Ivy could smell the sweet scent of blue peas before she opened her eyes. She knew she was outside her grandma’s cottage by the plains of irises in her dream which she had long to appear.

She opened her eyes and saw herself standing under the arch of blue peas overseeing her kingdom of dogs chasing each other in the plain of irises. The cotton blue sky was lit with hues of bright red and orange hues instead.

It took her a while to notice a warm red fireball observing her by her side. “Who are you?” She asked in surprise as she stepped back a little.

“Phoenix.” It replied in an echo. “You can talk?” Ivy asked in disbelief. "No, I don't. I can only echo." Phoenix replied.

"Where do you… How… I mean what are you doing here? Shouldn't you be dead? The ashes?" Ivy questioned in confusion while pointing to the ground where the dark marks of ashes were.

"I'm a Phoenix. I reincarnate when I have enough rest." He echoed.

"Why are you in my kingdom?" Ivy stepped forward recalling he was not supposed to be here in her paracosm.

"I save your kingdom, princess." Phoenix echoed nonchalantly.

"Where are you from?" Ivy pestered further into her curiosity.

"I…" Phoenix hesitated to reply to her the truth for a moment for fear Ivy would not believe him and assassinate him, knowing from her grandma that she was known as the Princess of seven swords. Her grandma told him to tell Ivy he saved the kingdom from intruders and that she decided to let him stay but Phoenix felt bad about telling that lie.

"I lost my memory. I don't remember." He softly echoed as he told her the truth.

"But how did you get here? I don't understand!" Ivy was furious and yet skeptical about Phoenix that she was about to summon her sword when grandma who was listening from the edge of the door inside the house quickly rushed out to halt her.

“Honey, you’re here!” Grandma greeted her.

“Grandma!” Ivy turned around and saw the sight she missed so dearly as she went to hug her.

Phoenix saw grandma signaling him to leave had flown up in the sky as a soft breeze blew by the plains of iris where the kingdom of dogs were.

Ivy panicked at the sight, thinking Phoenix wanted to kill them but then she noticed the dogs were chasing after the ball they were playing which Phoenix was controlling with the wind it made.

“That’s amazing!” Ivy watched in awe as she let go of grandma from her embrace. Grandma patted her as she smiled watching her granddaughter being less tense.

“Who is Phoenix grandma?” Ivy asked sternly as she distracted herself from the view in front of them.

Grandma chuckled a little to ensure Ivy to relax.

“He is our savior. He fought our enemies which were the serpents who are still occasionally appearing and kept our kingdom safe.” Grandma explained as they both watched Phoenix playing with their dogs.

“How did he get here?” Ivy asked without taking her eyes off him.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

“He lost his memories and he is lost. Guess you will need to figure out how to help him find his way back home.” Grandma teased.

“What? No.” Ivy replied in disbelief. “Why not? You’re the princess of this kingdom and to repay his kindness of saving our kingdom, you should show your gratitude by helping him recover his memories.”

“That, I would certainly be grateful for.” Ivy was startled by an echo as she turned around to find a human form of Phoenix standing in front of her. He was wearing a mask covering his eyes. Ivy watched every detail of his glowing red hue skin tone to his flawless long hair swaying with the wind. She recognised the echo. Even in his human form he still echo.

“Charming…” Ivy was captivated at his beauty as she reached out to touch his face.

“Princess Ivy, we have a mission to complete in order to regain my memories and help me find my way home.” Phoenix gently echoed while Ivy was still captivated by his mysterious gaze which she was instantly dying to see those eyes behind the mask.

“Ivy!” Grandma called in a high pitched voice which startled Ivy. “Yes! Yes, I know.” Ivy acknowledged as she kept herself under control by looking away for a moment and cleared her throat.

“Tell me the mission.” She instructed with full confidence like every princess should.

"We need to find my memories to trace back my identity. Meanwhile, I shall serve your kingdom as my gratitude in return..." Phoenix echoed but sounded like he hesitated some details.

"But?" Ivy pestered. "Ivy, patience my dear…" Grandma patted on her shoulder. "Occasionally, the serpents would come to attack from the portals randomly. The serpents are appearing due to…" Phoenix hesitated again as he felt upset at himself for the calamity he had caused upon his saviors.

"Of what?" Ivy was getting impatient and agitated as grandma held on to her arm to calm her down.

"Ivy, calm down… when he is upset, the serpents would appear and as he regains his memory slowly, we would expect more to appear. We need to embrace ourselves for the fight, Ivy." Grandma explained as she comforted Phoenix who was looking down by patting his left arm.

Ivy was speechless briefly before the sunset sky turned gray with swirls of portals where serpents were hissing and entering the kingdom. Phoenix instantly transformed into his mystical form and flew to fight the serpents. Ivy saw her loyal sword fly towards her as she flew up to the second portal and killed the serpents with her sword.

In the midst of the fight, she understood Phoenix’s mission as she began to sympathise and missed a serpent which was close to attacking her.

Phoenix jumped in to take the last hit before going after Ivy who was injured and flying downwards to the ground. Phoenix managed to catch her in time and laid her down on the ground softly before transforming back to his human form. Ivy held his ever so gentle but mysterious gaze all the way down.

“Are you alright, Princess?” Phoenix inspected her wounds and healed them by touching them.

“How did you do that?” Ivy asked while being amazed.

“I have healing powers Princess. Look, we may meet with these attacks very often. I will protect the entire kingdom with my protective shield and heal any injuries but I need your strength as allies to defend till I regain my memory and I promise, I will repay your kingdom, princess.” Phoenix was trying hard to persuade Ivy.

“Why can’t you seal the kingdom with your protecting shield now?” Ivy questioned.

“Princess, only the chosen one gets to awaken my protecting shield.” Phoenix explained as he held her hands but she held back as her fear kept her in check.

“How do you know if I am the chosen one?” Ivy questioned but soon saw the sky was turning gray again and Phoenix was already defending in the sky in his mystical form as she tried to get up to fight but instead was greeted with a serpent coming through from the big black hole.

Ivy woke up sobbing from the terror of facing serpents which she was afraid of right in front of her. The worst part was she couldn’t move again which made her panic but remembered she should close her eyes like she did previously to let her sleep paralysis die off but this time she could not close her eyes either. All she could do was stare back at the hideous serpent and let her tears flow in terror.

It took her a long while to recover from her sleep paralysis. By the time she finally felt her senses again as she shuddered from her nightmare, it was four in the morning. She sat up in bed to find her table lamp bulb had gone out. She used her mobile flashlight to lead her to the switch and quickly switch on the room’s light. She couldn’t bring herself back to sleep after the terrifying nightmare and checked the time.

The terror made her forget Phoenix’s face but she remembered his name and how his human form skin was glowing. His gaze was the only comfort she could hold on to the entire morning.

After an hour she sat watching the dark night sky while being mesmerised by Phoenix in her dreams, she decided to catch up on her studies since there will be a first term exam soon. Having to sit for exams every month no matter if they were small or major has taken its toll on Ivy’s stress level as she pondered on her hectic schedules where she has been doing part time jobs but it was not contributing to help her choose which faculty she would like to move on with.

She could not even rest properly at ease. She wondered if she would be able to endure just for another year till her friends move on with their dreams. She hoped to leave only good memories for all of them to remember her for but it seemed this hope has been taking its toll on her harshly.