Burn | Xavier Thorpe

History

AN: There is a longer author's note at the end about the recent issues involving Wednesday.

- We are ignoring some potential medical things such as a debate my twin and I got into on whether or not Nightingale has fingernails. She has them, it's fanfiction.

- This took a lot longer than I was expecting. Such a simple chapter should not have been this much of a struggle.

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I did not think anything could distract from me running through my memories of that day. Death was a celebrated event amongst my family. We did not fear the natural way of life. The way my parents died wasn't natural though, and Nevermore appeared to have a propensity for unlocking memories and questions I had not asked for years. Questions such as why would trips be canceled to a town over a house fire? How was my mom actually killed? Who killed them? Rowan's mother was still an option, but was she like her son? Willing to kill anyone simply because of a sketch? Why would it take her seventeen years after seeing the vision to kill them? I hesitated to write out my questions where any could find them. Privacy was expected but never guaranteed.

I was wrong to believe nothing could distract me.

Dread settled in my stomach as I walked into Mr.Higgins class. History and Culture had proved macabre during the few weeks I had been in the course. I stayed entertained despite how dull the topic was, as old Mr.Higgins had been teaching for decades at the least and made the course interactive when appropriate.

Phoenix: Legends and Mysteries was written in chalk on the dark green board. I jumped. A hand brushed my shoulder, leading to a concerned looking Xavier. I had just come to a complete stop in front of him.

"I could cover for you if you need to skip", he said as he read the board at the front of the room.

"I'm fine. I simply thought of something." I took my typical seat. Xavier sat beside me.

Wednesday stalled in the middle of the room as well. She and Enid sat across the aisle from us. She tapped morse code on the black slab of the table. 'Escape"

'No'

'Safe'

I didn't reply immediately. Was I safe? For all I know this is a completely normal class, but I felt watched despite no eyes, beyond Wednesday and Xavier's, being on me.

'Yes'

The dread grew as Mr.Higgins began class.

"Who can tell me what a phoenix is?", his gravely voice sent knives through my veins.

"A firebird that is reborn when it burns and rises from the ashes", Bianca spoke up from somewhere nearer the front of the room.

Mr.Higgins thanked her before looking around the room, waiting for another answer. "What is a phoenix when speaking about outcasts?"

No one seemed to have an answer for his newest question. I kept my eyes on the blank notebook in front of me. Wringing my hands under the table.

"Well, a Phoenix as a designation within our community is one of handful classified as rare. A powerful outcast, yet a highly secretive one." Mr.Higgins wrote on the board media. "Phoenixes in media. How much of media do you think accurately portrays outcasts?"

The collective groan made him laugh. "Normies don't understand the Supernatural. Phoenixes are no exception. Nightingale"

I should have skipped. "Yes, Mr.Higgins?"

"Give me a piece of media about phoenixes that you think is incorrect"

It was truly pathetic how little I knew about myself and my powers. "Media always depicts them as mythical birds."