Gifts of the Living Phoenix

Chapter 15

            Faith left the cabin early in the morning to see that the snow had stopped in the middle of the night.  The entire scenery outside her door looked like a vast winter chasm of white.  The feathery wisps of snow could be seen blown around by the gentle breeze left over from the storm.  As she left the sheltered space of her cabin, Faith trudged through the crisp snow that came up to her knees.  Surprisingly, not as much snow as she had suspected.  Maybe the snow had stopped earlier than she realized.  Making her way back to the main office of the lodge, Faith ran into Christine who was hurriedly moving the snow with a long slanted tool fixed by a wooden handle.  Interesting, thought Faith, I’ve never seen that kind of tool.  

            “Good morning!”  said Christine brightly.

            “Good morning, Christine.”  Faith hesitated only a moment before asking, “I hate to be a bother, but I was wondering if there was someplace that I could get a morning meal.”

            “No bother at all.  We had another guest arrive last night so I have already planned on breakfast.  You’re welcome to get warm in the office area.  To the right side, you’ll see a door that will take you to a little dining area. Please help yourself to tea and coffee and I’ll be in with some breakfast.”

            “Thank you,” Faith smiled back warmly.

Faith walked through the office doors to see the door on the right that she had indeed missed the night before.   Not very observant of me, she thought to herself.  As she was sitting there, lost in her thoughts about how to proceed about meeting with Colvine Geniason, she heard the door open.  Looking up, she was expecting to see Christine with her breakfast but instead was surprised to see Dante standing before her.

            “What are you doing here?”  Faith asked surprised.

            “Well… that Princess, is a bit of a story,”  chuckled Dante.

            “You’re a stalker!  I knew it!”  Faith’s eyes flashed with concern.

            “Am not! Stop that,” said Dante looking hurt.

            “Then why are you here?  How did you get here?  How did you know I would be here?”

            “Well, calm down, and I’ll tell you over breakfast, ok?”  Dante looked at Faith and gave her a soothing smile but she wasn’t having it.  Her feathers looked ruffled, if she had any feathers that is…

            Christine walked in with a tray laden with eggs, potatoes, pork sausages and bread.  It smelled quite heavenly and Faith was quite appreciative of the generous breakfast before her.

            “Thank you so much Christine, we really appreciate this,” Faith said gratefully.

            “Yes, thank you,” said Dante with a charming smile to Christine.

            “You kids are welcome. Eat up before it gets cold.”

While the two sat quietly eating their food, Faith waited patiently for Dante to explain why he was there in the second realm.  Dante calmly ate his food as he bid his time, trying to explain it the best way possible without making her panic or suspicion of him.

            “I know you’re waiting for an explanation,” said Dante, not meeting Faith’s eyes.

            “Yes, it seems weird that all of the sudden you have this interest in me…in my affairs,”

Faith recovered, saying the statement a little more defensively than she had meant to.

            “Well…you know that the second realm is my home, right?”

Faith nodded her understanding.

            “I came to chat with my father and he confirmed some news. Then I happened to see you last night as I was riding by and so I stopped here and sniffed around to make sure you were ok.”

Dante did tell some truths, but they were not quite in the order he had made it out to be.  He followed Faith here to the second realm from her home worried about her after her father’s funeral.  Recognizing that he was going to be close to home, had checked in with his father and had a chat.  Then came back to the lodge to get himself a room to be close to Faith. 

            “It seems like an awful coincidence that I’m at home in the first realm for my father’s funeral, decide to come to the second realm for personal reasons and all of the sudden you are here at the same time.”  Faith narrowed her eyes suspiciously.

            “Yeah, it’s a coincidence!”  Dante said assuredly.

            “I don’t believe in coincidences,” Faith replied calmly.

            “And yet it is,” Dante countered, “Albeit a big one.”

Faith wasn’t convinced, but she wasn’t going to continue arguing.  He was here in front of her so she may as well question him. 

