The Eternal Phoenix & The Fresh Start

"I find you completely terrifying," I stated with a hollow laugh. Anare and I had spent hours talking. I told her everything I could remember about my world.. of the world she came from, and yet even with this growing familiarity, I couldn't help but see the living embodiment of the bombs that destroyed cities.

She didn't respond. "I don't feel safe around you, especially after what happened.. but for some reason, Mari did. Mari thought you were incredible, in every possible way. She was head over heels for you."

I shifted to ease the growing numbness in my legs, and I looked around the room. "I.. don't belong here. Even though this world feels like home already, I shouldn't be walking on its ground like I have been. I know you were working on something to try to bring her back here. Do you think it'll work?" I asked softly.

Anare was silent for a moment, then spoke, "I.. don't want to force her. I acted rashly, out of desperation, and fear.."

"Fear..? Of what?"

"Of what Calliope might do to her." She responded, her voice taking on a dark tone. Before I could ask the question, Anare proceeded to answer it. "They were my first apprentice, along with Faye. They were there when I ended the war. Calliope didn't believe I should be allowed to exist after that.. for anyone like me to exist. They believed that much power concentrated in a single person could only end disastrously, and.. they were right."

Her mana was suddenly cold and unfamiliar. I held my knees against my chest and remained silent.

"Calliope tried to end me themselves. Nearly succeeded too.. I'm sure they would have killed Faye and themselves right after, too. I was certain I'd killed them, but it seems the same thing that happened to me, happened to them.." She finished, her hands clenching into fists and her mana pulsating.

"Okay.. well, we can't do anything about them right now. So, what can we do?" I asked.

Anare remained silent. My eyes wandered the room again, then fell on my focus. "Do you think we could strengthen her connection to the focus? You invented the spell that lets you communicate through them, right?"

Suddenly the room felt bright and warm, as Anare perked up. She stood and gestured for me to follow, "I believe we can, Marin."

Calliope and I had spent the last few days tending to Rin. Despite every fibre of my being fighting against the idea of helping her, I needed her. Whatever happened after that was none of my concern.

The first day was the hardest. On top of the incessant screaming, I had to continuously resupply Calliope with mana. If they faltered for even a second, Rin would likely succumb to whatever was being done to her. It wasn't that I trusted Calliope yet, but I didn't think I could have stopped them even if I had known what they were planning. I just had to wait and see, and help where I could.

By the break of the third day, the screaming and flailing had finally stopped, and her restraints could be removed. She was drenched in sweat at all times, and the smell was starting to settle. Oddly, despite not sleeping for three days, and regularly using large portions of my mana to replenish Calliope's, I didn't feel tired at all. If anything, I felt like I'd just woken up from a deep sleep.

I was beginning to feel antsy to get outside again, the air of Calliope's house feeling stale even with all the windows open. As I was preparing dinner that night, I heard a clap behind me, causing me to jump slightly.

"There! She's stable." Calliope stated, before getting up from the floor for the first time in three days. They stretched, the sound of their joints popping echoing through the hall. "I need to sleep, Mari. See you in a few days."

"Yeah, I'll handle things from here." I replied, my attention returning to my cooking.

"Oh, and.. just make sure you reinforce the barrier next time you go for a stroll, mm?" Calliope said with a slight laugh, before disappearing down the hall.

I figured they'd find out, but not quite so soon. At least I hadn't attempted to breach the barrier inside the house.. yet. I still planned to, before I went back home. I continued preparing dinner, including a small plate for Rin, should she wake up. As I ate, I contemplated. I had managed a very shaky connection to my world via my soul thread linking to Marin, but I needed something more if I was to cross the boundary.

I looked over at Rin sleeping on the couch. I knew she had been a failure of a mother to Marin, and though this wouldn't be anywhere near enough to make up for that, perhaps reuniting with her daughter would be a start. I sighed softly, feeling an odd tingle in my ear as I plated my food. I tried to brush it away, but it only seemed to grow stronger, until I heard a crackling noise, then.. a voice.

"-ri? Mari? It's Anare can you hear me?" Came that beautifully soft voice I had missed so much. I panicked; Calliope had only just gone to sleep, I needed somewhere safe to speak. I rushed out of the house and dove through the barrier, hastily closing it back up behind me.

My voice practically spilled out of my mouth as I listened to the chatter on the other end, "Anare?! Hello?! Can you hear me Anare?!"

I hadn't been able to hear them the first time I tried this, and for fear that I'd done something wrong I hadn't made a second attempt. But when both Miss Anare and Marin's voices came through and rang through my mind, I felt an elation I hadn't experienced before. 

"Okay okay please, I can only talk to one of you at a time!" I laughed out, "Marin are you holding up okay?" was my first question. I knew Miss Anare would largely be fine, but Marin was far out of her depth.

"Uh.. y-yeah, I am. I haven't gotten a scratch on your body.." came her voice. I couldn't help but laugh again.

"I don't know that we're getting our original bodies back Marin, so it's yours now. But that's not important! God I.. I don't even know where to begin." I stumbled over myself trying to recount to them every moment since I had awoken, of course leaving out a few details here and there.

When I had finally finished, Miss Anare's voice rang through, "Has Calliope hurt you at all?" She asked. I shook my head, quickly remembering she couldn't see me, "No, no, not at all! They've been very welcoming honestly, if.. strange, and somewhat unstable. But they haven't hurt me at all, I promise. They've been helping me with the spell to get home." I responded.

"The spell?" She asked. I chewed on my lip trying to figure out how to describe the spell to her, "Yeah, well.. I theorized that it was possible to transfer physical matter between this world and ours. So, I started working on a spell. It's nearly finished, I've only to sort out the catalyst and make final checks!"

There was silence for a time, long enough that I began to get antsy. Finally, I heard her voice again, "Mari, I understand your goals, but.. this is dangerous. Immensely so. There are so many things that could go wrong, and in the absolute worst case scenario you could collapse both worlds into themselves."

"Miss Anare don't worry, I've accounted for all of that. The veil between the worlds is thick enough that it won't collapse even with a small breach across them, but I've designed the spell to immediately collapse that breach the moment I'm through. I'm ready for this, and I will be home to you and Marin soon." I responded, my voice filled with conviction. I was beyond certain I had everything right.

Marin's voice came through next, "Mari.. you know I trust you implicitly, but.. is any of this okay? You in my body, me in yours, in the wrong worlds.. everything's so messed up." She sounded on the verge of tears. I understood, to some degree at least..

"Marin.. we're the same person, at least as far as reality seems to be concerned. That's as much your body as it was mine, and yours is as much mine as it was yours.. It's complicated, hell it's beyond complicated, but.. we may have to live with this. For the record though, I don't blame you, and I definitely don't hate you."

There was a long silence, and Miss Anare's voice came through once more, "Mari.. I trust in your abilities. If you think you can come back to us, then I would like nothing more. But please, do it safely.. Every possible precaution, not a single possibility left unaccounted for. Is that clear?"

I laughed a bit and nodded, "Yes Miss Anare! I'll be home to you both soon, I promise."

"I have to end the spell now, it's starting to grow unstable. I'll work on a way for more consistent communication. See you soon, Mari."

Her voice continued to echo through my mind even as the sounds faded, and her warmth seemed to reach me even here.. I sighed softly, then walked back through the barrier, and remembered to patch it properly this time, with a few extra reinforcements.

When I walked back into the house, Rin was sitting up on the couch, looking directly at me.

"Good," I said, unable to hide the disdain in my voice, "you're awake. We've plenty of work ahead of us."