Lydiana sat on the floor of a plain white, empty room, drained of energy and interest. She wore black yoga stretch pants and a baggy red t-shirt; a required uniform, she supposed, to be inside this boring blank box.

Set before her was a silver tray of plain steamed oatmeal, a banana, and a steamed cup of milk.

After she was forcibly snatched from Kasey’s room at five in the morning, Lydia was introduced to her own bedroom for about one second.

There was a queen sized bed with an auburn velvety blanket and two matching pillows. The floor was a squishy bronze carpet, like Kasey’s, and she had a mahogany dresser, wooden nightstand with a lamp, and a rectangular window with a red curtain thrown over it.

It looked pretty much like the rooms Lydiana would see in hotels.

“Your clothes for today are on your bed,” Ludivine pointed out.

“What about taking a shower?” Lydia asked. She had been all over the place, running and sweating nonstop; she definitely needed a little cleaning.

“You can go to the lady's bathing room after your first lesson,” Ludivine answered, shoving Lydia into her bedroom. “Now get dressed.”

The shirt was extra large and the pants were elastic. Lydia supposed all new Ignis Ales with no specific clothing size were given the safest size of clothing. But as Lydia looked at herself with the clothes on through the mirror above her dresser, she saw herself looking at a clown with black pants that blew out and a shirt that went to its knees.

Lydia sighed. This humiliation would probably be for only today.

However, it appeared the only humiliation Lydia would be showing would not be her outfit but her lack of phoenix powers.

Ludivine spent the first hour attempting to teach Lydia the basic first few steps all phoenixes learn from their Spark Trainers, but failed miserably.

Since Lydia didn’t have an Illuminos with her, she couldn’t rely on a magical weapon, and the dormant powers within her refused to be awoken-if there were any.

“What can you do?” Ludivine demanded with an exasperated sigh. “Show me why you are so special.”

“I don’t know why,” Lydia answered honestly. “The only things I can do is walk out of my body and run fast.”

Ludivine disappeared and reappeared where she once stood within a few seconds.

“That fast?”

“Yes.”

“Can you fly?”

“No.”

“So you can only do one of our abilities. The other one none of us can do,” Ludivine’s eyes narrowed on her student. “Are you even a phoenix?”

Lydia sighed and shrugged.

“Perhaps you should eat something,” Ludivine suggested. “Maybe a full stomach will help.”

“Maybe,” Lydia lied.

“Stay here. I will be right back,” Ludivine ordered, like her pupil had a choice. As Ludivine exited the room, Lydia slumped onto the ground, exhausted and dirty.

…

The noise in the Ash Refectory was so disorganized and deafening that Destery didn’t even notice Felicia wedge herself through the crowd and sit on his right.

“Brown sugar?” she asked as she watched Des stab at his oatmeal aggressively. “I’m more of a plain oatmeal girl, myself.”

“Felis,” he began, not looking at her, “why are you here?”

“What do you mean?”

“Shouldn’t you be with Lia?”

“She won’t mind if I’m gone for a bit. Besides, I wanted to see what all the commotion was about.” Felicia leaned forward so she could see Kasey on the other side of Destery, chatting wildly up at the group of Volucres’ leaning down at him. “He’s really eating this up, isn’t he?”

“It’s his fifteen minutes of lame,” Destery answered bleakly.

“And what about you?” Felicia asked. “You were just as much a part of it as he was.”

“Yeah but I told them not to bother me because I am eating.”

“And they just did?”

Destery glanced at her. “I told them with my eyes.”

Felis nodded in understanding. She understood his tired, hungry, or frustrated eyes that fiercely shredded phoenixes’ souls. There was even a rumor that if someone looked into his eyes for more than ten seconds they would burst into ash.

As Felicia began to hope that someone would come and give her some attention, seeing how she was a part of the mission as well, a group of phoenixes sliced away from Kasey and scooted before her.

“So, we hear you were there when the boys fought the Charcoal Volucres,” Carver said gleefully.

“Yeah, I was there,” Felis answered.

