Cosmic Phoenix [https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/pw/AP1GczMnZOY32itrY-aki4mThW6hsw1dx5tCUaKMGBDEFsYwpf0iGUbXEkqFabLvVNfmSAb2NdvkmGErhMta92JiOdeKXwpa_4WBNU7ojPiI-9bRxoH-v3DASHfiGbRHPAyeA5GBBK5k2sjZCvcxk9GO7-3m=w639-h959-s-no-gm?authuser=0]
“From the ashes of the first star, I call you. Until the final nova, I command you. You are the beginning and the end. You are the first and last breath of the universe. Our bond heralds the genesis of a new dawn. Come forward, that we may burn brightly across the cosmos.”
As Phoenix finished the incantation for her [Wings of the Cosmos], she carefully watched as the egg that would become her Familiar reformed. It was bigger than she remembered, and instead of the small bird she had been expecting, a larger phoenix about the size of a swan arose from the newly cracked shell of swirling blue and purple.
Tala looked much more mature and sleeker in this new form, and Phoenix’s first words were, “Definitely no more perching on my head if you’re that big.”
She glanced back towards Uriel, who was the only one watching at the moment since the others had yet to return from their tasks in the city, and said, “I wish I had remembered to resummon her earlier so I had time to go see if there was a shop still standing that sold like a leather shoulder pad or something for her.”
“We can go look tomorrow, but you might have to just keep her merged for a while instead. Unless she can shift forms? Plenty of summoned versions get that capability since their vessels are already more flexible with being able to merge.”
She turned back to ask Tala if that was something the Familiar could do when there was a tiny explosion of silver starlight like a firework combined with her collection ability’s visual side effect. Tala was back in her original smaller form and landed heavily in her outstretched hands.
Then she heard the tiny feminine voice in her mind accusingly say, “I can’t believe you forgot me!”
Phoenix blinked owlishly at the smaller phoenix before replaying her words and then scrambling for an answer to the newly vocal Familiar. Quickly trying to push aside the shock of being able to actually converse with her companion.
“I– I was exhausted and super stressed out, okay?!” Phoenix whined to the poofy little bird.
Tala’s feathers fluffed up indignantly while glaring up at her, “Not exhausted enough to not get treats from the warm one.”
She gave a tired sigh, “He was just trying to make me feel better about all that weird divine stuff. Wait, how did you know he gave me cookies? Are you like watching even though unsummoned?”
“I may not have a good smeller, but you both smell like Best Cookies,” Tala replied, then tilted her head and got wide begging eyes that seemed to sparkle with silver starlight, “You brought me some, right?”
“I– uh, of course,” she replied, setting the small bird atop her head and promptly conjuring a chocolate and marshmallow cookie. Phoenix had managed to steal a small pile of them after arriving back in the kitchens from the roof garden. Uriel had been helping with more baking for the locals participating in the reconstruction efforts, and while she wasn’t that good of a cook, she could assist pretty well.
It wasn’t until late that evening when she had realized her Familiar was missing from the usual spot nestled in her soul. The Crystal Caste vessel had burned up when Phoenix had ascended, and she needed to resummon the Familiar at the new Sapphire tier.
Similarly to Orebela and Rex, Tala also came with a few new upgrades at Sapphire Caste without the need for a Spirit Gem that would give them an additional ability.
Name: Tala
Species: Cosmic Phoenix (Familiar)
Mythical creatures not of this world that are attuned to Dimension, Fire, and Radiant magic.
Caste: Sapphire
Can cast the breath attack [Star Fire] against nearby enemies.
Attacks dealt by the talons or beak inflict additional Dimension damage, [Celestial Radiation], and can affect incorporeal entities.
Can communicate telepathically with the summoner.
Can heal others by expending a tail feather which grows back over time.
* Star Fire (elemental, magical, dimension, fire): A wide-area attack that inflicts a combination of Dimension and Fire damage and inflicts [Burning] and [Vulnerable].
* Burning (bane, elemental, fire): Inflicts ongoing Fire damage.
* Vulnerable (bane, elemental, stacking): All Elemental resistances are slightly reduced.
* Celestial Radiation (bane, divine, radiant): Inflicts ongoing low Radiant damage for a short duration.
When merged within the summoner:
* The summoner shines and slowly stores [Starlight Qi] generated from absorbed starlight. [Starlight Qi] can be completely drained to unleash a burst of mana and stamina regeneration to allies in the area. The amount replenished is determined by how much [Starlight Qi] was spent.
* The summoner gains [Stellar Photosynthesis] which allows them to be nourished on starlight alone and have accelerated mana recovery.
Uriel was smiling at them both as he finished reading over the description in her [Guide Book] and asked with a chuckle, “So the first thing she does is scold you, then demand recompense for your sins?”
Phoenix scrunched her nose in annoyance, “I am, like, the worst summoner. Pretty sure I would kill a plant if I had to be in charge of taking care of it… not one of those plants up in the garden either, like a sturdy cactus that only needs water, like, once a month… otherwise, it would totally be dead.”
He laughed, “Good thing summoned Familiars don’t need food to survive.”
“How dare he!” Tala replied in her mind while cheeping angrily at him, “I need treats just as much as any other Familiar.”
