Adonai:

"Mamma, mamma!" I called out to my mother while dragging her long skirt and looking up at her in awe. Her long white hair that reached the bottom of the floor and golden eyes were more enchanted by the beautiful sunlight that was coming through the window. She was cooking food, a lot of it in fact, in the half assed language I could muster for a three year old I asked while pointing at the machine that was so alienating to me at that time: "Magic there?"

My mother looked down to me and smiled, then she took me into her arms and brought me up to look at the oven. "This is not magic, this is just common day umm advantages, you will learn about them when you grow up. Oh and what beautiful little boy you will be in the future, I can only imagine, After all you take after me and your father I presume!" She said giggling and smiling but also proud of her good looks.

She was probably looking for fitting words for a three year old to understand, and I did my best at that time. "Your father should come today from his trip, any moment now ... and I still have so much to prepare aaah, sorry my dear but can you wait a bit until I'm done with this?" She asked me with pleading eyes.

"Ya." I responded.

Daylong work for the most awaited return of this household, a moment of enjoyment and bliss for a family soon to happen. My father who is usually on trips always let's us know ahead of time when he's coming back, even if he said he doesn't want anything too grandiose for his return, she always goes an extra mile to make sure he has time to enjoy himself and relax every time he's back. And while grateful my father always said that she's overworking herself and she should pay more attention to her own person. I couldn't really understand what he meant by this at that time.

Half hour later

*Knock knock*

"Coming!" My mother shouted as she was sprinting to the door and she then opened it. My father with a mask on his face dropped the luggages at the sight of my mother and went in for a hug, but his appearance was strange to put it at best so she was scared and kicked him right in the stomach, a kick that sent him flying a couple meters back.

"Aah! I'm so sorry, you startled me with that ... thing on your face."

"Hahaha, as strong as ever, but don't worry I came prepared." He said with a laugh as taking off a material that was made to protect his body from under his clothes. My mother looked back at him with an infuriated expression and retorted: "Smartass aren't you, came prepared to get beaten up even if you were the one who scared me in the first place? Sounds like a challenge." Her facial expression changed from infuriated to scary in a matter of seconds, as her eyes closed, and a weird shadow seemed to place perfectly on her face.

My fathers eyes lost light as he shot up straight and went into an apologetic stance, bowing to my mother and expressing his apologies "I'm sorry, I should've not done that, I'll never do it again, please, please spare me!" he almost cried. But words can only take you so far I thought as I saw my mother rushing towards him with an incredible speed for what was my perception of the world at that time, and then she jumped, arms raised up and prepared.

"I'm so glad you came back safe, even if you made an idiotic entrance!" She exclaimed with teary eyes while hugging my dad tightly, almost like he came back from a near death situation. As they stood up and came closer to the door I stood up and started to walk towards them.

"Papa, papa!" The words left my mouth with an expecting look and my hands up in the air expecting. And as my father lifted me up, he hugged me, then we headed to the living room to wait for my mother to finish up the food. My father had a tradition of telling me a story every time he came back from a trip, and this time it was no exception, he sat down on the couch and put me on his lap as he started.

"Listen here, my boy. I've read this on my journey in the south, it's a book about a planet called TrEs-2b. It is said it's a planet mostly covered in dark, the darkest planet ever discovered orbiting a star, less reflective than coal even. Red waves could be observed in the night sky, waves that were reflections from the surface of the planet, a weird view when you think about it, to this planet where life couldn't exist, and where there was no sunlight that's where our travelers went.

You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

There they met a group of fire gigantic birds and tried to talk to them but to no avail, the fire birds, thankfully not hostile, understanding the intent of the travelers guided them to the oldest of the tribe. The oldest was well known into the different languages spoken out there in the universe and they assumed a less imposing form, adopting a human body, but a body that couldn't escape their race traces, normal skin but infused with patterns of feathers burning inside their bodies, and a tail with a pair of wings remaining behind him.

They befriended the stowaways after some conversations and translation thanks to the elder and offered to give them shelter, light and food so they could survive. In exchange they had to write about their history, no, about their existence, if worse came to the worse there would be at least records left about the mighty fire birds that soared the skies so proud, the phoenix.

And so the stowaways stayed, and learned about phoenixes history, about their enemies, about how they became so efficient and powerful with fire magic. And it was because magic was what gave them light in this world, what gave them a chance at survival.

You see they were not born on that planet, but were forced to go there, millions of years ago because they were hunted by really bad guys. These villains wanted to take their feathers and put them in cages, displaying them as trophies and taking advantage of their ever burning bodies, but they didn't give up and they fled their planet to come here, a desolate place where no one would think to check.

Now in a safe place they could only hope the tragedy won't come back again, but soon after the stowaways arrived so did the tragedy, and so our group of adventurers was forced to leave the planet because of the imminent danger. They didn't want to involve strangers into their military affairs so no matter how much they pleaded to help them, they refused and sent them home.

Gigantic Snowy Owls started ravaging the planet along with a few individuals from which one was named Boreas. A natural enemy for their race because of his natural ice manipulation, it developed to such an extent that it could freeze the everlasting flames themselves.

That's part of the knowledge the stowaways learned about the phoenixes' enemies before being forced to leave and part of what they saw before they departed. Unfortunately they never got to see what happened to the friends they made on the desolated lightless planet, but they can only hope ... maybe if a second volume comes out we will get to know!"

My father finished his resume of the story with an optimistic smile on his face, while I could understand most of the words that he just told me it was fascinating. For my young brain something like magic was fuel for fantasies, a myriad world of possibilities that's how I felt back then.

"Enough stories boys, the food is ready!" My mom shouted from the kitchen, my father soon after the shout picked me up and started going towards the soothing voice of his wife. Putting me down we all stayed together, sitting at the table. Pounded by my curiosity and adopting the look of innocence in my eyes I asked my father "Magic there?" pointing outside the window.

My father looked at me with a blissful smile and answered "Of course, there is magic out there, everything is magical out there, every day you live and you will live will be just as magical as long as you have people close to you and as long as you are good with who you are. The true magic doesn't come from fantastic battles or never ending adventures, the true magic ... the people you have around you, isn't that right dear?"

"Absolutely." She answered almost immediately with the same blissful smile as my father, the magic in everyday life comes from being happy. No person can bear loneliness and remain sane, so make sure whatever friends you make out there, make sure you'll cherish them. Happiness is magic, and happiness is in your heart, but try to remember, happiness means nothing if you're not yourself, so make sure your soul stays just as magical."

"If mamma and papa are together, we are happy." I said while looking at my parents and smiling with my eyes filled with joy and my innocent smile reaching my ears.

....

I opened my eyes to the place filled with nothing but white.

"It was a dream, but where am I and why was I a spectator in my dream ... " I asked myself, filled with confusion.

"Boy..." A voice called out to me from a place in this white room, but I couldn't pinpoint from where, and then they continued "What you just saw is a precious memory to you, but more than that it's the answer you've been looking for."

"... Who are you?"

"Irrelevant" The voice retorted immediately "And you don't have time to waste, you're still dreaming and it's time to wake up." The voice continued in the same indifferent tone.

"What are you even talking about, why have I been reminded of this and what?"

"Irrelevant right now" the voice continued over my own, stopping me from posing more questions and finished the sentence with "This is but a small price of a favor."

"A favor, a favor to who?"

*Snap*

As I heard the sound of fingers snapping I woke back to reality, this time for good. In a state where I can't make sense if what I saw was my imagination, or if it was real, as real as a dream could get anyway.