            “So, what are your plans then?” she asked casually.

            “Well, since I’m here, I thought I’d show you around,” Dante said cautiously looking at Faith for signs of irritation or annoyance.  “The second realm is a little complicated.  Some folks live above ground like the settlement here, and some live in bunkers underground still, like most of the first realm.  It is a pretty interesting contrast, if you’re interested in seeing it that is.”

            “I’m actually here to look for someone,” she confessed.

            “Who?  I know most of the people in the second realm,”  Dante countered.

            “Well… he isn’t expecting me, so I’m not sure that I’d be welcome,” Faith sighed.

            “Hrm,” is all Dante said. He decided to pry further. “So you’re only here because you’re here to see someone?” 

            “Yes.”

            “That’s weird.  Especially given the fact that your father was just killed, and that you should be - if anywhere, back at school.”

            Faith sighed again.  “Yes, I know.  But this was important.”  She paused… “Or rather it seemed important at the time, but now I’m not sure.  Now, I’m questioning everything.”

Dante looked at Faith and understood that there was a lot he wasn’t going to understand based on how she was talking.  He figured the more time he spent with her, especially away from the twins, it would give him the perfect opportunity to gain her trust, and ultimately, maybe something more… 

He stood up. 

            “So, what do you say?  Want me to show you around and we can talk further about this person you’re looking for?”

Faith hesitated.  She wasn’t sure she wanted to do this with anyone, much less Dante.  Still, he was here, by whatever coincidence.  She wouldn’t mind some company, along with some help maybe.

            “Ok.  Show me around.  Then maybe I’ll let you in on my secret.”

-----

True to his words, Dante showed Faith around the above ground settlement of the second realm.  It was more spread out than she had originally thought, with none of the families or homes cloistered too closely to one another.  The settlement had been spread out in a distinct grid formation covering several hundreds of acres.  Within the four grid corners, homes had been established for second realm leaders who had need for a home above ground in order to continue the expansion.  The grid settlement was close to the entrance of the underground settlement, and was also sheltered by a large mountainous area of rock that protected the settlement from the back side.  It was interesting to see how organized the settlement had been in ensuring that they would be able to weather dangers from both the elements and the unknown. 

Dante’s father had chosen to stay below underground in the original bunkers, preparing folks for the move above ground which had been delayed to the weather’s sudden change back to the Ogacio.   The homes here looked just like the ones from the first realm and reminded her of home.  Thinking about her home, made her think about her mother and her sister.  She would have to go back and sort things out with them at some point. 

Dante looked like he wanted to press Faith about who she was searching for, but at the same time he felt like if he did, it would end their time together.  He wasn’t ready for that, so he didn’t push to find out.  He thought against introducing Faith to his father, but somehow things don’t quite go the way he had wanted them to.  As Dante and Faith were getting ready to make their way back up above ground, they were stopped by a couple of shapeshifters.

            “Dante, your father would like to see you,” said of one of the stunning shapeshifters.

            “Ok, well let me accompany Faith up top and I’ll meet you there,” Dante replied casually.

            “No Dante, he asked you come now, and he asked that you bring your guest.”  As the same shapeshifter said this, he eyed Faith knowingly.

Dante glanced at Faith and asked, “We don’t have to if you don’t want to, do you mind?”

            “No, I don’t mind.  It’s odd your father knew I was here.”

            “Yes, well,” Dante looked uncomfortable and rubbed the back of his neck, “I told him.”

Faith looked surprised and raised an eyebrow at him, but didn’t say another word.

God, he hated that she was always so calm.  It would have been better if she had yelled at him or said something, but instead she stayed quiet.  He wished he could read her mind and find out what that overloaded brain was thinking about.  What did she think about?  Then he wondered distractly, did she even think about me? 

            Faith broke the silence.  “Lead on gentlemen, let’s get this introduction over with, shall we?” 

