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The Nine-Winged Outcast Fantasy Kingdom, Phoenix Rebirth - ENGSUB ASM
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Short filmTranscript
00:00My mother never called me daughter. She called me mistake. A cursed family stain. They whipped me, abused me, and
00:07finally cast me aside. Only Nanny Gilly never gave up on me. Under her devoted care, I finally awakened. When
00:14they found out, they wanted my magic even threatened Nanny Gilly's life. Cornered and with no way out, I returned
00:20this life, and fell into the abyss.
00:23I didn't die. I ignited. And now, it's time to pay the blood debt.
00:31I was born with a cracked core. A glitch in the divine bloodline of House Phoenix. My mother called me
00:36a waste of skin. A goddamn disappointment who dragged the family name through the dirt.
00:41Years later, I became the deadliest soldier House Phoenix had ever seen. And then, the woman who tossed me out
00:46like a dead rat came crawling back.
00:48I gave you life, Elevin. You owe me gratitude. Your sister is hurt. Need you to cut out half your
00:54spark and give it to her. She needs it more.
00:57The accident happened before I even took my first breath. My father, Lord Alaric, had made the mistake of looking
01:03at a hand made a second too long.
01:05My mother, in a fit of jealous rage, snatched my unhatched egg from its gilded nest and used it as
01:11a bludgeon.
01:11She bashed the girl's brains out with my shell. I forced my way into the world early. Shivering. Bald. My
01:17spark was fractured before it could even ignite.
01:19I was a nysaur. A plucked chicken in a nest of eagles. Because of my broken core, I couldn't reach
01:24my awakening even at ten.
01:26In our world, if you can't shift, you're nothing. My mother couldn't stand the sight of me. She pinned me
01:32against the cold stone walls. Her fists doing the talking.
01:35What kind of curse did I bring upon myself to birth a pathetic freak like you? Do you have any
01:40idea how much of a joke I am at the high table?
01:42Why won't you just die? You're so useless, yet you cling to life like a goddamn parasite. If you don't
01:48die soon, you'll be the death of me.
01:50I'd just stare at her with hollow eyes. That only made her angrier.
01:56One night, she drew a silver blade. She was done. My father caught her wrist. He didn't look at me.
02:02She's a waste, Serafina. But killing your own blood, the high lords would have our heads. The scandal would ruin
02:09us.
02:09My mother dropped the sword and collapsed into his arms.
02:12I can't do this anymore. I want her gone. She makes me sick.
02:16Alaric whispered, stroking her hair.
02:18I sent her to the fringes. Out of sight, out of mind.
02:21My mother tossed a purse of 3,000 gold marks at her feet.
02:25Take the runt. Feed her, drown her. I don't care. Just make sure I never see that face again.
02:31Gilly looked at my broken, battered body. She didn't say a word. She just sighed and took my hand.
02:36I followed her, my legs heavy, my mind a blur. At the iron gates of the palace, I looked back.
02:42The doors slammed shut.
02:43Gilly? Is mother, is she mad at me?
02:47Gilly turned away. Her shoulders shook. And she made a sound like a wounded animal.
02:52When she looked back, she forced a smile.
02:55We're gonna learn how to survive, little bird. Once you're strong, the world won't be able to ignore you anymore.
03:01We were both fools. We thought power could heal everything. We were wrong.
03:05We moved to the Grey Ridges. A place for those the world forgot.
03:09Soon after, my parents had another daughter.
03:11Cassandra. Perfect. Radiant. The rumors reached even our shack.
03:15Per they called her the son of House Phoenix.
03:18She had shifted at birth a goddamn miracle.
03:20They said Alaric built her a palace of solid gold for her first birthday.
03:24They spent a fortune to send her to the Great Citadel for training.
03:27She was going to be a goddess.
03:29Unlike me, people whispered I wasn't even a phoenix.
03:33A mistake. A half-breed.
03:37One day, the local kids cornered me.
03:40Where are your flames, freak?
03:42Then came the stones.
03:44One hit my temple. Warm blood ran down my neck.
03:47I didn't move. I just watched them.
03:50Gilly came charging out.
03:51Swinging a heavy iron ladle.
03:53Screaming like a banshee until they scattered.
03:56She held me, her heart thumping against my ear.
