Born to burn

8. WHAT WAS BURIED III. ___________________________

FEZ’S PLACE – 6:03 A.M. TUESDAY

•

„And the worst part? She makes it look h.ella cute.” Fez stood slowly, eyes locked on the centre of the table like he could see through time. It was not like a man rising, but like something ancient, remembering how to breathe. His eyes locked on the centre of the table like it wasn’t wood beneath his stare, but time. His voice dropped like a verdict.

„None of them compare to Himari.” The air changed. Not just silent, held. Like the whole room had stopped spinning. Ash blinked. Once. His voice came quietly.

„She wasn’t just a hybrid. She was a synthesis. Mage. Siren. Demon. Unseelie Fae. Four bloodlines wrapped in one body, but she was different from her brothers…” Kimi sat down hard, her breath caught like it didn’t know whether to leave her lungs or freeze inside them. Ash stared ahead, but his words curled like memory.

„She didn’t cast spells. She was one.” Fez’s jaw tightened.

„Her Kekkei Genkai… it wasn’t a single element. It was multiple…fire and ice…They called it Frostfire.” Ash nodded slowly.

„An elemental paradox. Fire that remembers. Ice that cancels. A living contradiction. She didn’t burn the world, she judged it.” Fez’s voice dropped further.

„Her fire was punished. Her ice was erased. Frostfire wasn’t about destruction. It was a verdict. Every time she cast, the world flinched.” Kimi whispered it like a curse.

„She was war.” Fez nodded.

„She was Himari Fujiwara. The Burnt Oath. The exile who lived. A mother who believed in one thing, her daughter.” Ash’s eyes flicked toward the window, as if even outside had started listening.

„And Phoenix?” Fez didn’t answer right away. His gaze drifted past them, past the table, past the walls. Like he wasn’t looking at the room, but at what came after it. When he spoke, his voice was low. Like it might break if it rose too high.

„Phoenix…she probably carries all of it. The four bloods. Mage. Siren. Demon. Unseelie Fae. But her father is Lycan, so she was also born Lycan.” Ash stiffened. Kimi’s jaw clenched.

„That’s f.ucking five!” She squeaked flatly.

„That’s not a hybrid. That’s a…” Her words died in her throat.

„Singularity.” Fez whispered.

„Her blood doesn’t run parallel. It converges. Not in parts. In synthesis. Like Himari… but more. Deeper. More animalistic and feral.” He continued as if he didn't understand his words.

„So what’s her Kekkei Genkai?” Ash asked, eyes flicking to the files.

„What’s her magic?” Fez shook his head once.

„There isn’t one. Not that we can track. Her readings don’t register. Her aura is warped. No pulse. No echo. Just… interference. As if she doesn’t follow the rules of magic at all.” Kimi narrowed her eyes.

„She warped the arcane system.” Ash’s voice came slower this time.

„She didn’t warp it. She has no idea of anything and yet, she broke it.” Fez shook his head.

„Because she doesn’t use magic. She is magic. Wild. Converged. Undetectable, because someone made sure to make her that way.” Kimi blinked.

„Haruto.” She whispered. Of course, it's him…making her powerful, yet powerless.

„He cloaked her from the moment her mother died...” Fez said.

„Shrouded her with spells so old they rewrote her aura into human frequency. Made her pass beneath every scanner, every blood-check, every seer. She was raised without access to her power. Not just hidden from the Council, but from herself.” Ash swallowed.

„She thinks she’s human.”

„She is human…” Fez said.

“Not by nature. By design.” Kimi’s eyes went cold.

„Why?”

„I don't know. Maybe cause of the Council? Maybe cause of herself? Or maybe, because even Haruto feared what she might become.” Silence cracked across the table.

„So she grew up in the dark.” Fez continued.

„Power sealed. Lineage erased. Abilities locked behind blood-wards even she can’t feel. But she’s not dormant. Just buried.” Ash’s fingers tapped once.

„She doesn’t know what she is.” Kimi frowned.

„Not yet at least…“ Fez said.

„And her father?“ That question sank deep.

„The one they call Mayhem. Territory-spanning. Council-feared. Born of old blood and bound to no leash. If Himari was spell-forged… Corbin Blackwood, of course! He was earth-born. Gravity in wolf shape. Their bond shouldn’t have been possible. But it wasn’t crafted. It was fate. Something purer. Raw. The old kind. Mating bond. Undeniably.“ Ash cursed under his breath.

