Dance with Swords | Book 1 of the Rising Phoenix Chronicles

Chapter 12 ~ All Around Me are Familiar Faces

Levin

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"My lord, there are people at the gates!" Dante panted after he had bursted into my office.

"W-what?" I said, trying to get my nerves under control. He had given me quite a scare.

Dante cleared his throat and stood straight up. "Lord Levin, there are three people who want to enter Phoenix Drop: Two men, and a little girl," he announced. "They say they knew your mother when she was younger."

"What?!" I said incredulously. "That's impossible!"

"Levin, if they knew your mother, then they could potentially help us find her," Dante pointed out. "Finding her is our top priority, next to restoring the ruins and maintaining a steady income of goods and services."

I sighed. "Bring them to me."

~.~

"Lord Levin, it is an honor to meet you," one of the men said, shaking my hand. "We've heard so much about you."

"Thank you, sir," I said respectfully. "Forgive me for asking, but what is your name?"

He smiled. "My name is Ian Heicho, this is my husband, Markus Tsuyoi," He gestured to the other man who gave a small wave. "And this lovely little lady is our daughter Jazabelle."

Ian had dark brown hair, a slight beard and tan skin while Markus had blonde hair with dark-green highlights with stubble lining his jaw. Jazabelle had red hair, green eyes, and pale skin with a smattering of freckles on her cheeks. She smiled at me, then started to play with Markus's hair. Her father chuckled.

"It is a pleasure to meet you three," I said formally. "Now, one of my guards told me that you knew my mother a long time ago. Is this true?"

The two men glanced at each other and nodded in sync. "Your mother was one of our closest friends," Markus said. "We were her head guards when she was the lord of Aethera. Well, technically Ian was her head guard and I was his second-in-command, but I'm sure you already know that."

I furrowed my brow. "Aethera? What's that?"

Jazabelle gasped and covered her mouth. "You don't know what Aethera is?!" she asked, surprise evident in her voice. "Aethera is only the biggest village-state in the world! It's even bigger than the some of the Shin'Ka strongholds we visited last summer!" She turned to Ian. "Remember when we met Princess Itka, Papa? Her dragon, Tavrinth, was AWESOME!"

Ian stared at me, his eyes wide. "She never told you...?" he murmured. "But, that doesn't make any sense...She loved that village to death..."

There was a knock at the door. I ran to answer it.

When I opened the door, the stranger, the one that stuck around for 15 years that seemed to know my mother more than anyone else here, stood on my front steps.

His mask was off.

He had very tanned skin with black hair and inky black eyes. He stared at me for a moment before he asked, "May I come inside? There is something I would like to say to you."

I looked back at the three sitting on my couch. "Uh, I have a few guests over at the moment, so please make it quick."

He nodded. "Thank you."

He stepped over the threshold and spotted the three. He stood straight stared at them for a moment. Markus and Ian stared back, while Jazabelle leapt off of Markus's lap and raced over to the stranger, squealing like a child on Christmas.

"AARON!" she cried, and hugged the man's legs tightly. The man slowly began to laugh, and was soon kneeling down and hugging the little girl back.

"Aaron...?" Ian whispered, his voice trembling with awe. "Is...Is it really you?"

The man looked up at Ian and nodded.

Ian raced towards the strange man and enveloped him in a hug, Markus joining a moment afterward.

"Aaron, we thought you had died!" Markus said to him. "Irene, Aphmau was devastated when she heard the news of Falconclaw. Poor woman had already gone through so much in the past few weeks, and..."

Markus trailed off once he saw Aaron's face. "Are you..." he said quietly. "...Crying?"

Sure enough, tear tracks streamed down Aaron's face.

"I watched Aethera burn," he whimpered. "I watched as Aphmau stared into that inferno. She saw your bodies. She screamed your names. I heard it with my own ears, and I couldn't do anything. I tried to save you, and..."

He took off his gloves.

Burn marks slashed across his palms.

"...And this happened." he said bitterly. "When I tried to lift some collapsed beams off of you two, my hands were seared by the hot wood. But, you two..."

He shuddered.

"You two were black and burnt."  

(MARKUS AND IAN ARE MY FAVORITE CHARACTERS SO FAR :3)