03:59Elle, look at me. You are a phoenix.
04:01Do you hear me?
04:02You're going to be the strongest of them all.
04:05But one of those boys was the son of the High Warden.
04:07We were hunted out of the ridges by sunrise.
04:10Gilly spent every gold mark she had left to get me to Stormhaven Sanctuary.
04:14A school for the unwanted, the broken, and the desperate.
04:18Even they didn't want me.
04:20Her core is a dead rock.
04:22A waste of space.
04:24Gilly did something that made my stomach turn.
04:26She knelt.
04:27She reached into her cloak and pulled out her elder feathers,
04:29the source of her own remaining life force,
04:31and laid them on the table.
04:33I was in.
04:33An outcast initiate.
04:35But I was more than broken.
04:36My mind was a fog.
04:37I couldn't learn the spells.
04:38My body wouldn't listen.
04:40Give up.
04:40You're trying to light a fire with a wet log.
04:43Gilly didn't listen.
04:45Every night, she'd sit behind me, her skin grey and papery.
04:48She'd press her palms to my spine,
04:50shivering as she forced her own thinning mana into my body.
04:53She disappeared for days into the Forbidden Peaks,
04:55looking for herbs that didn't exist in Legends.
04:57She fought off starving beasts with nothing but her bare hands and a jagged stone.
05:02Every time she came back, she was bleeding.
05:05Thinner.
05:05Shaking.
05:06I lived for her.
05:07I bled for her.
05:08And I hated them for her.
05:12I was terrified of losing Gilly.
05:14I clung to her tattered cloak, begging her to stop.
05:17I told her I was fine being a freak.
05:19I'd be a useless brat for the rest of my life if it meant she stayed safe.
05:23For the first time, Gilly snapped.
05:27Don't you ever fucking say that again!
05:30Stop acting like a damn coward!
05:32The more they look down on you, the harder you fight.
05:37You stand up, Elle.
05:40You win.
05:42And then you slap the hell out of every person who ever called you a mistake.
05:47When my mother beat me, I felt nothing.
05:49But Gilly's words, they made my throat go thick.
05:52My vision blurred.
05:54One hot tear escaped, then another.
05:56Gilly's expression softened.
05:58She wiped my face with a thumb that felt like sandpaper.
06:00I can't stay forever, little bird.
06:02This world is a meat grinder.
06:06You have to learn how to keep your own head above water.
06:09Why not?
06:10Why can't you stay?
06:11She didn't answer.
06:13She just sighed and forced a vial of bitter, glowing liquid down my throat.
06:17I stopped arguing.
06:19I started working.
06:21Sunrise to sunset.
06:22Moonrise to dawn.
06:23I pushed my fractured core until my veins felt like they were filled with molten lead.
06:28Seasons bled into years.
06:29Finally, it happened.
06:31The awakening.
06:32I was still scrawny.
06:33Still plain.
06:34But I was an initiate of Stormhaven.
06:36I had a foundation.
06:39Gilly beamed.
06:40Look at you.
06:42A real phoenix.
06:44Beautiful.
06:47She kept going back to the Forbidden Peaks.
06:50Every time, she returned with more blood on her clothes and less light in her eyes.
06:55It's too dangerous, Gilly.
06:57Stop.
06:58Dangerous?
06:59I'm just bored of this dusty school.
07:02I go out for the fresh air.
07:04The herbs?
07:05Just a bonus.
07:06And the bruises?
07:10I like sticking my nose where it doesn't belong.
07:13Helping the weak.
07:15It's a hobby.
07:16She never complained.
07:17Instead, she told me stories of the Great Divide.
07:20A world where miracles were common.
07:22Where a beggar could become a king.
07:24And a god could fall into the mud.
07:27If I get strong enough, do you think my parents would love me then?
07:35Like they love her.
07:36I couldn't remember their faces anymore.
07:38It had been 200 years since the Iron Gate slammed shut.
07:40But I saw the other students talk about their families.
07:43Gentle mothers.
07:45Stern fathers who hugged them when they won a duel.
07:47Of course they will, Elle.
07:49Who wouldn't love a girl as brave as you?
07:51That night, Gilly borrowed a scrying mirror from the Headmaster.