„S.hit of course…and their daughter…?” Kimi asked shakily.

„Phoenix was born of that impossibility.” Fez let the weight of that settle.

„Which means her bloodline isn’t just rare, it’s mythological. Her Kekkei Genkai isn’t elemental. It’s dimensional. Multilineage synthesis. Her body doesn’t hold magic, it remembers it. Evolves it. Reacts to it. It’s why nothing reads right when we scan her. Because she’s not functioning inside our rules. She’s rewriting them.“ Fez's jaw clenched even more.

„And the Purity Codex?“ Kimi said slowly, voice jagged.

„It would see her as what?“ Fez didn’t hesitate.

„Contamination. Legacy violation. Abomination, threat.“ Ash paled.

„Termination order.“

„But she’s not contaminated.” Kimi snapped.

„She’s… she’s legacy unfulfilled.“ She squeaked knuckles white as she felt Phoenix's life being stolen right in front of her eyes without her ever even knowing it.

„No. She’s prophecy rejected by her own family…” Fez said coldly.

„Because no one wanted her born. She was the error they couldn’t predict. The price of a mother’s love and a father’s defiance. She is what happens when bloodlines cheat extinction. Experimentation…she’s f.ucking fated child.” Ash stared down at the files.

„So what’s she capable of?“ Fez was silent. Ash pressed.

„Seriously. What’s she capable of?” Kimi looked at them left, right…but silence was their answer.

„…I don’t even f.ucking know.” Fez admitted.

„What do you mean you don’t know?” Kimi’s voice shook now.

„I mean we’ve never seen a fivefold hybrid with f.ucking paradox double elemental Kekkei Genkai Kimi…” Fez said slowly.

„That’s what I mean… there are no records of anything like this. There’s no threshold. No limit. Nothing. She is the first of her kind. Kimi leaned forward. „Motherf.ucker… and, and she’s still dormant.“ Kimi exhaled and Fez hesitated.

„…Not for long.“ They both turned sharply. Ash’s hands had dropped from the table. His mouth hung open slightly. Kimi chimed in, breathless now, voice speeding like she was barely keeping up with the scope of what they were unravelling.

„What the f.uck do you mean by that again?!” She spat, but silence again.

„Okay, you don't wanna talk now? Okay, so let's summarise it shall we?” She said sarcastically and was visibly angry.

„They’re all freaking powerful icons… one by one a f.ucking death sentence. Where are they? We do not know. They can probably be in this room with us right now and we wouldn't even f.ucking know…” She was frustrated and scared, but also very angry…because one thing she couldn't stand was when someone took your freedom from you! And Phoenix? She was in shackles her whole life.

„Those two brothers? They have their hands over her. One hides her. The other "protects" her, but that's very questionable, so…and her cousins are all gods.amned insane… and the Council? They have no idea she is alive, so at least one good news, right?” Her smile was grim.

„Correction…didn’t know.” Ash blinked.

„What?!!” Kimi stepped forward, voice edged with adrenaline.

„Four days ago. Friday, south Rainier. House fire. No accelerants. No cause. Just ignition. Magical heat signature hit three independent archives. Arcane map flaring like a bomb. Guess whose name flagged?” Ash exhaled. Low.

„Phoenix.” Kimi nodded.

„The seals are cracking. Her magic’s clawing through… too old, too wild to stay buried.” Ash glanced up, tension in his shoulders.

„And the Council felt it?” Fez’s jaw was already tight.

„Yeah. Now they’re watching and "dealing" with it probably as we speak.” Kimi muttered.

„It’s not just dangerous. It’s a f.ucking warhead wrapped in trauma.” Ash leaned back slowly.

„A clueless girl born of prophecy. Raised in pain and blood. Hidden by family. Hunted by her power.” The storm hadn’t broken yet, but the pressure was rising. Fez felt it deep in his teeth, in his ribs, in whatever part of him still answered to old magic. Ash scrolled through the last encrypted feed. Kimi paced barefoot, her rings clinking like soft alarms. Laptops pulsed across the table, flickering like nervous heartbeats. Then Ash dropped another file. Fez’s head snapped up like a blade drawn from its sheath. Ash didn’t need to say the name. Fez had already read it on his face. Kimi crossed the room, slower now.