The walk to Dante’s old home was not that long and only took a few minutes.  Faith was surprised to see how similar her home was physically to Dante’s.  Outside of the front door, not a few hundred feet away was a similar play ground area for the children that could be found outside their home.  However, the inside of Dante’s home seemed to more extensive- seemingly bigger on the inside than how it appeared on the outside.  It was tastefully decorated too- as much of the décor was sparse yet only in places that needed it.  The sprawling hallway seemed to go on forever but eventually they were led to a door which Faith assumed was Dante’s father’s office.

Dante didn’t even knock but instead walked right in.

            “Father, you wanted to see me?”  Dante appeared to have interrupted his father for affect.

Faith raised her eyebrow at Dante again, but none the less went forward and introduced herself.

            “Apologies for the sudden intrusion Mr. Philosophe, I’m Faith.”

Dimitri was an older gentleman who looked much younger than his years might betray.  He looked similar to Dante but was slightly shorter than him in stature, and had more of a straw colored blonde hair instead of Dante’s golden blonde color.  However, he had the same sharp, deep green eyes that Dante had.  These eyes looked like they could boor into your soul if you let them. 

Faith held his gaze for only a moment, feeling self-conscious of both men’s eyes on her.

            “No need to apologize, Dante never knocks.  In fact, I don’t believe he knows how to,” Dimitri smirked. 

            “I’m Dimitri Philosophe, it’s a pleasure to meet you Faith Geniason.  You’ve been quite the talk lately – given you are the Living Phoenix?”  His eyes seemed to shine with anticipation as he moved forward to grab Faith’s hand with both his hands.

            “Well, it doesn’t mean much to me right now, I don’t really feel all that different,” Faith admitted.

            “In time, Ms. Geniason, in time,” Dimitri smiled, but the smile didn’t quite reach his eyes. 

            Dante interrupted and took Faith’s hand out of his father’s hands. 

            “Father, was this all you wanted?  An introduction?  We need to get going if we want to make our way back to the lodge before it gets too dark or visibility is poor due to more winds kicking up the snow.”

            “Yes, my apologies for detouring you two, I just wanted to meet the lovely Faith in person,” he said again smiling. 

This time the smile almost looked a bit like a sneer. Or had Faith just imagined that?

             “It was a pleasure meeting you again Faith, I look forward to seeing you again soon.”

And with that, Dante ushered Faith out of his father’s office and led her back up above ground.

The two didn’t speak until they reached the surface.

Once they reached the surface, it seemed like they both let out their breaths as if they had been holding it in the whole time. 

            “Was it me, or did my father seem weird?” Dante broke the silence first.

            “I don’t know your father so I can’t say what is considered weird,” Faith shrugged.

            “Yeah, he was behaving oddly.  Definitely weird,” Dante murmured.

            “It seemed like he didn’t quite believe that I was the Living Phoenix. Maybe he was just skeptical and that’s how it came across,” Faith suggested.

Dante knew that wasn’t the case.  During one of the meetings he heard about, his father was the first believer among all of the others in the second realm.  There had been one person who had seemed quiet on the subject and that was Colvine Geniason.  However, Dante thought that had been because she was his niece and he didn’t want to appear as though he was showing favoritism in his opinions on the matter.  

            “Come on, I’ve been dragging you all around town.  Let’s go to that diner you had dinner at last night and get something to eat,” Dante said.

Faith’s eyes got big.  “YOU WERE FOLLOWING ME! How else would you know where I had dinner?” 

Dante silently face palmed himself for his slip up. 

            “Ugh, ok….so I might have known you were here before I saw you at the lodge?” Dante admitted.

            “You have been following me, admit it.”

            “No.”

            “Yes.”

            “No, I really wasn’t.”

            “Lies.  How come you keep lying to me?” Faith looked at Dante puzzled about his intentions.  Dante knew he had to come clean, but he didn’t want to make her feel uncomfortable until they had formed some kind of bond, or a deeper friendship.