07:55I watched through a crack in the door.
07:58The glass shimmered, revealing a room of gold and silk.
08:01A woman lady Serafina was brushing the hair of a girl who looked like a polished version of me.
08:06Serafina looked.
08:07Soft.
08:08Tender.
08:08A mother I'd never known.
08:10Gilly spoke.
08:11Her voice trembling.
08:12She mentioned my name.
08:14She asked about a return to the High Court.
08:16Serafina's face turned to stone.
08:18The tenderness vanished.
08:20I told you before.
08:22I won't see that freak.
08:25But she's powerful now, m'lady.
08:27I don't give a damn if she's the Queen of Hell.
08:30She's...
08:30Don't bother me with this again.
08:32I decided long ago that I have no such daughter.
08:36She swiped her hand.
08:37The image shattered into darkness.
08:40Gilly sat there in the silence.
08:41Her eyes red and swimming with tears.
08:46I became a ghost in the training halls.
08:48Once I awakened, something inside me snapped open.
08:52The broken thing inside me finally started working.
08:55From initiate to adept a hundred years.
08:58From adept to master twenty.
09:00Thirty years after that.
09:01I hit the zenith grave.
09:03I was a half step away from ascension.
09:05The headmaster, the man who called me dead weight, couldn't even look me in the eye anymore.
09:10He just stood there, mouth agape, watching me spar, my peers.
09:14Some quit because the grind was too much.
09:17Others died of old age, their mortal shells giving out before their spirits could rise.
09:21I became the first disciple.
09:23The strongest weapon Stormhaven ever produced.
09:27Then came the grand games.
09:29The continental tournament.
09:30The headmaster took me and the junior initiates to the capital.
09:34It was my first time leaving the sanctuary.
09:36My first time back in their world.
09:39I saw Cassandra there.
09:40She was a student at the Citadel of Solstice.
09:43The elite of the elite.
09:44She was the silver medalist of the new generation.
09:47The second strongest youth in the world.
09:52The top spot belonged to Silas, the crown prince of the zenith.
09:56I saw Cassandra in the center of a roaring crowd.
09:59She was laughing, glowing, a star surrounded by a hundred adoring moons.
10:04A younger disciple from Stormhaven nudged me, looking between us.
10:09Master L, that girl from the Citadel.
10:11She looks just like you.
10:12Is she your sister or something?
10:15I rarely looked in mirrors.
10:17I had no idea what my face looked like these days.
10:20Before I could answer, a sneering voice cut through the air.
10:24A street nerd doesn't get to compare herself to a phoenix.
10:27They look nothing alike.
10:29Who's a mutt?
10:30Our master L is a phoenix too!
10:33The shouting match caught the attention of the crowd.
10:36Cassandra turned.
10:37Her eyes landed on me.
10:38Surprise.
10:39Then confusion.
10:40Then a flicker of staged hurt.
10:42She started looking for someone in the throng.
10:45A chill swept down my spine.
10:47A glare like a frozen blade.
10:49I turned.
10:49I saw her.
10:51A face I'd seen in nightmares and scrying mirrors.
10:54Lady Serafina.
11:02Mother, I thought you weren't coming.
11:05Serafina stroked her hair with a tenderness that made my stomach turn.
11:08I would never miss this, my love.
11:11I'm here to watch my little princess become the finest mage in the realm.
11:16Mother, do you know her?
11:18She looks so much like me.
11:23Never compare yourself to trash like that.
11:26You are the high princess of house phoenix.
11:29Lady Serafina, this peasant was just claiming to be a princess.
11:33Serafina's eyes were sharper than daggers.
11:35She let out a cold, sharp laugh.
11:38Any stray can bark about being a princess.
11:41House phoenix has only one, my daughter, Cassandra.
11:45She took Cassandra's hand and walked toward the VIP dais without looking back.
11:49I stood there, drowned in a sea of laughter.
11:51Pathetic.
11:52A mutt trying to play phoenix.
11:53Trying to claim kin with Lady Cassandra?
11:55Bold move.
11:56Shameful but bold.
11:57I looked at my disciples.
11:59They looked crushed.
12:00Stop it.
12:00Don't fight them.
12:01I'm not a princess.
12:02Hell no!
12:03We've seen her true form!
