Phoenix tear

Multi colored flames swirled around the red pearl spirit ware in the center of the room. Fire particles constantly came in from the outside, joining into the colored flames. I stood there for a long time. Carter was wrong, Riley's rebirth took longer than one hour. It was night time when he finally started to take shape.

The clouds of magic suddenly grew thicker as a shape started taking form in the center of the room. First blue flames grouped together into the legs. Then yellow flames became the hands, orange flames formed the arms. Then Green flames became the waist. Red flames built the chest. Black flames created the neck and finally white flames produced the head.

Riley's figure started to take shape. He was not yet visible, but the flames merged to become his new shape. I stared at it weirdly. Riley looked just a little shorter than me. His frame was thin. Something looked odd though. His body looked curvy, which was weird.

As the flames merged farther and farther together, the clouds of magic swirled and started mixing into Riley's new silhouette. The temperature in the room started to rise more and more.

I backed up, the temperature was even hotter than the hottest of flames I've ever experienced.

"Logan, don't worry this temperature shouldn't last for to long. Stay focus. This kid is going to be completely reformed soon," Carter said. He was hiding behind my back.

I glanced back at him, "Carter, why are you hiding back there?" I asked him.

Carter snuck his little head up and peaked into the room. "Those phoenix flames are still very harmful to my health. I need to make sure I am protected agasint it." he said.

"How is hiding behind me going to protect you," I said rolling my eyes.

"If anything happens, I have you as my first defense." He said.

"Really, if I get scorched by those flames. It would hit you just as fast." I said chuckling.

"It's a conscious decision. Stop talking to me. Focus on Riley's rebirth. His rebirth is a perfect opportunity for you to see the many aspects of fire magic. Do you see all those colored flames? Each is a different type of fire magic." Carter explained.

I looked back into the room. The flames each had its own distinct auras. So, there was this many type of fire magic. If fire magic had this many type, shouldn't the other types of magic be the same. Could I be able to understand all the aspects of each type of magic?

Suddenly a deep red light started spreading out from the pearl that was floating within Riley's chest. Within seconds the entire room was shrouded in red light. The colored flames suddenly all flickered and started materializing into flesh. The clouds of magic started to swirl into the flames. Veins, organs, and nerves started to form within Riley's body.

I stared in amazement. I was able to see the reforming of every organ, vein, nerve and muscle within Riley's body. It was amazing. Once all the organs became flesh. A soft faint song echoed in the room and bones started to form within Riley's body. Finally, as the song reached its highest peak. Skin started to appear around Riley's whole body.

As all the skins began to appear, the song grew extremely loud and a blinding light showered the room. I closed my eyes in pain. I was almost blinded. I rubbed my eyes. Suddenly the song ended, and Carter gasped.

I quickly opened my eyes, but everything was blurry. "Carter what's wrong?" I asked, trying desperately to shake off the blurry vision.

"This...this..." Carter stuttered.

"What?" I asked, wanting to know what was going on.

I looked ahead, my blurry vision could faintly see a figure walking toward me.

"Riley?" I asked.

The blurry figure nodded his head.

I smiled. "Good, finally you have completed rebirth, my eyes are very blurry right now. I can't see you correctly" I said.

"Logan…" Stuttered Carter.

"What is it?" I asked him annoyed. Why was he stuttering. Riley was finished with rebirth. We now had a phoenix on our side. The future was looking bright.

"Logan Sir," said a velvety voice.

I stuttered, this voice. It sounded velvety. It almost sounded like a girl's voice. But there were no girls in the room.

"Logan sir," the velvety voice said again.

Suddenly it clicked. This voice was Riley's, but why did his voice sound like a girl's voice. I shook my head. Maybe his voice was not settled after rebirth. That must be it.

"Riley, how are you feeling?" I asked still blinking, my vision was still very blurred. That light was very intense.

"I'm fine Login sir, but…" he said.

"But what?" I asked,

"I'm naked" he squealed in a high-pitched voice.

I furrowed my brows. Even his squeal sounded like a girl's voice. "No worries. I have extra clothing. Here," I lifted my hand up and offered him my dimensional ring.

Riley reached out his hands and slowly took the ring off my finger. His newly reformed hand felt so soft and smooth. Of course, it did. He did just get reformed. Everything is new. Obviously, it would be smooth and soft. I thought to myself.

"Thank you, Logan sir" Riley said in a soft voice.