            “Look Faith, I know this is hard to believe but I have only your best intentions in mind here.  I just can’t explain everything to you yet, not yet.”

Faith rolls her eyes at Dante.  “Why does everyone think I’m so weak and need saving? When did I become so helpless?  I assure you, I’m not.”

            “I know you’re not, but at the same time, look at it this way.  The last Living Phoenix had a group of people to protect her, but she ended up getting killed prematurely.  I think there are a lot of folks who are trying to make sure that doesn’t happen again.” 

This time, Dante told mostly truths that Faith couldn’t argue with.  She looked like she was contemplating saying something more but instead said, “Fine.  Keep your secrets for now.  But be warned, three may keep a secret, if two of them are dead.”

Hrm thought Dante to himself… that was morbid.  But given the fact that Faith had gone through a bit in the last fortnight he didn’t contradict what she said.  Internally he agreed with her, secrets were good for nothing and only brought along with it trouble.  He didn’t want to keep secrets from her, but he just needed a little more time.

            “So, dinner?”  Dante said smirking.

            “Fine.  Let’s go eat,” Faith said less than pleased with him.

At least she didn’t push me away he thought to himself.

------

Faith and Dante made their way back to the diner Faith had eaten at the previous night.  When they stepped through the doors, Faith noticed a few more elves and shapeshifters there than had been there the night before.  Helene looked up in recognition and smiled.

            “Dante!  What are you doing here and not at school?”  Helene eyed him accusingly.

            “Helene, don’t worry, Father knows I’m here…and I came here to check up on a friend.”

Helene seemed to then notice that Faith was right behind Dante.  Her eyes brightened in recognition of Faith.

            “Is this your friend? I didn’t know you were friends,” Helene smiled at Faith.

            “Yes, we’re surprised you’re friends,” said a smooth voice from the side.

They all turned their heads to the left to see Lucian sitting at the counter on a barstool.  He swiveled around to look directly at Dante.

Dante’s jaw became set and his expression stony as he greeted Lucian.

            “Lucian.” Dante nodded.

            “So, you’re friends?” Lucian repeated.

            “Yes, we go to school together,” Dante explained.

            “I see.  And are you here to see my father too?”  Lucian inquired.

            “No?  Why would I need to see your father?”  Dante said quizzically.

            “Well, your friend was here to find my father,” Lucian continued. This time Lucian looked directly at Faith to see if she would offer any further explanation of her own.

Dante, got it instantly.  Geniason.  Of course, family?  Family relation?  Or something to do with family issues?  But Lucian seemed to not know her.  That’s weird if they’re family.  It looked like they were strangers, and didn’t seem familiar as family should.

            “We’re here to eat.  Then we have to head back.  I don’t think there will be time to meet with your father Lucian,” Dante fabricates.  Boy, he was getting good at lying.          

Faith had been quiet this whole time and didn’t quite look Lucian in the eye.

“Well, he’s not here anyway.  He went to the first realm last night.  I only found out after I got home in the evening,”  Lucian says searching for a response from Faith’s expression.

Faith remained stoic and had kept her emotions blank.

            “I’m sorry to have missed him then,” Faith replied calmly.  “Maybe next time, since I have a few questions for him.”

            Lucian looked her up and down and nodded.  “Yes, better luck next time.”

Dante led Faith to a booth across the way from Lucian.

            “Wanna tell me what that was about?”  he hissed.

            “I’ll be keeping my secrets since you’re keeping yours,” Faith hissed back.

This time it was Dante’s turn to roll his eyes.  “Faith, I told you, its only for right now.”

Looking despondent, Faith replied, “It doesn’t matter now anyway, since the whole point of my trip has lost its purpose.”

            “So, you were coming here to see Colvine Geniason?” Dante said looking startled.

             “Yes.”

            “Why?”

Faith looked down at her lap as she whispered, almost too quietly…

“He’s my father.”