12:04She's a nine-winged golden Seraf!
12:06Pro tip for the idiots.
12:08Only the royal bloodline can spawn a nine-wing.
12:10Cassandra is the only princess.
12:11Who the hell is this Elowon?
12:12The shouting turned into shoving.
12:15Shoving turned into a fist in a nose.
12:16Finally, a high overseer stepped in.
12:21Stormhoff.
12:21Typical.
12:22Guards, throw these troublemakers out.
12:26What about them?
12:28The overseer's eyes narrowed.
12:30A crushing weight settled on my shoulders.
12:33Gravity doubled.
12:34Cold sweat beaded on my forehead.
12:36It was hard to breathe, let alone speak.
12:38I forced my spine straight.
12:40Bullshit!
12:41This is bullshit!
12:43It wasn't one-sided.
12:44You're being biased, and you know it!
12:46Fine!
12:47Everyone involved is disqualified!
12:50That's when Cassandra stepped in.
12:52Looking like a goddamn saint.
12:54She bowed.
12:55Modest.
12:56Humble.
12:56Perfect.
12:57Lord Varric, please.
12:59This was all because of me.
13:01Don't punish my classmates.
13:02They were just defending my honor.
13:06Lord Varric, please.
13:09This was all my fault.
13:11Don't punish my brothers.
13:13They were only defending my honor.
13:15This tournament only happens once a century.
13:18To miss it over a misunderstanding, it would destroy their futures.
13:22She knelt.
13:23Modest.
13:24Pathetic.
13:25A goddamn saint.
13:26The Citadel students looked at her with wet eyes.
13:29Fists clenched.
13:30They looked like they wanted to tear our throats out for even existing.
13:33But her mercy didn't extend to us.
13:36Not a word for Stormhaven.
13:38Fine.
13:39Stormhaver is out.
13:43Guards!
13:45Escort them to the gates.
13:47Hold it!
13:49Right there!
13:49Check the Eftari.
13:51Rewind the records.
13:52Let everyone see who threw the first punch.
13:55If you kick us out without the truth, I'll take this to the High Council myself.
13:59I'll scream bias until every house in this realm hears it.
14:03The crowd went silent.
14:04To challenge an overseer was social suicide.
14:07But Stormhaven's reputation was on the line.
14:10My kids' futures were on the line.
14:12I wasn't budging.
14:15You dare.
14:18You're a fraud, Elowen.
14:21Pretending to be a phoenix, causing riots, and now you want to lecture us on justice.
14:25I should have ended you years ago.
14:27She flicked her wrist.
14:29A wave of white-hot phoenix fire roared toward me.
14:32I felt the heat before I saw the flames.
14:35My new robes singed, the smell of burnt fabric filling my nose.
14:39The fire stopped half an inch from my throat.
14:45Master, let's go.
14:46Are you trying to bully me into silence, m'lady?
14:49Or are you just afraid of what the records show?
14:52Stormhaven is a joke.
14:53A sanctuary for runts and failures.
14:56You don't belong on this stage.
14:58Then let's make it interesting.
15:00A bet.
15:01If I win the tournament and beat your golden girl,
15:04you apologize.
15:05In public.
15:06To all of us.
15:08Laughter erupted from the Citadel benches.
15:11You?
15:13Beat Cassandra?
15:14You won't even survive the first round.
15:16Then you have nothing to lose.
15:17Unless you're scared the mutt actually has teeth.
15:22Fine!
15:25And when you lose...
15:26I looked at her, the woman who had broken me before I was born.
15:29I'll return everything.
15:31I'll cut the very flesh you gave me from my bones.
15:34I'll bleed out every drop of your house's blood
15:36until there's nothing left.
15:38You can have the corpse.
15:40The air went cold.
15:42The laughter stopped.
15:43Even Seraphina's face went pale for a split second.
15:46The crowd felt the weight of it, the sheer, jagged hatred in my voice.
15:50Deal.
15:52Cassandra, when you meet her on the field, show no mercy.
15:58The games began.
16:00The other houses avoided us like the plague.
16:02They knew the Citadel had marked us.
16:06Cassandra, stay back.
16:07I'll deal with these failures myself.
16:13Stay inside.
16:14Unless I'm dead, nobody touches you.
