a phoenix's power?"
Hadrianus wiped the rest of his tears in his sleeve and let the tiny featherless hatchling curl into his palms. The hatchling then opened its mouth, letting out a series of hungry screeches. Without further ado, Marvolo summoned some worms from the nearby treelines and Hadrianus grabbed them in front of the hatchling, they watched her gobble the worms down hungrily, then coiled in Hadrianus's hands to sleep.
Hadrianus smiled down at her. "Well, I don't care what are you and how you did that. But you could have moved on to your next life without giving me a heart attack!"
The hatchling yowled sleepily.
"Interesting," The Pack Elder stared at Hadrianus's hand, where a small hatchling was now resting. ":She has the same vital and healing energy as you, Devi.:" He said, looking between Nagini and the hatchling. ":As if the same divine power blesses them both.:" With that, his eyes again found Hadrianus, the intense scrutiny was back.
":She's okay, right?:" Hadrianus asked looking between the adults, paying no mind to whatever divine nonsense he kept sprouting about.
":She is more than okay, little nestling.:" The Pack Elder assured him, ":Can I see your other familiar?:"
"Azure," Hadrianus rubbed his sleeve, making Azure screech as he came out.
But when Hadrianus ordered him to fly to the Pack Elder, Azure screeched, refusing to go near Pack Elder. So Hadrianus had to approach him again. He held Azure like a baby, cradling him into his chest while Pack Elder studied him, not touching him more than necessary as Azure screeched and tried to bite his hand every time he tried, making Hadrianus wish he could do the same, but unfortunately, his venom would have no effect on other Nagas, as they tend to be immune to each other. ":Interesting. All of them carry the same magical residues.:"
":It's not him, Baba.:" Marvolo announced, his voice serious and completely clear on the matter, wanting their attention off his child. ":My son is nothing but an ordinary Naga child. He was not even born when we were blessed.:"
":I somehow don't doubt that, yet curious things keep happening around him.:" Pack Elder peered towards Hadrianus. ":Do you happen to see anyone come and bless her when you were praying?:"
":No, I didn't see anyone.:" Hadrianus answered honestly, ":I had my eyes closed, and I didn't smell or hear anyone until we both caught fire.:"
":God is ominous, He works in mysterious ways we can't hope to decipher.:" He kept musing. "It seems He has blessed this little hatchling with Phoenix gift, but they're uncontrolled and chaotic at the moment, unlike how God's other gifts tend to be. Maybe He wants the hatchling to train to use His gifts properly. I would say, the gift acted splendidly with her nomaj blood, giving rise to the gift of magic. She may have been born a common owl until yesterday, but she is very magical at the moment."
"So, she...somehow became..a Phoenix?" Hadrianus wanted to know. "With all Phoenix power to be reborn and be as free as they wish?"
"Oh no nestling, she is very much owl, she only has the gifts of Phoenix, untrained, however!"
Hadrianus blinked, "Are you telling me that God came and blessed her, making her go through some sort of creature inheritance, as I and father did?"
Pack Elder blinked, then burst out laughing, "Indeed, Devarsh. Indeed. What a curious little thing, you are."
Hadrianus frowned at him, "But I didn't even do anything. You said God did it!" He felt the need to defend himself, pressing himself closer to his mum, clutching her skirt. He would never confess that to anyone. Judging by their reaction, whatever he did is not normal even by their standard, and he would rather die than confess being a freak to anyone. What if his parents decide he is too much of a freak and abandons him as his birth givers did? Nah, he's not taking any chance. No way in Hell!
The Pack Elder laughed again, "Indeed. You never do anything, do you, Devarsh? Yet such curious things keep happening around you. True to your namesake, God's gift."
Hadrianus heard father mutter, "You bet," but ignored him, and pouted, "Father said I have some kind of unlucky potion as my blood."
"Well, now you have the blessings of Goddess Lakshmi and her vehicle as your new companion, whether it will turn into Felix Felicis remains to be seen. I am glad to be acquainted with you, little nestling. You've made my life very entertaining. Make sure to keep regaling us about your tales throughout the life you lead beyond the packs."
Marvolo continued to grumble in the background.
The rest of the day passed in a flurry of activities. One of the pack members offered them a ride on their elephants to visit the other Tribes of the village. Hadrianus was exhilarated to be able to ride on elephants and visit the other Tribes with his parents, not having realized that the village was huge enough to host other Naga Tribes as well.
Watching their simple lifestyle was a whole level of experience for him, as, before a year back, he himself had nothing but his ex-cousin's cast-offs and crusts to live by. He would still prefer the villager's lifestyle over his ex-abusive guardians anytime, at least they have the luxury of living freely, getting their sustenance from the garden, and being with their loved ones.