I rubbed my eyes more and finally my vison started to clear. As my vision cleared. A figure slowly started to appear in my eyes. It was a young girl with beautiful long blonde hair. Her hair shone in the dim light of the room. She was just buttoning up a white shirt. She wore a thin underwear. The young girl was sitting on the floor. She lifted her leg and started putting them into a pair of black pants. She lifted it up and zipped up her pants.

The young girl's eyes glittered with sapphire blue as she turned her head. She brushed her long blond hair back and slowly stood up. She smiled when she saw I was looking at her. Her smile made the light in the room pale in comparison.

"Who?" I asked confused.

The young girl rushed up and pulled me into a crushing hug. As she embraced me, I could feel her breast pressing against my chest. My heart started to skip in increasing speed. My pulses all started shaking all at once. My hands grew sweaty. My mind felt like I was standing on clouds. I could not compose myself.

"Logan Sir, I'm grown up!" the girl squealed in excitement, her body pressed harder against mine.

I pushed her away and took a few steps back. I looked at the girl in horror. "Who… who are you?" I asked afraid to hear the answer. I heard her words and there was no one else in the room, but I could not believe what my mind was telling me. This can't be real.

The girl pursed her lips and crossed her arms. "Logan sir, what do you mean? I'm Riley. Have you already forgotten about me? " The girl said.

I tripped and fell to the floor. My heart could not stand it anymore.

The girl rushed up to me and crouched next to me. She offered her hand, "Logan sir, are you Okay?' she asked, looking down at me with her sapphire eyes.

"Ri…Ri…" I stuttered. I could not complete the word. This girl was Riley. But Riley was supposed to be a boy. How is he a girl? Carter climbed on my shoulders and sighed.

"I guess we all had it wrong. This kid was a girl all along." Carter broke out in laughter. "I can't believe it" he laughed dropping to the floor, unable to contain himself. He rolled around on the floor, legs up in the air.

Riley stared at Carter in displeasure. "Mr. Carter, right? What's so funny?" she asked.

Carter stopped, he took in a deep breath and sat on his butt. "I see you can completely see me without me materializing now" he commented.

Riley nodded her head. "My inheritance has been activated. I can access information from my ancestors. I know what I am now and I know what you are. So, Mr. Carter I am no longer afraid of you." She said, a flame flickered in her left hand.

Carter flinched and darted behind my back.

Riley laughed. Her laughter was as sweet as honey.

I blinked, my heart was still racing uncountably. "Riley?" I finally said.

Riley smiled, "Yes, it's me Logan sir. I'm sorry I kept this secret from you" she said lowering her gaze.

My heart skipped even faster. "It's okay. It just shocked me for a second." I said finally accepting the reality. Riley was a girl and she was a gorgeous young woman.

Riley took my arms and pulled me back to my feet.

"Logan sir," she said closing her distance from me. She was standing inches from me. My heart was about to explode. I gripped my chest and ran from the room. I couldn't be in her presence any longer. She was killing me.

"Logan sir!" Riley called from behind.

"Riley, I need to rest. You can rest here for tonight. We can talk in the morning." I shouted not daring to look back. I raced up the stairs and ran down the hall. I saw a sticky note by a door in the hall. I stopped and read the sticky, Logan this is the room I've prepared for you. Signed Uncle Frederick.

I took down the sticky and entered the room. I slammed the door shut and leaned my back against it. My heart was still racing like crazy. What the heck was happening? Why was I feeling like this? The shock should not have done this to me. Sure, it was shocking to find out that Riley was really a girl. But it shouldn't have done this to me. I could not think at all. This was the first time in my life that I felt this way.

I took in deep breaths. After minutes of breathing in and out. My heart finally settled. I slid to the ground. It was cold. But it was just the thing I needed.

“That was embarrassing” said Carter appearing next to me.

I looked over at him and took in a deep breath. “What do you mean?”

“I mean your reaction to Riley back there.” He said grinning.

“I don’t know what you are talking about” I said.

Carter looked at me sheepishly, "So isn't Riley pretty?" he asked.

"Yeah," I said without thinking.

"See, look at your face," he chuckled.

"What are you talking about?" I said my face reddening. Riley's face was etched in my mind. I could not get it out. I shook my head. I needed to focus. This was no time to be thinking about useless things.

Carter patted his left claw on my thigh and breathed out a breath of fresh air. “Never mind buddy” he said. “Take a rest. The cities going to be in a riot tomorrow.” Carter laughed then disappeared back into his heart once again.

I took in a deep breath and went to bed. This was going to be a long night.