16:16The Citadel crowd roared with laughter.
16:18Going solo?
16:19You really are suicidal!
16:21Silas lunged.
16:23His blade wreathed in lightning.
16:24I didn't blink.
16:25I didn't even draw a weapon.
16:27In a blur of motion, I was behind him.
16:30My palm slammed into the base of his skull.
16:32The sound echoed in the sudden silence.
16:34Silas hit the dirt.
16:36Hard.
16:37His lightning fizzled out like a dying candle.
16:39I looked at Cassandra.
16:41Next.
16:45I let out a slow, steady breath.
16:48Fine.
16:49Let's do this the hard way.
16:50I reached down and unlatched the gravity braces from my wrists and ankles.
16:54They hit the stone floor with a bone-shaking thud.
16:57My body felt lighter than air.
16:59Speed was the only absolute I'd ever learned in 200 years of training in the dirt.
17:04Facing 20 Citadel elites.
17:06I became nothing but a blur of motion.
17:08I moved through them like a ghost through a graveyard.
17:11I didn't have time for flashy spells.
17:13Every strike had to count.
17:15Behind me, my disciples were huddled in the barrier.
17:18If I tripped, they were dead meat.
17:21Three seconds later, only 10 of them were still standing.
17:24The arena went graveyard silent.
17:26The mocking whispers died in their throats.
17:29They weren't looking at a mutt anymore.
17:31They were looking at a predator.
17:33They tried to form a battle circle, a complex web of mana designed to trap and crush.
17:37I didn't wait.
17:38I dived straight into the heart of their formation, shattering the flow of their energy.
17:43But they were fast.
17:44They shifted.
17:45A whirlwind of invisible blades spinning toward me from every direction.
17:49Enough playing around.
17:51I let my true form rip.
17:53My human skin dissolved as I shifted into the nine-winged phoenix, my spirit armored in white-hot solar fire.
17:58A massive shockwave of flame erupted from me with a deafening screech.
18:02She's a phoenix!
18:04A goddamn golden nine-wing!
18:06Does Alaric have another daughter?
18:08Where the hell did she come from?
18:12I shifted back to my human form and stepped toward Cassandra.
18:16She was trembling, her face pale as a ghost.
18:19Suddenly, she burst into tears.
18:22I'm the only princess!
18:24She's a fake!
18:25She's a goddamn fake!
18:26She shrieked and summoned the sun-feather daggers, the seven legendary relics of our house.
18:31They blazed with destructive power, screaming through the air as they dove toward my heart.
18:36Just as the daggers reached my skin, I raised a hand.
18:40They stopped.
18:41Seven glowing blades hovering inches from my flesh.
18:44I traced a symbol in the air.
18:46The daggers hummed, vibrating under my command.
18:48I reversed their path, turning the points toward Cassandra, surrounding her in a ring of cold, glowing steel.
18:57Trying to kill me, little sister?
18:59Cassandra's lip quivered.
19:00Fear leaked into her eyes.
19:02I let the daggers inch closer, just enough to feel the heat.
19:06Surrender.
19:07Say the word.
19:10You don't get it, sister.
19:12All I have to do is cry.
19:14And mother will end you.
19:16She knew who I was.
19:17She always knew.
19:18Before I could breathe, she threw herself backward.
19:21The blades barely grazed her silk dress, but she fell as if she'd been struck by a truck.
19:26Lady Serafina blurred from the dais.
19:29She caught Cassandra with one hand and slammed a palm into my chest with the other.
19:33I could have dodged it.
19:34I chose not to.
19:35I wanted this to be the end of us.
19:37I hit the dirt, coughing up blood.
19:40A roar of fury erupted from the crowd.
19:45The High Lady is cheating!
19:47This is bullshit!
19:48Is anyone going to stop this?
19:50How is this a fair fight if the gods intervene?
19:53Shut your mouths!
19:54This brat tried to murder her own sister.
19:56As her mother, I'm teaching her a lesson she should have learned long ago.
20:00Oh, so now she was my mother.
20:02Only when it came time to punish me.
20:05I should have killed you in the cradle.
20:07Where did you steal our family's blade arts from?
20:09You're not worthy to touch these daggers.
20:11You're a fucking abomination!