“So what was it like?” Jenna asked.

“Well, it was intense-”

“Uh huh.”

“-He was powerful.”

“But Kasey and Destery rescued you two, anyways,” Araceli concluded, making Felis blink.

“Excuse me?”

“Obviously when Ophelia got in the way-”

“Lia did not get it the way,” Felicia interrupted. “We fought alongside the boys.”

“But if Lia didn’t get hurt, the Charcoal Volucres would probably have been caught, though, right?” Araceli pressed.

“Well, I-” Her eyes shifted to Destery, who wasn’t focused on the situation at all.

“Besides. You two didn’t even stay for the rest of the fight.”

“She was injured. We had to come back.”

“Of course you did. You would only keep getting in the way,” Carver agreed.

Jenna sighed. “We are just so lucky to have such chivalry. Not many phoenix guys would care about us if we got hurt during their mission.”

“Their?!” Felicia choked and smothered her wrath. “What do you mean by chivalry?”

“The boys have been visiting you and Lia in the infirmary daily,” Jenna pointed out the obvious. “We call them the Knights in Flaming Armor.”

“Or our Flaming Princes,” Araceli added.

Flaming Princes? Knights in Flaming Armor? 

Felicia stared at her two other partners in dismay. 

Where was the credit that her and Lia deserved? Felis told them to rely on their Illuminos when they gave up hope, and that’s how they found Lydia! Felicia and Lia should be getting credit for discovering Number One.

Since when was Ophelia and Felicia no longer the idolized goddesses of this place?

Felis shot out of her chair and shoved through the pestering phoenixes, abandoning her breakfast; she was no longer hungry.

“What did we say?” Carver asked quizzically.

“We had a question for her, didn’t we?” Jenna asked, pressing a finger to her lips in befuddlement.

Destery’s eyes lingered after the girl dressed in white, moving as swiftly as she could out of the refectory, with reflection.

Should he chase after her? And say what? It’s obvious that she was upset because of Kasey and him. And Lia and Felis never liked it when Destery or his partner invaded their space when they were angry.

Destery glanced back at Kasey, who continued to overdramatize their late night dinner with Number One for the seventh time.

“Kasey,” Destery said, putting a hand on his friend’s shoulder, “enough.”

“But I’m getting to the good part,” Kasey protested.

Destery glared at Kasey with the legendary look that could turn phoenixes into ash.

Kasey frowned. “Alright.”

…

“The Ash Order thinks you’re special,” Ludivine began, walking back and forth like a restless lion while Lydia peacefully devoured her breakfast. “I don’t know what you are. To me you are a…nuisance, I suppose. You have no powers I can train you with or hone into, yet you still request to go onto the field as an Ignis Bellator, and the Ash Order approves of this, so I can do nothing but try my best and come up with the best solution.”

Lydia took a sip of her milk while she waited as an expectant nuisance.

“Each phoenix who goes out onto the field requires a partner, a socius.”

“So, I get a partner?” Lydia assumed.

“You need someone to watch over you. It wouldn’t hurt since they'd actually have powers.”

Lydia’s eyes sparkled. She could see herself running down the streets with Kasey and Destery, prepared for the next battle, or even looking for a secret place to kick back and relax.

But as if she read Lydia's mind, Ludivine said: “You do not get to pick your partner. And every phoenix’s partner is of the same sex. This is usually because certain situations can become very personal and private. You will find it easier to open yourself up to someone of the same sex.”

“So there is no one that has a partner of a different sex?” Number One was extremely dubious.

“At some point in their cycle, if they are matured and professional, they have the option to change partners to a different sex. Sometimes they have no choice if their partner suddenly dies.”

“Since every phoenix is automatically reborn,” Lydia began carefully, “is it guaranteed that phoenixes will reunite with their original partner in their next life?”

Ludivine’s face was grave.

“No. Although it is true they are reincarnated after they die, if their other partner continues to live, then the reborn phoenix will grow and at one point meet their past partner, hopefully still alive, much older.”