………………………………………………………………………………

The morning came really early the next day. I looked outside, and the town was bustling. It was unlike the day before, armoured walked the streets. They were patrolling. I guess last nights Phoenix fire really jolted the town into action.

I looked in the direction of the hotel and nearly had my eyes pop out of my sockets. The fire ball was still there. What was going on. Riley’s rebirth was over, why was that still around?

“Like I said before, that is a decoy.” Said Carter appearing next to me again.

I glanced over at him and nodded a greeting. “How long is that thing supposed to stay up there?” I asked.

“Oh, a month at the least and a year at most. It would usually stay there for as long as the Phoenix is still in rebirth, but Riley has already finished the process. So, it shouldn’t last to long. Of course, Riley can make it go away if she swallowed all that fire. But I would not recommend her doing that unless we are leaving town.” Carter said.

“I see” I said. This was so different. It looked like another sun hung in the sky.

“Okay, I guess we should go see aunt Penelope first” I said remembering her words from yesterday.

“Why don’t you visit Riley first. I think the old witch would like to see her too. Plus, we should have a look at that spirit ware of hers.” Carter said.

I blushed remembering Riley from last night. I shook my head. I should not be thinking about such things. “Why? That spirit ware belongs to her now. What business do we have with it?" I asked.

"We should at least see if she has dealt with it properly. We don’t want the former owner finding out we have it, do we? We need to make sure that there is not tracking on it" Carter said.

He was making a good point. Whoever had the spirit ware before might have put some sort of a trace on it. We couldn't afford to be found.

“Okay then let’s go” I said going into the washing room and making myself presentable.

We walked downstairs and headed straight into the basement room.

When he entered the room, Riley was already up and dressed. She had somehow found a red dress. She looked stunning in it. She looked over at me with her beautiful blue eyes. I shook my head. I needed my head to be clear.

“Logan Sir, what happened before?” she asked me concerned.

“What do you mean?” I asked back.

“Before, we were prisoners. But now you can move in and out of this room with ease. What happened?” she asked taking a step closer to me.

I took a step back, “Oh, that." I said scratching my head and walking pass her and leaning against a wall. "It so happens that the owners of this shop ended up being relatives of my masters'” I explained.

“I see” Riley said, she had her hair in her hands. She was twirling it.

“Stop the small talk and get to business already," shouted Carter. He did not look like he was enjoying all the small talk.

Riley looked at him and frowned. “Mr. Carter, what business do we have to attend to?” She said releasing her hair.

"It's about the spirit ware you got yesterday," Carter said.

Riley lifted her chin up and pursed her lips. A red pearl floated out of her mouth and it slowly floated into her right hand “You mean this." She asked.

Carter nodded his head, "Yes, that" he said flying over to her and taking a closer look at the pearl.

"It doesn't look like it has a trace on it" said Carter

"This is a Phoenix pearl. It is a very ancient spirit ware. No one can put a trace it it.” Riley giggled. “Logan sir would you like to have a look at it?” she asked handing it over to me.

I took the pearl. It was light. But the moment I touched it. It felt warm. The pearl radiated a light warmth. The pearl was red in colour. It was the size of a marble and inside the pearl a tiny feather floated in the center with clouds of Smokey red flames swirling around it.

“It's beautiful” I said. It truly was.

“Logan sir. This is the spirit ware Phoenix tear. It was one of our races most treasured items. It was formed from the tears of the first Phoenix. It’s a very powerful spirit ware. It has lost some of its former glory, but with my Phoenix fire I can return it to its former glory one day” she said.

“Wow” I said handing the Phoenix tear back to Riley.

“Logan sir are you willing to form an alliance with me?” Riley asked.

“A what?” I asked.

“What!” screamed Carter. “Are you crazy?” He said his face going pale.

“What’s a Phoenix alliance?” I asked.

“It’s a lot like the partnership contract that you and Carter share. It will allow you to form a phoenix pearl within your magic core. A phoenix pearl is a higher-level fire orb.” Riley explained.

"That sounds pretty good.” I said. It sounded really good. I know I shouldn't add anymore magical burden on myself. I already had my hands full with learning wind and life magic. But if the opportunity offered itself, why not take it.

“That’s good. We can perform it right away.” Riley said smiling. Her smile lit up the room.

Before Carter could stop her. Phoenix Fire started to come out of Riley’s body and in a blink of an eye, a magic circle was formed. Carter scrambled away from the fire and cursed.

“I Riley Phoenixfire wishes to form an alliance with Logan” she chanted. Red rings of Phoenix fire surrounded us. She pricked her finger and a drop of her blood floated into the air.