20:13They're filthy now.
20:14I won't have Cassandra getting sick from your touch.
20:16She flew off with her precious golden girl.
20:19I stood up slowly, wiping the blood from my chin.
20:22I looked at the High Overseer.
20:23Did I win?
20:24Yes.
20:25You won.
20:26I thanked him and dropped the barrier.
20:28My disciples swarmed me.
20:30My little junior was a mess of snot and tears, clinging to my waist.
20:34Screw that lady!
20:35If she doesn't want you, I'm taking you home!
20:37I'll tell my mom to adopt you!
20:39You can be my sister for real!
20:41Back off, kid!
20:42If anyone's adopting her, it's my family!
20:45We're richer!
20:45I laughed.
20:46It hurt my ribs, but for the first time in centuries, my heart didn't feel like a stone.
20:52I wasn't alone.
20:53I took the championship.
20:55Elevon, join us at the Citadel.
20:58With your talent, you could rule the realm in a decade.
21:00Thanks, but I've already got a home.
21:03Loyalty is rare these days.
21:05If you ever find yourself in trouble, little phoenix, find me.
21:10I headed back to Stormhaven, my heart racing.
21:13I had the vitality call.
21:15This would save Gilly.
21:17It would help her survive the waning, the natural fading of old age.
21:20We'd have forever.
21:22But when I reached our shack, Gilly was gone.
21:24A note sat on the table.
21:26Three words.
21:27Come to phoenix spires.
21:29My blood ran cold.
21:30I flew.
21:31The palace was more bloated and gilded than ever.
21:33I didn't care about the gold.
21:35I found my parents in the throne room.
21:38Where is she?
21:39Where is Gilly?
21:40No manners.
21:42You see your parents and you ask for a servant.
21:43Eloweni, your sister is in trouble.
21:46After the game, she suffered a massive psychic backplash.
21:48Her core is shattered.
21:49I need you to be a sister.
21:50Give her half of your core.
21:51You're a nine-wing now.
21:52You'll regrow it.
21:53I stared at them.
21:54They were asking for my heart.
21:56Like it was a piece of candy.
21:59No!
22:00No!
22:02Look, El.
22:03We're different from the other houses.
22:06Our cores regrow.
22:07Like skin.
22:08Especially yours.
22:09That primordial spark of yours is living proof.
22:13You were born broken and look at you now.
22:15You're a goddamn miracle.
22:18You'll make a new one.
22:20But Cassandra, she needs half of yours now.
22:22She'll have a perfect core.
22:24And you'll be fine in a few decades.
22:26He said it like he was asking to borrow a cup of sugar.
22:30Like my call, the thing Gilly spent centuries of blood and agony to fix was just a spare part.
22:35Hell no!
22:40You heartless bitch!
22:42That's your sister!
22:43If you hadn't broken her pride at the games, she wouldn't be in this mess.
22:47You owe her!
22:48If you won't give it, I'll carve it out of your chest myself.
22:51I gave you that life, Elwan.
22:54I own every drop of blood in your veins!
22:57I pushed myself up.
22:58My heart was a stone.
23:01Where is Gilly?
23:02Dead.
23:05She's exaggerating.
23:06Gilly is in the Golden Palace, tending to your sister.
23:09She wants you to do this, El.
23:12She wants what's best for the family.
23:14I see her, or no deal.
23:16They brought a woman out.
23:18She had Gilly's face, Gilly's clothes.
23:21But when she spoke, my stomach turned.
23:23Oh, little bird.
23:25Just give the princess your spark.
23:28It's for the best.
23:29My hands shook.
23:31Not from fear, but from rage.
23:33Gilly never called me little bird without it sounding like a prayer.
23:37This creature sounded like a salesman.
23:39I flicked my wrist, sending a lash of solar fire across her face.
23:42The illusion shattered, revealing a terrified shapeshifter who scrambled away, shrieking.
23:50Where is she?
23:55What did you do to her?
23:56Alaric wouldn't look at me.
23:58Seraphina signaled the guards.
24:00They carried Gilly in on a stretcher.
24:01The smell of copper hit me first.
24:03She was a map of open wounds, blood dripping onto the floor.
24:07She couldn't even groan.
24:08Gilly, no, look at me.
