Phoenix Hidden

Chapter 3

**Flashback**

    The smell of chlorine was strong inside the pool area as I sat on the edge with just my feet dipping in. Nara was seated next to me doing the same, and I couldn’t help but scrunched my nose at the horrendous smell.

            “Why are we in here? You can’t really want to swim in this filth.” I clicked my tongue is disgusted as I looked at my blue-haired friend now that it was just the two of us.

            “Of course not; I rather swim in a natural body of water, you know that. But this place is empty; it's water, and I can use it to recharge.” Her cheerful voice echoed against the tiled room as she swished her feet gently in the pool water leaning back on her palms with her head tilted back. “Got to adapt sometimes, Voss. Something you should know with age.”

    She wasn’t wrong, but I rolled my eyes nonetheless. I knew she was older than me, but by how many years, I wasn’t sure. Nara was my only connection to home; I hated living in this realm with these f*****g mortals, and I couldn’t wait until the day I could take Oriel home. “Perhaps if you are accustomed to having to live in this cesspool of a world. I, for one, am just biding time. Neither of our magick can mask her forever.”

    I brought a foot up out of the water and placed my chin on my knee. The things I went through to keep her safe, and she couldn’t even remember. It made me somewhat bitter to think about, and this unrequited love was for the dogs. In our time, I have loved Oriel for twenty-three years. I gave up everything to free her and became banished to this forsaken realm of capitalism and greed. Mortals disgust me to no end. I glanced over to Nara and wondered how she was doing this for centuries at a time. Oriel and I have only been here for fifteen years, and it's been too long, in my opinion.

    I started wallowing in my bitterness more when a shove on my back suddenly pushed me into the pool. As I swim back to the surface, I see Nara cracking up laughing, and I growl as I move towards her. “Seriously?” I splashed as much water as I could at her with my hands, causing my friend to squeal. She retaliated by leaning back and kicking her feet to splash the water towards me. "Nara! Stop it!"

            "Marco?" Her playfulness was showing through a smirk as she tried to make it a game. Diving down, I swam towards the edge, lifted myself out of the pool, and laid down. Nara was the living embodiment of happiness, being a Daemon of compassion. She was all about it, and sensing my wallowing, she took it upon herself to fix it. Her very nature made it difficult for anyone to stay upset around her. The only way it was possible is if you simply wanted to be unhappy, and let's face it... you can't help those who don't want it.

    A smile crossed my lips as I lay next to Nara, but it was short-lived as the opening of the pool room door echoed through the air. Their scent overpowered the chlorine, and I quickly got to my feet as I faced the three men who entered and placed myself protectively between Nara and them. Great….my kin has finally found me.

                Nara, get out of here and get to Oriel. If they found me, my magick is weaker than I thought. I need you to protect her until I get to you. Lock the door once you are in, and DO NOT open it for anyone.

    Thankfully, sending my thoughts to Nara was reasonably easy since she is telepathic as well. So I didn’t need to use any extra energy.

            “Voss?” Nara questioned as she peeked around me at the men that were coming closer. Her voice sounded small and scared. I knew that she would use others’ misconceptions of her to her advantage. Daemons could be very sneaky, so much so it would give us Kitsune a run for our money. As a species, they were also more varied morally, much like my kind. I also knew Nara could fight, having fought next to her centuries ago and even against her a few times.

    When my mentor sided with Emperor Liang, friends and kin were pitted against each other. I hated fighting against my friends. Though all my kin aligned with Liang, who started calling himself the 'Immortal Emperor' and demanded the submission of all. He even took some species captive, including Oriel and her kin. I was not turned against them until I rescued her and fled.

            “Hello, brother.” The Kitsune, who was obviously the leader, spoke with a Cheshire Cat grin. “It seems being away for so long has made it difficult to hide both you and the Bird.”

    His amber eyes zeroed onto Nara as she slowly began to stand behind me. I growled and snarled to hide my relief that he didn’t realize that Nara was not Oriel. At least her magick was still strong.

                    He thinks I’m Oriel! I can use that. When they round the corner of the pool, I will make a break for it.

            “The Immortal Emperor wants his property back. He has asked us to retrieve it. Please do not make this difficult, brother. If you come peacefully, you can return home with no repercussions.” His grin never left his face as he turned around the edge of the pool. “You can go back to where you belong.”