She then leaned over and softly pricked my finger. My drop of blood slowly floated into the air. As the droplet met inside the magic circle, they mixed into each other and became one single droplet of blood.

Red light started to once again shower the room. Riley raised her hand. The Phoenix tear lifted off her hand and headed straight for the droplet of blood. The mixed droplet of blood entered the phoenix tear. Suddenly something inside me shattered.

I fell to the ground, breathing heavily. The flames vanished into the phoenix tear. The red light in the room faded and the phoenix tear retuned into Riley's hand. She smiled while bitting her upper lip. She looked really happy.

“What the heck did you do?” I asked in astonishment. My breathing was finally returning to normal. But I felt different somehow.

“I formed an alliance with you and forged a bond between you and me, through the phoenix tear.” She said still biting her upper lip. She looked really adorable.

Carter came racing down toward Riley. “You, reckless phoenix!" he yelled. "How could you just offer yourself to him like that. Have you no pride as a phoenix?” he flipped. His entire body was shaking with anger.

“Carter why are you so angry?” I asked confused.

“She formed an alliance with you. That is prohibited.” He said wind swirling around him uncontrollably.

“Why? Is that dangerous?” I asked concerned.

Carter glared at me "No." he said grinding his teeth together. "You’ve gained something far greater than you can ever imagine.” Carter said huffing an puffing, he was not able to settle down.

“Really, what did I gain? I asked.

“She formed an alliance with you." Carter pointed his left claw at Riley.

Riley was smiling smugly.

"In ancient times this contract is called a union, it means that she has accepted you into her clan. That means that you are now an official member of the Phoenix clan. It also means. You can access all Phoenix inheritances and share in their powers. It’s like you are a Phoenix. In essence you really are a phoenix now. It is a prohibited union. Why would you do such a thing. He is a human!” Carter screamed, wind blasting around the room.

Riley's dress flutter in the wind. She pulled her hair back and eyed Carter. “Carter you can also form a brotherhood with Logan sir, if you so please. I will not stop you” she chuckled, locking her lips into mischievous smile.

“Hell no!" Carter screamed. "He already has a partnership contract with me. I am not taking him into my clan.” He flung his claws up in the air and flew out of the room “I’m going to see that old witch. Don’t bother me for a while." He shouted.

“What’s his problem.” I asked. Still confused as to what happened.

“Never mind him Logan sir. Look inside your magic core.” Riley said pointing to my lower abdominal area.

“My magic core? What about it?” I said closing my eyes and checking in on my magic core. I almost stumbled when I saw it. There was a new orb inside my core. It was no ordinary one either. Its vibrant red color glittered inside my magic core. Intense power radiated from it. I could feel the strength of the magic inside. It was much stronger than my life and wind core combined. What was this? Was I dreaming?

“This…. this… this” I stuttered. "How did I form a fire orb without my notice?” I asked in complete befuddlement. This was out of this world. Where did this orb come from? How did it form inside my core without my awareness?

Riley giggled. “Logan sir, that is no ordinary fire orb. That is your new Phoenix pearl. A far more advanced and superior magic orb than any normal fire orb. It is formed through our alliance.” She explained.

“What!" I said in surprise.

“Yes, with the establishment of an alliance, you are given the same powers as a Phoenix. That means a Phoenix pearl will form inside your core. The phoenix pearl will grow in strength with our advancement. So, there is no need for you to worry about focusing your energy on the new magic orb. You can just sit back and relax. Through the awakening of my inheritance, you will also receive the information from my inheritance. So magic runes, magic circles will reveal itself to you without you moving an arm. You are now linked to me forever” she grinned happily.

“This… this is unheard of." I said perplexed and amazed at the same time. I just gained a new magic orb and I did not even work at creating it. It will advance with Riley and me. That was so new to me.

“That’s the great thing about an alliance contract. It can give the other the powers of their tribe.” Said Riley grinning wryly.

I patted her on the head out of habit. “Don’t do this again" I said. “If it’s prohibited by you race. Then there must have been a reason.” I said, I took my hand back. It acted on its own. I couldn't just do what I did before. Riley was a girl, a grown up one at that. She was no child nor was she a boy.

“Alright, I will never do such a thing again. One Phoenix can only offer an alliance once in their lifetime. I gave it to you already. No body else can ever get this same treatment from me.” She laughed playfully.

I sighed. This silly girl, she really did grow up. “Alright. I need to go see aunt Penelope. Do you want to come with?” I asked her.

Riley nodded her head and followed me upstairs.