Chapter 52

"Phoenix, I've come across this island before. I got a sense of foreboding and figured I would not come near here. Little did I know I would meet you and find out that you have soul magic. Now that your powers have heightened, I feel like you can dispel these evil spirits." I stood straight, confident and brave.

"I can. I will." I closed my eyes, focusing. I called upon my magic to help me feel the presences and see them. Slowly, the presences became noticeable. They were angry, malevolent, bitter. Oh boy... Ianite stood back while I inched closer.

"Be careful Nix..." I nodded. The spirits and demons noticed me. They smirked evilly. Oh frick...

"What do we have here? Two goddesses?"

"Leave Ianite alone. Focus your energy on me." I created a soul barrier around Ianite with one hand, not looking. Focused solely on the demons and spirits.

"Oh, that's no fun, goddess." Its friends tried getting to Ianite, but the barrier whipped soul fire at them and made them disappear. It made them go to the soulsand valley to reside there for the rest of eternity. "Where did they go?!"

"Soulsand valley. They're trapped in the soulsand there for the rest of eternity." That angered the leader.

"You dare!"

"I do dare. You evil spirits and demons don't belong here on this Earth. I'm here to banish you to where you rightly belong." My voice surprised me. It was full of authority conviction. That never happened before. Even Ianite was surprised. That filled me with more courage. I felt, I knew, I could do this. I raised my hands, conjuring up the energy and the magic to banish them. Soul particles began to surround my hands. I could feel it as a positive energy.

I smirked. I aimed my palms at the evil spirits and demons and let loose my power. They all tried to scatter, but none were spared. They, too, were banished to the soulsand valley. I reached my presence sensing abilities to go throughout the whole island. I strengthened that ability. I wanted to make absolute sure it was safe for Ianite. I couldn't feel anything, so I let down my barrier and she came over to me, taking my hand.

"Nix, that was amazing..." I grinned.

"It was, huh? Being a goddess is amazing. I can do all these things to help the world and people. Darkness doesn't stand a chance."

"Remember, some people will let all that power go to their head. Make sure that doesn't happen to you." I looked at Ianite with a serious look.

"You have my word, Ianite, that I will not let my goddess powers go to my head. I have you and the others to keep me accountable, responsible, and most importantly, sane." Ianite smiled gently.

"Good, and yes, we will always be here for you. We'll keep you from going down that path." I returned the gentle smile.

"Hey, how about we check in on Gandus' progress?" Ianite nodded. We both teleported to her island. Gandus was startled by our sudden appearance. I chuckled and Ianite giggled.

"Sorry," we both said.

"No worries, but a warning for next time would be good, though. Hey, Hrodi and Thornar are here. They heard about me and wanted to come and meet me for themselves."

"Hi guys!" I greeted.

"Goddess Phoenix, it's nice to see you."

"It's been a big change since we first met you before you became an Apprentice Priestess. Back then, you were just a normal Champion," Hrodi stated.

"Yeah... feels so long ago, yet it wasn't. It was only a year ago. I zoomed through the hierarchy."

"Well, that's because you'd proven yourself time and again. Even in the Olympics. You'd proven yourself to be worthy of the stones' powers. Granted you were only supposed to be a demigoddess, why did you become a full-fledged goddess?" Thornar asked. All three of us ladies shrugged.

"Ianite and I talked about a couple possibilities, but we couldn't really find an answer," I answered.

"I see. Well, we, as Gandus said, had heard of her and how she was reformed. We want to teach her how to control her powers for good instead of evil." I got a sense of deja vu. Wait, I had seen this in a dream!

"I had foretold this. I had a dream where you and Hrodi were teaching Gandus how to use her magic for good, and one of you said it would take her wand a while to learn how to switch from using magic for bad to using magic for good. Only Ianite knew of this dream though. Seems it was a dream vision after all. This was a few days before I became an Apprentice Priestess."

"Impressive. Your abilities for future telling are powerful. They are even more powerful than the High Priestess Phoenix," Hrodi said.

"High Priestess Phoenix," I said at the same time. "I know. I'm well aware of her prophecy about me. Dianite told me. How do you know of her though?"

"She foretold of our becoming the makers of the Wizard Order. Impressive though. She saw at the young age of 10," Hrodi informed. I was surprised.

"Meanwhile when I was 10, I was more worried about being a great potions maker and travelling the world when I got older."

"Not any bad ambitions. Fairly admirable, honestly," Thornar said.

"Oh, Nix, they even helped me finish my house and stuff. After they teach me, I'll show you around." Oh wait. Yeah, her house is finished, isn't it?