“So two cycles can intertwine,” Lydia said. “But no matter how old the other partner may be when the other phoenix is reborn, they can still become partners, right? There isn’t an age limit.”

“If the older phoenix doesn’t already have a new partner or is too old to continue its position as a Socius, then yes, they may be paired up again.”

Number One smiled at this information; the thought that someone could still reunite, even after only one dies, was heartening.

“But you are different, Number One,” Ludivine added, shattering Lydia’s smile. “Do not forget that.”

“I know. I don’t have powers,” she grumbled.

“Your reincarnation is erratic,” Ludivine corrected. “When you died, you were not immediately reborn. You disappeared. Originally it was assumed you were kidnapped, which you had been, but it is also because you are no normal phoenix.”

“What are you saying?” the student asked, irritated for hearing the same news again.

“If you die, there is no guarantee that when you are reborn you will see your friends or your partner again,” Ludivine assured Lydia. “You won’t even remember your existence. After all, you didn’t last time, why wouldn’t you again?”

Lydia croaked at Ludivine, “That’s uncalled for.”

“I’m trying to tell you to take my lessons seriously. Most phoenixes have it in their head that when they die, it’s fine, because they will simply be instantly reborn and can start all over again. But it’s not that case with you. You may be reborn, but not automatically. 

"Number One, every time you live,” Ludivine bent so that they were eye to eye, “you must fight as if it was your last. Because believe me, it may as well be.”

…

“Lia?” a voice called gently as the golden curtain was pulled aside. “Is Felis in here?”

“Nope,” the patient answered casually, munching on some chocolates out of a white box on her lap. “What did you do this time, Des?”

“Nothing,” Destery promised. “It’s just, during breakfast-”

“You did say something. If it’s about her outfit, I’ll have you know that I-”

“Nothing is wrong with her clothes,” Destery assured.

Ophelia sighed and placed the box of chocolates to the right. “Okay. Tell me what happened.”

“I wasn’t listening much but there was a lot of…commotion around Kasey and me today. The others wanted to know-”

“About Number One. I know.”

“Anyways,” Destery glared, “Kasey, being a narcissist, enjoyed the attention and bragged.”

“What about you?”

“It’s not about me. It’s about Felis.”

“Okay,” Lia was slow, “what about Felicia?”

“A group talked to Felis as well. At first I thought she would be happy getting the attention-”

“But she hated it,” Lia finished with a glower. “Of course she did. I hated it too.”

“You got visitors?” Destery was surprised.

“Of course I did! They were all over the place, touching my shoes and my get-well presents. And then they had the nerve of accusing me of bothering you and Kasey on your mission on finding Number One.” Lia snorted. “Oh, if I wasn’t worried about melting my bag of chocolates I would have turned them all into ash on the spot.”

“I’m sorry,” Destery muttered.

“Well, at least you have the decency to apologize. I don’t see that raccoon head anywhere.”

“He doesn’t know what he did wrong. He was just telling stories.”

“It’s not telling stories, it’s gossiping. And I'm the best at it,” Lia explained proudly. “Just you watch. Right now they’re fantasying about how great you two are and how mysterious Number One is. But when they understand that she’s no different than the rest of us, they'll stop this stupid charade.”

Destery folded his arms skeptically.

“What? I’m serious. You’ve known me for, what, how many deaths?”

“A lot,” he answered.

“And what do you know best about me?”

“That you are mean, conniving, scary…”

“Exactly. If I was all of those things, why would those other phoenixes have the nerve to come and mock me?”

Destery cocked his head, observing his injured friend from head to toe. Instead of wearing her makeup that made her look sophisticated, her face was clean and appeared washed out. Her chopped black and brown hair usually styled was flat and lifeless, and instead of wearing memory costly clothes, she wore an itchy white gown.

“You don’t look intimidating anymore,” he answered.

“When I get my groove back,” she darkly said, “I’ll have this whole kingdom under my thumb again.”

Destery, knowing that Lia wasn’t joking in the least, smiled and said, “If you see Felis, tell her I was here.”

“And if you see Kasey, tell him to come see me.”