Green Phoenix

A dark figure looks over a lone house nestled in the woods below the hill she stands on.

One thousand years. I’ve tried to kill the son of Apollo many times since my betrayal. Unable to unleash my rage on the god himself I have stayed my appetite for vengeance by killing his progeny. One thousand years and none of their deaths have dampened my pain for long, I have come to doubt even wiping them all from the earth will be enough. I won’t know that until I do it though. So few of them left. Only the most powerful left. This one seems to have inherited immortality, rare among demigods, but it is not impossible to kill an immortal. The God’s War proved that. But today is not his day for release. Vengeful and petty my actions have been called, even insane, yet I give the children of Apollo a peace I will never have. Is it peace? The next adventure? Nothingness? Is it different then going through the door, or are they different paths to the same mystery? Trapped in this mortal coil, death and the door unreachable, I may never know.

A flapping of huge wings disturbs the air, rousing her from her thoughts.

-Lady Pandora, the wife has just returned home.

Pandora: Are the fire starters set?

-Yes my lady. Will you be lighting the charge?

Pandora: …No. Give the honor to the Phoenix of your choosing. I will watch the flames from here.

-Yes my lady.

Soon after the Phoenix goes smoke is visible, and merry flames follow quickly after. The house is too far from Pandora to hear the woman’s screams, but the heat dances across the night to caress her. A large tree near the house catches fire, perhaps the whole forest will burn. She delights in the thought of him knowing his presence caused this.

Suddenly time stops for just a moment. Then motion rushes back into the world with such force Pandora is thrown to the ground. The heat spikes to the intensity of the heart of the sun as the fire turns green. Pandora looks up to see a Phoenix of green fire, it’s maiden song gliding into her heart bringing peace and rejuvenation. As it’s song ends it dives back into the rubble of the house where it’s egg now lies.

Pandora: Well that changes everything.

~

Pandora’s curiosity was bound to it by Zeus. Cursing her to open it despite all warnings.

Book of True History

She woke slowly, coming to consciousness in a leisurely fashion like one would on a Saturday with no plans. Heat radiated in the dim cave, the only light was the faintly glowing red walls. There were five giant oval mounds. At first she thought they were rock, they were red like the walls, but they were smoother and slightly shiny. Were they eggs? If she curled up they were as big as her. Had she come out of one she wondered, then her thoughts fell inward. She felt she knew things. She recognized the smell of sulfur, like rotten eggs and matches, but had no idea where she had learned what sulfur smelled like. She cast about her dark mind, she should have a name but what was it? The thought came to her that it would be normal to panic at this lack of self-knowledge, but something told her that was not in her nature. She sat up and ruffled her feathers. Feathers? Had she always had feathers? They felt natural to her, yet new. The green feathers shone with a dim iridescence in the dull red light of the cave walls. There were a few gold and red feathers as well, dappled in like the first fall leaves in a maple tree.

A bright cheery laugh pierced the silence.

Startled, she looked for the origins but saw no one. Another laugh wafted in, but it sounded farther away. In the direction the laugh had come from there was an opening she hadn’t seen before. Curiosity drew her through it, she followed the sounds of the conversation before her wary of speeding up to catch them but unable to stop following. More voices echoed through the cave. They grow louder, becoming a deafening din. Rounding a corner, she found herself at the entrance of a cavernous room filled with winged women. She stood there trying to take in every detail of them. They sparkled and shimmered like polished rubies. Some had feathers across their bodies, some only on their wings. Though they were a million shades of red, few had gold feathers sprinkled in like her and none had any green feathers.

A woman near the door noticed the newcomer, she touched another woman who also looked. Soon a chain reaction silenced the room, all eyes on her. A commanding voice echoed across the room “Well, let her through,” and the bright women instantly parted making a pathway to the voice. The woman sat on a stone throne carved with intricate flames. In her dark hair she wore a crown of bird skulls. Her intelligent eyes held a pain that seemed it could consume any who looked too deeply into them. “I am Pandora, the immortal Queen of the Red Phoenix. We have been waiting a very long time for you.”