24:13I have the cure.
24:16Just open your mouth, please.
24:20She's a servant, Ellawon.
24:22She's lived long enough.
24:25This belongs to Cassandra now.
24:27I looked at her.
24:28I realized then that hate has no bottom.
24:30It's just an endless, freezing dark.
24:35Give it back.
24:37A blast of wind hit me from behind.
24:40I waited for the impact.
24:42The bone-deep pain.
24:43It never came.
24:44I turned.
24:45Gilly was standing.
24:47Her true form.
24:48A tattered, grey bird had expanded.
24:50Her wings shielding my back.
24:52There was a hole, the size of a fist in her chest.
24:55Blood pumped out in rhythmic, dying spurts.
25:00Run, Ell.
25:03Live.
25:04Be.
25:06Free.
25:07She used the last of her life to shove me toward the balcony.
25:10You're not going anywhere!
25:13Seraphina screamed, kicking Gilly's dying body.
25:16Gilly didn't let go.
25:17She clung to Seraphina's ankles with a grip like iron.
25:20Even as the light left her eyes.
25:25I ran.
25:26I didn't know where, but I ran until my lungs burned.
25:29I ended up at the edge of the abyss of the fallen.
25:32Seraphina, Alaric, caught up.
25:34Their guards surrounded me, blades drawn.
25:36Give us the spark, you brat!
25:38It's the only way you can pay for what you've done!
25:41I owe you nothing.
25:42You gave me life.
25:44Today I give it back.
25:45But you?
25:47You get nothing!
25:48I didn't hesitate.
25:50I stepped back into the void.
25:51My body shattered.
25:52Pain?
25:53No.
25:54It was a cold, tearing vibration.
25:56Then, a voice.
25:57Gilly's voice.
25:58Live.
25:59Ell.
26:00Don't let the fire go out.
26:01The darkness didn't swallow me.
26:03It ignited.
26:04I swam toward a pinpoint of white light.
26:06When I opened my eyes, the sky was screaming.
26:08Lightning struck me not once, but a thousand times.
26:12It wasn't killing me.
26:14It was forging me.
26:15My flesh woven itself back together.
26:17Not as a girl, but as something ancient.
26:20Something eternal.
26:21I roared.
26:22The clouds vanished.
26:24Below.
26:24The crowd at the abyss stared up in terror.
26:27A bird the size of a warship filled the sky.
26:29It wasn't gold.
26:30It was a blinding, crystalline crimson.
26:33Flames that didn't just burn they purified.
26:35The Vermilion Avatar, the sun god, has returned.
26:38Serafina and Alaric were trembling.
26:41They saw the power.
26:42They saw the divinity.
26:45Elevin, our daughter.
26:47Come home.
26:48Lead the house.
26:49We'll rule the world together.
26:51I shifted back.
26:52I drifted down.
26:53My feet barely touching the scorched earth.
26:56No.
26:57It can't be you.
26:59You were a runt.
27:00A mistake.
27:03You wanted a spark?
27:08Serafina trembled, as if she were looking at a ghost.
27:11But the shock didn't last.
27:13She stood up, a jagged, hysterical laugh tearing from her throat.
27:17So what if you're some goddamn avatar now?
27:19I'm your mother.
27:20You think a few shiny feathers make you something you're not?
27:22You wouldn't dare kill me.
27:24You're still too weak to do it.
27:26No.
27:27I won't kill you.
27:28That would be too easy.
27:29I want you to live.
27:30I want you to live forever.
27:32I flicked my fingers.
27:33A thread of crimson gold light spun from my hand and buried itself in her forehead.
27:38She froze, her hands flying to her skin, clawing at nothing.
27:43What did you do to me?
27:45I ignored her.
27:46I turned to Lord Alaric.
27:47He was smarter than her.
27:49Or at least more of a coward.
27:51He was already backing away.
27:53Hands raised in a pathetic gesture of peace.
27:56I didn't do any of it.
27:58It was her.
27:59All of it was her.
28:01I looked at him the man who had watched my mother bash a girl's brains out with my egg.
28:05The man who had watched me get beaten for 10 years and never said a word.
28:09The man who sat on his throne while they tortured Gilly.
28:11He never raised a fist against me.
