“Serenity?” Blaze sounded startled. “I should have known you’d find me. All I have is hints and guesses. Ikatha doesn’t actually know anything about phoenixes other than how to recognize one; she’s never seen one any more than I have.”

“I did, once,” Serenity admitted. “I don’t think that helps; it was in the distance. We didn’t speak. I wouldn’t have known what to ask anyway; it was before I met you.”

“On Earth?” Blaze looked hopeful until Serenity shook his head. “The other timeline, then. Do you think you could find the phoenix if you went there?”

Serenity shook his head again. “It was several hundred years from now and I don’t remember what world it was.”

Blaze looked down and gave a deep sigh. “Then I’ll just have to keep trying.”

“What are you trying to do?” Serenity looked over the setup again but didn’t see anything he hadn’t seen the first time. A bed of coals blazed brightly, sending heat and flame across Blaze. Serenity strongly suspected there was an accelerant, but whatever it was either was scentless or fully combusted in the flames.

“Become a phoenix in truth.” Blaze said it as if the answer were obvious. “I thought I was fine, but … you have no idea what it’s like to know that you’re just a tool. I was created, my people were created just to give Apollyon a better way to escape his actions. Maybe as a way for him to gain new abilities, too, I don’t know. Either way, we were made to further one man’s ambitions.”

Serenity thought he understood a bit more than Blaze realized, but he couldn’t claim to be in the same position. He’d been manipulated into actions he hated, but that wasn’t quite the same thing. Neither was the fact that even back when he was human, he was so close to Death and so driven that he returned from the dead.

He didn’t really remember that time. What little he remembered told him he’d been treated more as a thing than a person, but in many ways he couldn’t blame the people around him; for years, maybe decades, he wasn’t actually capable of making his own choices. That wasn’t what made it different from Blaze’s situation, though. No, what made it different was that it was his fault as much as it was anyone’s.

Being used as a weapon by the Mimir was closer, but that was something he hadn’t even known about until it was long over. He’d been hounded into his actions, but they were still his own. “You’re right, I don’t know what it’s like. What I do know is that you’ve made yourself into a man to be proud of despite that.”

“That’s fair, and yet…” Blaze shook his head and looked down. “I still hate it. I don’t want to put any child of mine through the pain of learning control, either. It hurts to stay in my own body, to not take another’s. I know why my kin do what they do, and it’s not just for the power.”

Blaze took a deep breath, then let it out. He looked up at Serenity with an expression Serenity couldn’t read. The only thing he could be certain was there was determination. “More than that, though, this is what I chose, I am the person I choose to be. And that is the person I was born to be. Yes, I was lucky to be born with the bloodline of a phoenix, but it still fits me well. That part of my heritage I embrace. How could I not try to take the next step and shed what I hate while becoming what I want to be?”

Serenity gave a slight head shake. He could completely understand why Blaze couldn’t pass that up. He also knew that there was probably more to it; after all, phoenixes were supposed to be exceedingly powerful, and who didn’t like power? Serenity knew he did, though he also knew it wasn’t everything. Blaze clearly felt the same way; he was planning to give up the power of the diehar, power he didn’t like, in exchange for power he did want. “I’d probably make the same choice. Is there a way I can help?”

There was a long pause, then Blaze laughed. “Never change. I had an entire argument worked out, how I was going to convince you not to try to stop me, and you offered to help when I’d barely started. I should have known.”

Serenity grinned at that. “Yeah, you should have. You know me pretty well by now.”

Blaze nodded, then reached down and adjusted something under his seat. The flames died down and it became obvious that Blaze was unclothed. Since he was sitting on fire-heated metal, that couldn’t be comfortable, but it didn’t seem to bother him. Blaze’s heat resistance must be higher than Serenity had previously realized. “I should have done that earlier, I can’t concentrate on the flames while we’re talking anyway. As for your question, I don’t know what you can do. I do have some ideas; I expect that the normal answer is a ritual, probably conducted by a phoenix. That makes the most sense.”

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Serenity nodded. “I assume you’re planning something else?”

Blaze shrugged. “I’m definitely not waiting until I find a phoenix. I hoped that surrounding myself in the hottest flames I could stand would work, but they didn’t really make me feel any closer to being a phoenix, even when I triggered the flame-based Skills I have that have to be from my bloodline.”

Serenity frowned at that. He’d never asked too much about Blaze’s Skills; it was polite to share anything other people needed to know, but beyond that Serenity was used to not saying anything and not asking. “Are they racial Skills or just ones you got from another Path?”