On the night, Hadrianus went to check on the little hatchling sleeping in the nest made of cotton, leaves, and twigs, for the nth time and gasped at seeing tiny pin feathers growing over her naked body. As Hadrianus approached, she looks up as if she can detect his presence and let out a soft coo, still too young to stand or hop.
She is turning into a nestling in a matter of hours? But father said it will take at least a few days to grow into a nestling!
Someone is a fast grower!
Hadrianus sighed, knowing she would not need his help once she turned fledgling, other than maybe supervising as she learned to fly, he thought, rubbing her head making sure to not jostle the newly growing pin feathers.
Smiling a bit, he offered more worms which she gobbled hungrily, even though she ate just a couple of hours ago. But it makes sense, as she was growing much faster! As she finished her very late supper, taking advantage of his distraction, she suddenly nipped his finger hard, drawing blood before Hadrianus could react.
Hadrianus gasped, realizing what the nestling was attempting but before he could try to draw his hand back, she has already smeared his blood on her body, and her magic snapped up, accepting the bond.
"Oh no no no no no!"
Azure, realizing his master has accepted another familiar came out of his cocoon, flying around, shrieking in protest. He tried to knock the nestling off her nest, but Hadrianus quickly caught her, and booped Azure's nose sternly, "Azure! Knock it off, she just turned a nestling!" making Azure whine and clung to his neck possessively. Hadrianus sighed. What a clingy baby!
But he is his baby!
The doors swung open dramatically and Nagini in her serpentine glory stormed over to him like she was going to strangle his tiny brains out with her huge coils. ":What are you doing, out of bed?:"
He could hear the exact moment a wire in his brain fried, "Uh, I... um, hehe..."
":Hehe?:" If she was in her human form, she would have flared her nostrils. The audacity! ":I will show you 'hehe' if you are not in bed within the next thirty seconds, young man!:"
"What is all the ruckus about?" His father's tired voice came from the door, his hair ruffled with sleep, a rare show of messiness. "I felt a spark!"
"She bonded with me, that stupid feather banshee!" Hadrianus pouted, raising his finger in the air where his magic is already working zealously to heal the cut.
"Really?" Both of them looked more awake than before, with mum examining his finger with more concern, flickering her tongue rapidly.
Hadrianus nodded, "She drew my blood and absorbed my magic."
":That's weird:," Naini commented and Marvolo had to agree.
"She did it on her own?"
"Yes." He groaned, "Now how I am going to set her free if she bonded with me? I promised her freedom in this life."
":You can do that at home as well, we have a forest surrounding our home.:" Nagini soothed.
"But how is she going to live in hot weathered Hawaii? She's a Himalayan snowy eagle owl!"
"We already have a part of our garden warded to be frozen forever," Marvolo informed. "She could visit anytime. Maybe even build her own nest there."
"That...could work, I guess."
Marvolo humms and stared at the albino great horned nestling with phoenix gifts and suppressed a shiver. It was like the nestling was looking through him, into his soul and beyond. Marvolo stared right back and then the little judgy nestling gave a single bob of her head, and turned her attention back to her human. It was as if she judged his worth to be around her. How rude!
Marvolo sighed, "It's almost midnight, and we have an important day ahead of us, so sleep, you."
"What important day?" Hadrianus frowned at his parents.
Nagini sighed at Marvolo's pale face at the reminder, ":He's about to do something really stupid, that could get all of us expelled from the pack, or at worst, killed.:"
":What, why?:" Parseltongue slipped through his tongue at the surprise. Father, stupid? That's impossible!
"Because we need the knowledge on how to conceal inheritance. It's considered an Unforgivable crime here." Marvolo informed with a sigh, making Hadrianus widen his eyes at the reminder of the reason they trekked so long to find the Tribe. Judging by how proud they are of their creature, they're going to be greatly offended to hear that.
"Shit!"
Marvolo was about to reprimand him and lecture him about how uncultured it is to swear and use bad words, but before he could open his mouth, Nagini pounced on Hadrianus and started flicking her tail on his forehead. ":No! Bad Hatchling! No swearing!:"
"Hadrianus, if I ever heard any kind of bad words from your mouth again I will lock up all your books except the etiquette ones."
Hadrianus gasped in horror, dodging the tails of his mum. "You wouldn't!"
"Watch me."
"Fine." He sulked, mentally thinking, You wouldn't hear from me again. "Why did swear words get invented if I'm not allowed to say them?"
":Because I said so!:"
"Fine! Human excreta!"
Nagini hissed even more, indignant, and Hadrianus, realizing the trouble he was in because of his smart arse mouth, made a loud 'eep' noise, did a double cartwheel to slip through Nagini's coils, and made a dash toward the door. Nagini followed slithering, chasing after her son, hissing loudly, ":Come back here, you little piece of shit!:"
Marvolo wanted to lock himself in his own room and never come out.