The Phoenix King :Alexandria

Phoenix King?

Venus and Samantha were helping me get ready for my visit to the trinity spirit church. I had one last thing from my mother. It was a beautiful long sleeve dress with dozens of crystals and diamonds sparkling all over it. The cape draped to the floor and flowed as I walked. I was a bit nervous and scared to go through with this. I have never heard of the spirits not accepting the future phoenix king but it would be just my luck. As we left the palace I looked around and noticed all the high council members were here. Everyone but Cloud.

"Looking for someone," Venus said.

"No, I'm just nervous and ready to get this over with," I told her. We made it to the entrance of the church and I knew I had to enter alone. I walked inside and felt this energy flow through my veins. I loved coming here as did my mother. It felt peaceful and safe. The spirits never scared me but now that everything is at stake I can't help but feel a little frightened. I began to hear chanting and the fire on the wall ahead of me burned brighter and higher. The water flowing all around the walls suddenly swirled around me. I felt a gust of air whoosh around me. Then the fire slowly left the wall and circled around me as well. I felt my body heat up and the chanting turned softer. I felt calm and somehow more balanced. It is as if I could feel the phoenix spirit inside me. Its emotions were tied to mine. The chanting softly died down and then stopped. The spirits no longer surrounded me. I walked out and everyone waiting outside kneeled before me.

"All hail the phoenix queen," Paul said.

"Queen?" I thought to myself. I always figured I would keep the title of king. After a few, Venus and Samantha led me back to the palace. That night we had a feast and celebration to honor me and remember my father.

"So we will have to discuss your marriage and who will become king," Paul said.

"We should wait until morning," Maze said to him with a concerned look on his face.

"What?" I asked. "I don't understand. Why do I need to have a king if I am the phoenix king."

"We have never had a female phoenix king,' Paul said. "We know that is is best we find a male to lead the galaxy and who you may pass down your phoenix spirit too."

"Excuse you," I said. "You want me to find a man to marry and then kill me, just like that."

"No, Sire," Maze said. "There is a very old ritual that will allow you to transfer your phoenix spirit without dying."

"I don't understand," I said.

"We think it is best for you and for all of Callisto," Paul said. "You are not fit to be king." That last remark hurt me the most because I knew he was right. I was nothing like my fierce, strong, and brave parents. They loved to fight and were very skilled at it. They may have trained me to use my spirit powers and fight with a sword but I have never had to use them nor did I ever want to.

"Why didn't my father ever say anything about this ritual," I asked Paul.

"Well no phoenix king before you ever needed it," he said. "They were all male."

"Alexandria, please try to understand," Maze said.

"I don't know if I can," I said. "Why didn't my parents just have another child. It might have been a male."

"Our tradition states the phoenix king is to only have one child so that the rule of succession doesn't get complicated or threatened," Paul explained.

"I wouldn't have argued over who got to become king with my sibling," I stated. "Would you have asked my mother to give up her phoenix spirit had she been king and not my father." No one answered me. I knew they wouldn't dare and she wouldn't have let them. I then knew what I had to do.

"Maze is right, we should discuss this in the morning," I said. I walked away and waited until they were preoccupied with other guests and ran to my mother's ship. I headed to Caligo. I was not sure why but I figured it was the best place to run away too. I had to confront Cloud and no one would think to look for me there.

As soon as I reached Caligo, I headed to Cloud's palace. It was very different than the palace back at Callisto. My mother said Cloud wanted space but to also be alone. It was high up in the mountains. The palace looked more like ruins than anything. It had an extensive barrier before you even reached the main area. It had a huge labyrinth and many bridges to get from one side to the other.  I flew in low as I approached the long and wide palace. I made my way through the barrier and entered the first tower. I walked through this dark and dreary hallway to the grand hall. Cloud was standing there looking at some papers he held in his hand.

"Hi," I said softly. "Never realized how hard it was to come in here."

"It's obviously not hard enough," Cloud said with a concerned look on his face. "Why are you here?"

"I needed to get out of the palace," I said.

"Today you were supposed to present yourself to the spirits as the new phoenix king," he said.

"Yeah, thanks for coming by the way," I snapped at him.

"Was I supposed to go," he said.

"All the other high council members went," I said harshly.

"They are all kiss asses," he said. "I have no reason or obligation to attend such events."

"So, when I killed my father and my mother died. You had no reason to go or obligation as a best friend," I said as my eyes began to tear up. He turned away from me and didn't say a word. I wiped away the single tear that escaped my eyes.

"Look, I just came to get away from that ridiculous palace and Paul," I said. "I'm the phoenix king but they act like I can't protect my people or the galaxy. Maybe they are right." Cloud turned around and walked towards me.

"You look beautiful," he said softly.

"I know, like my mother," I said as I rolled my eyes. He smiled and took my hand. He led me to one of the chambers along the other corridor.

"You can stay as long as you'd like but sooner or later you have to go back," he said. He closed the door behind him and I just fell on to the bed. I closed my eyes and without realizing it I had quickly fallen asleep.