“Another Path,” Blaze answered quickly. “It’s called Fire-Attuned; it has a handful of different Skills that all work with Fire. I’ve had it or one like it at every Tier. Right now, I have a resistance Skill, a movement Skill, an attack Skill, and a Skill that lets me turn into fire temporarily. That was the one I had the most hope would tie into Phoenix.”

Serenity frowned. He could see why Blaze would think that, but it didn’t feel right. “That feels like a Path based around your Affinity. You’re a spellcaster, but not really an offensive one; those are Skills I’d expect to see in someone who fought with their Affinity in close range.”

Blaze coughed and looked away from Serenity. “I, uh, picked up that Path during a time when I was, ah, doing a lot of close range fighting. Pure spellcasting wasn’t allowed in the arena and I needed the Etherium.”

Serenity raised an eyebrow at that. He’d mostly been a delver, so his experience with arenas was limited, but what he did know said that they always needed healers. Sending a healer to fight in the arena itself seemed odd. He wasn’t sure he wanted to ask more; he knew how annoying it could be when other people wanted to ask about his past, especially the parts he wasn’t proud of. Blaze didn’t seem proud of this part.

“It was right after I left home and I was worried they’d find me if I wasn’t careful.” Blaze frowned for a moment. “I was right to be worried, too. I heard things later…”

Blaze shook his head as if he was trying to clear his brain. “I may go back someday. I never thought I‘d be able to, but if I can become a phoenix, maybe I can. Hah, it’s been long enough that I doubt anyone would know me. I’m not sure it’s worth it; what would I do if I went back? Try to change things? No one there wanted to change; that’s why I ran.”

“Even if all you do is see it’s there, maybe it’s worth the trip,” Serenity offered. “Going back doesn’t have to mean changing things.”

Blaze nodded, then shook his head again. It was clear he still had strong feelings about his childhood. Serenity couldn’t blame him for that; he did, too, even though it seemed incredibly far away compared to his time as the Final Reaper.

“None of that matters unless I manage to do what Ikatha said I could and truly become a phoenix. If only Ikatha knew more.” Blaze seemed to have moved on; it was clearly easier to focus on the near future instead of the distant past.

Serenity could sympathize. He felt the same way. “So what did she tell you?”

“Not much. She only knows the tales and it sounds like the Black Tortoises don’t really care about what happens outside. She said something about being reborn in flames, but that’s all, and the flames don’t seem to be working.” Blaze shook his head. “Maybe I need to push them past where it’s safe, but I wasn’t about to do that on my own.”

Serenity nodded. “The myth on my world is that phoenixes are reborn from their own ashes. Exactly how that works varies, but that’s the core. I don’t - wait. The damn prophecy.” Serenity pulled up the exact words. “‘If the Tiger and her Cubs tussle over the Phoenix’s Embers, the Phoenix shall never rise again.’ That’s not much of a clue. ‘The Dragon must choose which to protect; only with the aid of Light and Shadow can he make the Cycle turn and bring a new balance to the Four.’ If the dragon is me, well, it’s definitely not clear what I’m supposed to choose between. Have I mentioned I hate prophecies?”

Blaze chuckled. “Only every time they come up. Really, all that tells me is that if I’m going to do this, I need to do it before we get to Berinath and keep the cub away or I’ll need to wait until after we deal with the mother. I should wait; it’s not like there’s a hurry.”

“But you don’t want to.” Serenity knew the feeling. “Let me send a message to Honoria; there may be something in the Library or she may be able to get something from the Broken Mirror. I’ll also message Russ in case he or Red know anything. I know he has more contacts that he usually talks about, and there’s that odd librarian in London. We can try as soon as we know what to try.”

Blaze shook his head. “I’ll wait until after we get rid of the cub and deal with his mother. That prophecy sounds all too much like she may show up wherever we are; I don’t want to deal with that. I know it’s not definite, but any chance is too much. I’d forgotten about that or I wouldn’t have tried this here. Certainly not without locking the door.” Blaze gave an uneasy look at the door Serenity had entered by.

“I don’t think the cub has figured out how to work doors yet.” Serenity gave the door a cautious look. Even if it were locked, it would only keep him out if he chose to respect the lock. He probably would have, but Blaze was right; it wasn’t locked.

“We’re definitely locking the door next time,” Blaze declared. “We should keep the door locked the entire time you’re working on the ritual or whatever we decide is needed.”