The cold wind howled through the burned village as the boy with the soul of a phoenix sat on the edge of the stone well with a satisfied grin.

“Whoever said revenge was bad didn’t know what the fuck they were talking about,” he snickered to himself as he looked to the ruined remains with a satisfied hum.

Only blackened stone remained. He had burned away the wooden supports and straw roofs of the former homes, leaving only the crumbling stone walls that fell upon charred corpses. However, as his eyes fell to one of the burned bodies, a scowl formed on his face.

“You sacrificed me,” he growled while jumping to his feet.

~*~

“No! Please!” Axis’s mother begged while clinging to Stone’s arm, “He is our son!”

“He will save our village.” Stone gruffed without feeling, “Our god does not have time for measly sacrifices. It has to be him.”

“Your god!” she snapped, “My god believes all life is preci-”

“Mother!” Axis cried as blood drowned his world.

~*~

“And I get that. I really do, but… but how could you do that to her?” he continued as he stormed over to his father’s charred corpse. “How could you kill mother?!” he snapped, kicking the corpse as its ashes scattered. “SHE WAS JUST TRYING TO PROTECT ME!” he raged as fire engulfed him. “BRING HER BACK!” he demanded as he knelt over the body, and he grabbed its skull as the flames burned a hot white around his hand, turning the skull to ash as tears fell down his cheeks.

Slowly a gentle breeze blew the ashes from his hands, and a laugh escaped him. Soon another followed, and another, growing manic before his blazing hand held his chest in his fit, bringing an instantaneous end with a pained hiss. His hand flinched back before he fell back with his flames quickly dissipating.

“Dumbass,” he growled to himself while looking at the fresh burn on his chest and he wiped the tears from his face. “Fucking fire,” he added as he looked to his hand to see flames flicker over them before disappearing.

The boy laid back on the charred ground, looking to the clouds that kept him from the day’s light. The ground still held the warmth of his rampage, but it slowly cooled as he continued to stare at the clouds. After several moments of peace, eyes of fire surrounded by dark skin obscured his vision.

“How do you like the new powers boy?” the god hummed as the boy blinked at him.

“I have a name!” he snapped after a short moment, earning the god’s amusement.

“You are controlling the fire of the phoenix better than I expected,” Larsolis smirked as he crossed his arms behind his back and looked to the surrounding village.

“What’s that supposed to mean?!” the boy snapped again, earning a dark laugh.

“I fully expected you to burn alongside the village, but you exceeded my expectations, Axis.” Larsolis commented while glancing back to the boy who was staring at the god with a whisper of awe flickering in his eyes.

Larsolis’s skin was the color of caramel, holding a warm glow while his back featured a magnificent pair of wings, adorned in vibrant feathers. Each feather shone like a crimson gem that descended into amber, then gold as the colors found their ends.

“Here.” Larsolis offered as a package wrapped in gold paper appeared in the boy’s lap. “A gift. You are the first phoenix human and you answered the prayer of this village for me,” he added as the boy sat up and he opened the gift to find a black silkened coat and matching leather pants. “They are impervious to fire, and will grow with you, so you will not have to worry about burning away your clothes.” He snickered as the boy’s embarrassment found his cheeks in the presence of his own nudity. “I am curious to see what you will do, Axis. I doubt you will disappoint me. I will be watching you.”

“I thought you were the God of the Phoenix not the God of pervs,” the boy taunted as Larsolis’s eyebrow twitched with a scowl.

“Mind your tongue boy!” Larsolis snapped but amusement filled the fire of his eyes. “And your flames,” he taunted while looking at the burn on the boy's chest.

“Screw you,” Axis spat as Larsolis began to glow brightly, forcing the boy to shield his eyes.

“Now who’s the perv?” the god laughed, and as the light faded, he was gone.

“I give the boy a week.” Noxera doubted.

“I think he will surprise us.” Larsolis mused.

“You are both fools.” Nexeva huffed.

“Mind your tongue child.” Noxera scolded.

“Calm yourself, Noxera…” Larsolis sighed, “And just what are you afraid of Nexeva?”

“What will you do when Abrirvis returns to find out what you have done?!” Nexeva barked at the others.

“I will watch him reset the world as he has done when the mortals have annoyed him in the past.” Larsolis answered without care, “However, I believe him unlikely to return.”

“I concur with my brother.” Noxera agreed, “We have neither seen nor heard from the ancient one in a thousand years.”

“HE WILL COME BACK!!!” Nexeva snapped with whispering desperation.

Thunder roared violently through the clouds as a strong wind crashed through the mountains, and Axis guarded his eyes until the wind fell still.

“Hmph,” he huffed while looking to the darkening sky before standing.

He pulled on the black leather pants he was gifted before tying them, then pushed his arms through the coat and shrugged it onto his shoulders.

“What do yah know? They fit.” he hummed with a smirk as he looked to the sky, leaving the coat open.

Another breeze blew through the mountain, fluttering his coat and revealing its crimson underside.

“Impervious to fire ‘ey?” Axis hummed to himself before pulling up his hood and turning his back to the village to leave.

However, the boy stood frozen for a moment, and turned back, heading into the ruined remains of his family’s home. He moved through the burned debris and into what had been his parents' bedroom that was still surrounded by crumbling walls. He slowly began searching through the rubble with clenched teeth as flames flickered over him.

Night fell, and a ball of flames floated around Axis, keeping him warm, and lighting the surrounding area. His skin was covered in black soot, and after several moments longer of searching, he found a necklace. He looked at it as he allowed himself to fall back onto the ground, sitting up while carefully holding it.

The pendant consisted of delicate wires, twisted to form a small tree, and held small peridots as leaves within the ring that framed it.

“Found it,” he breathed while rubbing his thumb over the pendent before pulling it over his head to rest around his neck. “Glad I didn’t melt it,” he mumbled before looking to the sky. “Mom would have been pissed,” he added as his face fell into a broken smile. “Now… Time to go,” he muttered as he stood, taking a breath before he slowly began making his way from the village that he’d never look back to in the days to come.