Disclaimer: I do not own the X-Men. Please do not sue me or steal my story. Thanks!
NOTE: One of the characters in this story gets really mad and uses a nasty word. But, I think he can be forgiven given the circumstances. :)
The Melody of the Stars
by Rowena
It is that still, timeless moment just before dawn. The nighttime sky begins to purple in the East; the stars twinkling with graceful ferocity as if they know their time to shine is growing short. A chill wind whistles through the tall pines - a soft sound that blends with the gentle rippling of the lake as the shivery gust brushes lightly, teasingly over the water's surface.
A bird adds its sharp, sweet call to the earth and the sky and the water, welcoming the sun to a new morning. A second bird sings out, then a third, a fourth...even the cawing of the crows and the warbling of the loons have their place in the delicate harmony of this song.
The breeze picks up. A broken tree branch swings against the trunk of its tree, weaving a rhythmic beat that sets the toes of the snowy rabbits tapping. The squirrels chatter in the treetops – the song is swelling now. As fish leap and splash, silver against the brightening sky, the melody takes on a new dimension. A spectacular facet of light and color that lures the sleepy deer from their thickets to blink in reverence, hoping to glimpse the song's mysterious conductor.
A slender line of brilliant light flickers along the horizon, coloring the sky above in brilliant shades of pink, red, gold, and orange. But the stars are still there, and they are the ones who call most insistently, with the most passion. For, they know this song. Only they have heard it, only they have sung it, and only those who have lived among the stars could carry this gentle, wild melody with them, inspiring its harmonious tones in others.
There is a stirring at the bottom of the lake. Sound travels remarkably well underwater and the celestial melody carries a message within it. A message that must be delivered to ears that cannot hear, eyes that cannot see, and a heart that cannot beat.
The body of the Earth woman is dead, frozen and lifeless at the bottom of the deep, dark lake. It remains perfect and untouched, despite the fact that it has lain there long enough for winter to arrive, then leave, and then come again. The fish dare not swim by this place, the scavenger crabs avoid it. Even they can sense a mysterious power slowly awakening in the frozen cells of her still body. A power otherworldly. Alien.
Far above, the song has reached its crescendo. A strange, fiery glow sparks, then flares around this frozen woman. It is a flame burning brightly underwater, a fire without heat, and it consumes nothing but her.
The surface of the lake glints orange, yellow, red. The song is frenzied now, the audience breathless with anticipation. The message is clear, it is insistent, it has found its target.
The frozen woman's eyelids fly open, but beneath is only flame. Her arms spread slowly, flames licking along their slender length, twirling between her long fingers. Her mouth opens as though she is screaming; her eyes blazing with a wild passion terrifying to behold. Her mind awakens, her frozen blood begins to flow - a horrible, agonized stinging as her body forces itself back to life...!
The woman rises to her feet, her movements slow and graceful in the dark water, as though she were walking on the moon. She tilts her head, taking in her surroundings with distant curiosity.
Then, she is rising, breaking the surface of the water - a flaming meteor falling backwards from the lake bed high into the atmosphere.
The song dies down but the primal energy grows. The gathered animals watch in awe as high above the ominous form of a fierce, flaming bird lights up the sunrise, obscuring the twinkling stars from view. It is a vision as beautiful as it is terrible. Rabbits run for their burrows. Deer flee in panic. Birds flock away, screaming in fear and wonder.
The Phoenix has risen. The untamable celestial being has merged itself with the body, dreams, and aspirations of a human woman. The power fills her, but she can control it, it consumes her but she is willing to feed its hunger.
She is Phoenix, and Phoenix has become Jean Grey.
To Be Continued...