    I would be lying if I said it wasn’t appealing. I wouldn't say I liked this place and missed my home. However, Kitsune are masterful manipulators, and I knew better than to trust any one of us. “I rather have my freedom!” I finished my declaration. Nara took off behind me and around the opposite side just as they turned the corner. Even on the wet floor, Nara was faster than any creature I had met.

            “Get her!” The leader bellowed as he lurched towards me. If this fool thought he was going to detain me, he had another thing coming. I dodged to the right and threw my elbow into his right rib, sending him crashing into the chlorinated water. My satisfaction was short-lived as the other two had made it to the door and were blocking the exit from Nara, and I scrambled to aid my friend. How she made running on this wet floor easy was beyond me, Spirits are supposed to have issues with crossing water. Still, I guess since Nara is a Daemon, she isn’t a true spirit but more “spirit-like.” It's hard to follow what rules her kind adheres to as they are all over the place in abilities, alignments, and even looks. Perhaps that is why they seem to answer to no one but their own embodiments.

    The two men blocking her did not seem to slow her down as she pushed herself harder and picked up speed. As I rounded the corner to help, a smirk grew on her face. They thought they had her, but that look was all I needed to see to know that she had something up her sleeve. Her body faded into a mist as Nara went right through the men and the door making her exit. She headed to Oriel, leaving behind two very confused Kitsune in the process.

                    That’s my bud! Keep her safe for me...

    I sent one more thought to her and couldn’t help but smile as I reached the men, still distracted by what had happened. “That’s not possible…Phoenixes can do that?” One panicked as he ran his hands over his body where Nara had just ran through. She’s never done that to me, so I was rather curious what it must have felt like. But that would have to wait for another time. Before he had time to collect himself, I slammed into both of them. They collided into the tiled wall just as the leader reached the surface of the water and sputtered before trying to swim out. “DISGUSTING!”

    Yeah, I was just in there and didn’t want to even think about the number of people who have probably peed in it. I grabbed ahold of one man, whose head was already bleeding, and tossed him into the pool. I wasn't sure if he landed on or near the leader who was trying to get out, but the commotion would keep them busy for at least a few moments. As I picked up the third from the ground, I noticed the blood on the wall trailing down to him from the back of his head. It seems he had already lost a bit of blood, but that would not kill a Kitsune; that takes them being in their true form and cutting off all its tails or destroying their pearl. I grabbed his head between my hands, bringing my knee with as much force as I could muster into the front of his skull. More blood of his splattered onto me. It won't kill him, but it will be quite a while before he is healed, at least buying me time.

    I pulled the dagger from the sheath on his belt and turned to the other two. The leader made it to the edge and pulled himself up as the other struggled to stay afloat. “Could Liang not find more competent retrievers?” I taunted the men, but I actually was slightly insulted. I was his top general; the least he could do was send decent fighters.

    My taunt hit just as I had intended. The leader growled at me and came towards me with rage in his eyes. Predictable. I growled back more in annoyance than anything as I threw my left arm up to block his right hook and brought the blade up to s***h across his chest. He stepped back momentarily, taking in a rush of air through his teeth as he grabbed his chest wound. His blood dripped from my borrowed blade onto the floor, but I wasted no time sending a sidekick into his abdomen, sending him flying back into the pool. His blood from his chest wound began to color the water red as he tried swimming to the surface. As the third had finally made it to the far end of the pool where he could stand, I called out to him. “You should probably learn to swim better, mate.”

    I threw the dagger across the pool to hit him in the back. As he screamed out in pain, I took the chance to run to the exit and onward towards the elevator. The doors were sealed shut, and I leaned against the back wall catching my breath. I looked at my reflection in the mirror as surprise overcame me. There wasn’t that much bloodshed, or at least I didn’t think there was, but looking at me in the mirrored coating was a different story. The water from when Nara pushed me in, mixed with the spatter from the fights, led to me looking like Carrie on Prom night.

    As the elevator dinged and "Carrie" disappeared in the opening doors, my thoughts went immediately to Oriel. I could feel her panic as her muffled voice came through the door of her room. Should I go to my room first and clean up? Probably. But I had no time to waste; there was no telling how long before those Kitsune recovered enough to follow my scent. I couldn't risk Nara using her magick to mask me when she is already masking herself and Oriel. In my resolve, I banged on her door and heard the speaking abruptly stop.

    After a few moments, the door slowly opened, and who I saw first was Nara standing on the other side of the room. She was just standing there, and a sense of urgency to get Oriel out of this place grew as I rushed in. “Nara, we need to leave now. Your spell has worked; they think you are her, but it’s only a matter of time before they see through the illusion.”