28:13But he was worse than Serafina.
28:15He had every chance to stop the nightmare.
28:17And he chose comfort instead.
28:19He thought silence made him innocent.
28:22Silence is a goddamn lie.
28:24I threw two more golden threads into his chest.
28:26They didn't feel it yet.
28:28The slow, screaming fall into hell.
28:31As they began to harden into stone, frozen as statues on that jagged peak, the citadel crowd arrived.
28:39Cassandra was with them.
28:41She looked perfect.
28:42No scars.
28:43No shattered core.
28:45Her magic was pulsing through her.
28:47Strong and healthy.
28:48I could see through her glamour now.
28:50Her core had never been damaged.
28:52You monster.
28:53You're committing the ultimate sin.
28:55You're killing our parents.
28:56Even if you're an avatar, the cosmos won't forgive this.
28:58Release them now.
28:59Your parents?
29:00What do they have to do with me?
29:01They're your flesh and blood.
29:02You're lower than a beast for doing this to them.
29:04I paid that debt.
29:05I died in that abyss.
29:07Every drop of blood they gave me is gone.
29:10Now, I'm here for Gilly.
29:13And you.
29:14You played your part, little sister.
29:16Ah, Lucian!
29:17She's going to kill me!
29:18Elevins, stop.
29:20I've heard about the drama with your house, but parents are parents.
29:23Let them go.
29:24Be the bigger person.
29:26Be the bigger person.
29:27That's what people always say when they're not the ones bleeding.
29:30And if I don't?
29:31You think you can take on the entire High Council?
29:34Retribution will destroy you.
29:36I didn't kill them.
29:37They're alive.
29:38You want them?
29:39Take them.
29:39Lucian frowned.
29:40He waved a hand, breaking my glamour.
29:43The stone skin fell away.
29:45And Alaric and Seraphine aghast, falling into the dirt.
29:48Thank you for being reasonable.
29:50He took the three of them and left.
29:52He thought he had won.
29:53He didn't know that once the golden thread enters the soul, there is no cure.
29:58A week later, Phoenix fires burned.
30:00The rumors said Alaric and Seraphine went mad.
30:04Driven mad by the curse.
30:05They turned on their precious Cassandra.
30:07They tore her apart with their bare hands before they even realized what they were doing.
30:12When they woke up covered in her blood, the real hell began.
30:15Every time one died, my thread pulled them back.
30:18Their flesh would rot.
30:19Their bones would shatter.
30:21And then snap they were whole again.
30:23Two half-rotted monsters driven by nothing but hatred.
30:26Clawing at each other in the ruins of their palace.
30:28Nobody went near the mountain.
30:30The screams were enough to drive a lesser mage insane.
30:36Finally, Archmage Tyi from the Citadel came to Stormhaven.
30:40I was sitting by a simple headstone in the garden.
30:43If you're here to talk me out of it, save your breath.
30:45They deserve it, but how long do you want this to go on?
30:49It's time for an ending, Elm.
30:51I can't kill them.
30:52The divine backlash would destroy everything I've built here.
30:55Then I'll do it.
30:55I'll be the hand of fate.
30:57You've carried enough, little Phoenix.
30:59What do you think, Nanny?
31:00The wind caught the leaves of the evergreen tree nearby.
31:03Making a sound that felt like a sigh.
31:05Tyi ended them that night.
31:07He announced their crimes to the realm.
31:09There was no funeral.
31:10No mourning.
31:11Just spit and curses for the fallen house Phoenix.
31:14The elders of the high houses tried to get me to take the throne.
31:17I told them to go to hell.
31:19I stayed at Stormhaven.
31:20I became the master of the sanctuary.
31:22We're the top tier school now.
31:24Not because of gold or bloodlines.
31:26But because we take the runts.
31:28We take the broken.
31:29My littlest junior is a champion now.
31:31She still cries when she fights.
31:33Which pisses off her opponents.
31:35They think she's weak until she starts breaking ribs.
31:39I go to the garden every day.
31:41Whenever I look up, the wind moves the branches of the evergreen.
31:45And for a second, it sounds like someone is whispering my name.
31:48I didn't become the legend Gilly told me about.
31:50I became something better.
31:52I'm alive.
31:53And I am free.
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