"Ok, that sounds great." Ianite and I sat down on the ground and cuddled close, watching Gandus' training. She struggled for a little while, trying to use magic for good. Eventually, she groaned of frustration.

"Almost Gandus, don't get frustrated. The switch from using magic for evil to using magic for good will take your wand time to adjust," Thornar encouraged.

"I know... I just wish it wouldn't..." Dude... yeah, totally like my one dream back just before I became an Apprentice. In the mid-afternoon is when Hrodi and Thornar went back to their place and Gandus showed me around her house.

"This is really nice. You, Hrodi, and Thornar did an amazing job. Perfect size for just you but also enough storage space," I complimented.

"Thanks. I'm proud of it, myself." I smiled.

"Oh, hey, just before we came here, I banished some evil spirits and demons." Gandus' face had a shocked look.

"Wow, is that a thing you can do now, now that you're a full-fledged goddess?"

"I believe so. I never saw any evil spirits or demons before I became a goddess... that I know of..."

"Interesting. Well, good thing you can do that now. Now you've got more things to do as a goddess." I nodded.

"It'll keep me busy, that's for sure. But that's a good thing. I need stuff to do throughout my immortal life."

"Yeah, I don't know how you've gone so long Ianite, without being bored as hell." Ianite giggled.

"Well, I have my brothers, and we all pick at each other sometimes. We also have had followers throughout the years. We'd give them tasks and stuff like we do for you guys. We've had things to do. Sometimes it did get boring, but then things would get interesting again." Gandus nodded slowly, taking that in.

"Well... anyway, I'm proud of you Gandus. I know I said that before, but it's true. You're doing so well." Gandus just smiled. She was glad that I'm proud of her. Another month of training to battle the Darkness and Ianite and I visited Gandus again. We're sitting with each other on the Isle of Gathering's shore. "So, how's your magic practice going, Gandus? Getting any better?"

"A little... it's really tough..."

"I can imagine. All I can tell you is to just keep trying, keep on going, keep with it. You'll be able to get it eventually. It takes hard work and dedication to be able to do something."

"I know. I do try."

"It's all we ask of you," I said, smiling gently. Serious deja vu here too... I think I dreamt this in the same dream as the one where Hrodi and Thornar begun training Gandus to use her magic for good. "Whoa. Deja vu here too... I think I saw this in my dream as well. The same one where Hrodi and Thornar began teaching Gandus."

"Strong psychic powers. Definitely the trait of the High Priestess," Ianite commented. I nodded.

"Yes yes... I'm pretty sure I know all about her now..." I said a little bitterly. I've had enough with hearing about her. I know I'm her reincarnation... they don't have to keep reminding me... plus, I'm not her... at least, in appearance, mannerisms, personality. I'm different than her, I just have her soul in me. I felt Ianite's minor hurt at my tone. I sighed. "Sorry..." I explained what I thought to myself.

"I see... Sorry Nix. I wasn't trying to compare you to her. You just remind me of her sometimes, is all." I sighed lightly.

"I think I'll take a walk." I got up and started going along the shoreline. I was gonna walk the whole island's perimeter.

~Ianite's POV~

"Maybe don't say stuff like that, eh Ianite? Comparing her, saying she reminds you of the previous Phoenix. Seems like she doesn't like it and I can kinda understand why. I mean, she did give her reasons why she doesn't like it."

"What about saying that she's surpassed her previous life in becoming a goddess?" Gandus looked unsure about that.

"Highly doubt she'd accept that either. If you're gonna talk about the High Priestess, then maybe just talk about her like her and our Phoenix are two separate beings, because like she mentioned, they are, despite sharing the same soul or something." I looked down and thought about that. I sighed.

"You and Nix are right... I shouldn't do that. It seems I still have much to learn, despite living over a thousand years."

"Hey, nobody's perfect Ianite. Not even you 4 gods." I gave her a small smile. She's right. She grinned right back. "Hey, could you tell me more about the High Priestess from back then?" I smiled a little more and nodded. I told her everything. "Wow, she was pretty powerful. She also seemed pretty cool. Her style especially." I giggled.

"Yeah, I'm sure you and her would get along just by your taste in clothes style alone." Gandus grinned.

"Oh, I'm sure too," Nix chuckled.

~Normal POV~

Ianite and Gandus turned to me and smiled. I sat with them again and leaned against Ianite.

"I hope to fight the Darkness soon... get it over with." They nodded. They agree. I'm sure the others do too.