: ̗̀➛ Revival Of The Fittest

3. Broken Deal

I got out of bed and walked over to the wardrobe, staring at the clothes in there. I still have a terrible fashion sense, I see. She could have at least helped me in that sense. Oh, the misery. I picked out an outfit and started to get changed, glancing around the room in curiosity as I did so. I wonder if there's anything worthwhile here. I let out a small sigh, the only thing that seemed mildly interesting was a collection of photographs that were on a stand. I walked over to the stand and just stared at the photos. Most were just of Sora and myself, but there were a few of him and his parents.

One photo, in particular, caught my eye. I'm not really sure why. There was a messy, raven-haired man with dull onyx eyes. He wore a stoic face and had a pair of plain black glasses on. The man, who I assumed was Sora's father, was tall, but slightly overweight, and wore a suit. Then there was his mother, who had the greatest similarities to Sora. She was a blonde with waist-length hair. She had ocean eyes that sparkled in the light and wore a small smile on her face, her floral dress making her stand out more, compared to the duller men in the picture. Sora was only young as he gripped his parent's hands, his face torn and nervous. He didn't know whether to smile or stay neutral. Two parents who seemed to be complete opposites, one boy who struggled to decide which one to follow. Interesting. I'm guessing his father by the stories I've heard of him. He was mature for a child of his age.

'Stop getting distracted,' Phoenix scolded, and I sighed, walking away from the photos. It was weird when she spoke in my head like that. I had never particularly liked it. It just felt... odd. Like I was losing myself even more. Am I even still human at this stage? I walked into the bathroom to finish my morning routine and then headed downstairs. 'When you go into the kitchen, hug Sora, tell him he looks beautiful, and kiss him on the cheek.'

'You're hilarious,' I told her, glancing in every room as I walked past. I don't remember the structure of the company he took over - I've only been there once or twice. It's weird that it showed up in my past. Shouldn't we be a lot younger, as well? I looked in the mirror, and I didn't look any younger than before I came here. If anything, I look like I've matured a bit. It was strange. Something felt off about this entire ordeal, and I wasn't sure how I felt about it.

'I wasn't joking,' Phoenix replied, and I scowled. I can't believe I have to do this. This is uncalled for. 'No one said you had to do it. The most this will do is make him feel happy and give me some amusement.'

'Your amusement is at my expense.' I said, twirling a piece of hair around my finger. I felt like she was easing me into this, and getting way too excited about what was to come. This was going to turn to shit relatively quickly.

'Which makes it all the better,' she replied, and I let out an exasperated sigh. Phoenix chuckled, almost like I was already caught in that little web of hers. Why am I even playing by Phoenix's rules when I gain nothing? If I walked away, not much would change for me, and Phoenix would have lost everything for nothing. I could turn the tables so quickly and so easily, because the thing is, she never was good at thinking things through. I could quite easily outwit her. It's a shame it would have such grave consequences. I feel like it would be fun - going toe to toe with a God, that is. 'You wouldn't dare defy me.'

'Why not?' I queried her sudden outburst, curious as to why she would give such an extreme reaction to such an easy fix. She practically screeched at me, and you could sense the pure hatred dripping off the damn bird. Was she trying to get me to leave, because I didn't need that much convincing? I thought she was better than this. I had more faith in her, but I guess that was misplaced.

'Because you want to see how this turns out, and if you left now then you would have to start from the bottom again. Would you want that?' She tried to reason her way out of this, and it was almost convincing. It's a shame I knew her better than this. I almost felt bad for her.