Igniting Sparks

Chapter 39.

Edited by KitWulf                                           27-3-2021

*

Azura had entered the office at ten AM sharp with Lucas and Professor Sloan already there. Andreas showed up a little later, much to the dismay of Sloan, and it didn't take long for them to go from general small talk to the real deal.

The time she had spent alone in the courtyard had felt good and she was glad both Lucas and the Professor had not made a big deal out of it. The memories had washed over and overwhelmed her and if either of them had stayed or forced her to go along, she would have broken down. Being with Lucas had lessened the pain of losing Charlie but he was still an important part of her life and she couldn't help but feel guilty at times.

She'd just finished telling about the fight she and Nora had with the Phoenix. It was actually the first time she had shared it with anyone in so much detail aside from Lucas. She would always skip over the details but now she felt the need to talk about it. Partly because it was important for what was to follow.

There was a reason she was barely affected by the flames of the Phoenix during the fight. Yes, they had hurt and felt like they were burning her alive, but when she had woken up, she barely had a burn on her. Even though nobody had asked her how or why, she knew she owed them answers. Answers she hadn't known herself till a few weeks ago.

It felt good to share what had happened even though it was still a difficult thing to talk about. Azura had to pause several times during her story, especially when she came to the part where Nora had lost her grip on the Phoenix and eventually was killed by it. She could still see her close friend being thrown off, the tail of the Phoenix swatting her like a fly and burning her to death. Azura could still see the fear in Nora's eyes as she lost her grip on the Phoenix's body.

"So Nora died and the Phoenix died." She let a short silence fall to make sure the rest was still with her. "I killed the Phoenix but the Phoenix also killed me."

As Azura spoke the words out loud she closed her eyes and relieved that last moment herself. She was thrown off the Phoenix as well after she had bitten down on its weak spot with all her might. It had actually killed the Phoenix, but she had been killed somewhere as she fell from it as well and she could simply not remember how it had happened no matter how hard she tried. It was one of the things that still bothered her but the Phoenix had never answered that question. She could only guess if it was the impact of her hitting the ground, or that the connection between her and the Phoenix made sure she perished at the same moment the Phoenix did.

"Wait, what?! You were killed?" She'd certainly gotten Andreas's attention. He leaned forward, sitting on the edge of his seat staring at her in disbelief.

"Yes. It'll be explained in a moment."

Azura turned to Professor Sloan after shaking the thought of her death out of her head.

"Now things get complicated and we could use your knowledge. You probably know that a Phoenix can't be killed. It will always resurrect." Professor Sloan nodded.

"Yes, it does. Back then I didn't want to tell you guys that because normally it takes up to a couple of centuries for that to happen. It had been over 300 years since the last Phoenix and this one and before that one, there was an even longer time span. Based on history, I made the calculation the same would happen again and did not want to burden you with this information as it would add nothing of importance."

"Well, what happened in the past doesn't mean the same thing happened now." Azura leaned forward, elbows resting on her knees. "The Phoenix resurrected within minutes this time."