„F.ucking hell… Corbin? He doesn’t know.” Ash nodded screamed.

„What the f.uck?!” Kimi screamed again.

„No bond. No trail. Cloaked under spellwork strong enough to fool every known system. Corbin’s been searching blind for sixteen years.” Kimi’s voice softened.

„And still… he never stopped.” Fez looked down, something unreadable moving behind his eyes. The mountain Alpha. Mayhem incarnate. Feared by the Council. Revered by wolves. A ghost walking the leyline edges, chasing a daughter he never knew was still breathing. Ash turned the screen gently, showing them a single image. A figure half in shadow. Tall as myth and carved from war. Blue eyes. Scarred mouth and the same white streak they are already very familiar with. A man built like a fortress and cracked like one too. No one spoke. Because what could be said? He hadn’t stopped. He hadn’t felt her. He hadn’t found her. But if he ever did? Gods help them all. Fez’s voice was the last to break the silence.

„She was never meant to be found.” And for a breathless moment, the weight of that truth settled.

„Who? Phoenix? Why?” Ash's misguided question cut through the stillness like a ghost stepping back into the room.

„No fetus! Himari…” Kimi whispered. Ash’s brows furrowed. Fez’s eyes darkened.

„She knew they’d come for her…” Kimi said softly.

„The Council. The Gravesingers. The purists. They would’ve torn her apart just for carrying Phoenix.” Fez nodded.

„So she ran. Pregnant. Alone. Broke the bond…and he never stopped looking. Kept waiting.” Kimi’s voice was low, but unwavering.

„Okay, I get where you're going with this. She fled while pregnant… and then with a baby.” Ash nodded grimly.

„Until she didn’t make it. Her death? It’s murky. Vague. The fire report doesn’t add up.” Fez’s voice turned to gravel.

„You think the Council?” Ash’s jaw tightened.

„No doubt. Looks like Gravesinger's work. Clean. Ruthless. But they missed Phoenix. And someone made sure it stayed that way. Different child presumed dead...same age, everything.” Kimi dropped another file.

„And now the girl they swore was dead… is burning again.” Fez picked up the photo. Phoenix…eight or nine. Smiling. Wild-haired. Holding a cracked snow globe like it was a galaxy she could shake back into order. He didn’t speak for a moment.

„How doesn’t she know? I still can't believe someone would do something like this to her and call it protection…” Ash’s voice dipped darker.

„She thinks she’s human.” Kimi’s voice cracked like ice over old wounds.

„How the f.uck do we protect her if she doesn’t even know she’s in danger?” Ash rubbed his temples.

„And it’s not just the Council now. You know what happens when a hybrid that strong goes off-radar for this long.” Kimi muttered.

„Packs. Covens. Clans. Old Blood sects. Everyone who remembers the bans on crossbreeds. They’re gonna come crawling out of the f.ucking cracks.”

Fez stood. Walked to the window.

Smoke curled from his fingertips.

His voice was flint on flint.

„The Council exterminated hybrids for centuries. Said they were unstable. Unfit. Said their blood was poison to the balance.” He turned back to them, eyes lit like embers.

„But the truth? They were scared.” Ash nodded slowly.

„Because hybrids didn’t follow the rules, like good little purebloods did.” Fez’s voice was quiet now.

„Because they tried to rewrite them.” The room went still. Kimi’s voice trembled, not from fear, but something deeper. Awe. Fury. Grief.

„And now there is her.”

„Phoenix f.ucking Blackwood. Daughter of a Fujiwara and the Moonblade Alpha. Mage, Siren, Elemental, Demon… Lycan.” Ash blinked.

„That’s not a girl.” Fez’s mouth curled into something between reverence and threat.

„That’s a dynasty.” They were silent again. Fez doesn’t move. He’s staring at a photo. A girl… young, messy, innocent. Holding a snow globe. Smiling. Hair wild. Eyes too bright. A storm waiting to be called. Then his voice slices the air. Quiet. Razor-sharp.

„But…yo f.uckers! She thinks she’s human.” Kimi screams. Ash runs a hand over his face.

„She’s a f.ucking ticking bomb. No training. No memory. No family.” Fez closes the folder. Sets it down like it might detonate. Then he looks at both of them, voice low. Final.

„Are you in?”