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Uriel didn’t seem to need a translation as he pulled out another cookie from his hip pouch to placate the irate bird and replied with a grin, “Treats don’t count as food for the body, luckily. They’re food for the soul.”
Tala seemed to become mollified by that as she amended, “I guess I’ll allow you to keep him.” Then the silvery beak took the cookie and thankfully flew down to the floor of the ritual room they were still standing in rather than getting crumbs in her hair.
Phoenix rolled her eyes at the Familiar, “Uriel’s not mine to keep.”
“What?” he asked in confusion.
“She gave me permission to keep you. I’m guessing because you are the worst about spoiling her with those cookies.”
“The warm one spoils you too. Really, he is best about spoiling, not worst,” Tala retorted.
“The point remains,” Phoenix interjected, giving the Familiar a disapproving look, “Uriel doesn’t belong to anyone,” she thought about that for a moment longer, then corrected, “Unless you count Dazien, I guess. I’m not really sure how that all works between you two. Do you consider you and him as belonging to each other? Is that a thing here? Maybe just between spouses? Oh, now that I think about it… you’re both old enough to get married now, right?”
Uriel’s cheeks seemed to almost glow under his dark ashen skin in an odd way, and she couldn’t help but exclaim, “Wait, are you blushing?!”
He covered his face with a hand and looked away, “I– I’ve never really talked to anyone else about Daze like that.”
“You don’t have to!” she quickly replied, waving both of her hands between them in an effort to stop him and wave away the topic, “Sorry, I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable. I forgot you don’t like to make your relationship with him public knowledge. Daze just doesn’t seem to mind when I ask things like that.”
“I…” he seemed to trail off, his ember eyes returning to search her face for something she wasn’t sure of before he said, “I don’t think I’d mind talking with you about it.”
“Really?” she asked in both confusion and excitement, “I honestly feel so out of my depth when it comes to relationship things that everyone else just seems to… I don’t know, naturally ‘get’... but I’d also like to understand you better. Like I told you before, I want to know about what my friends like, and that includes the people they like.”
“Just make sure there will be more treats for it,” Tala interjected in her mind.
She laughed suddenly, rolling her eyes and replying for Uriel’s sake, “Yes, I’m sure Uriel knows exactly which treats would go best with that kind of conversation.”
Uriel chuckled at the spoiled Familiar, “Since I’ve never really had a conversation like that, perhaps I’ll make a variety, and we’ll all figure out which goes best together,” then he asked her, “Since we’re here, though, did you want to do the rest of your rituals to absorb all those ‘fated’ Spirit Gems you’ve been saving up? Or would you rather wait for the others to be here to watch?”
“Less of an audience, the better. Plus, they’ve seen it a dozen times now since I’m the fourth one to finally hit Sapphire,” she nudged him playfully, “I know I cheat a bit, but I’ve also died like a whole bunch, so you better catch up soon. You’re close, right?”
He nodded, “I’m around Crystal 9 after that last battle, I believe.”
“Would you… um, want to use my book to see for sure?” she asked, then clarified quickly at his look of surprise, “I won’t look, promise. I just want to help. I know you told me most of your secrets but–”
“It’s fine,” he replied, “I just–” he cut off his words as his attention snapped to the door, and she could feel the sensation as well through her bracelet’s added sense of the others changing direction quick enough to likely be walking down the hall right outside. Uriel ended up saying instead, “I can show you everything later, okay?”
She nodded but didn’t have time to respond further.
“I thought we might find you here once you woke up,” Dazien said as he opened the door to the room, “Glad to see you already resummoned, Tala. I know I wanted to get Rex back quickly when I awoke.”
“Not quick enough,” Tala’s voice grumbled in her mind.
Phoenix winced in return and replied silently, “I said I’m sorry.”
“More treats and maybe some shinies would help me believe you,” the Familiar replied, making it quite clear that much bribery was in Phoenix’s future.
“I was just about to do my Absorption Rituals, so you’re all right on time,” she replied aloud instead, not wanting to commit to the extortion.
“Can’t you just absorb them with your hand like before?” Tala questioned, pausing her cookie devastation to tilt her poofy head to the side.
Phoenix stared blankly at the Familiar for a moment before saying, “Riiiight… that’s a thing I can do. ‘Cause I’m an [Aetheric Transmigrator] and what-not…”
Uriel chuckled and asked, “What’d she say?”
“She reminded me that I don’t need a ritual,” she replied, “I can just absorb them at will, but it kinda hurts a lot more than what you all seem to go through. Maybe I’ll do the ritual version anyway, just to avoid that. It only requires a bit of salt.”
Uriel raised a brow at her and asked, “Well, whichever route you go, do you want us to leave so there’s less of an audience?”
“Nah, it’s fine. You’re all here now, and I don’t feel so… awkward when it’s just you four–”
“Seven,” Tala interjected haughtily, and she winced again.
“I mean seven, sorry. Gods, I am terrible about remembering all our Familiars,” she bemoaned before turning to look at Uriel with a pained expression as she whispered, “I thought my memory was supposed to get better at Sapphire Caste?”
Uriel chuckled and patted her shoulder, “I’m sure it helps when they can tell you exactly how rude you’re being when forgetting them.”
“Oh?” Dazien asked curiously, “Tala can speak now?”
“Just to me, it seems,” Phoenix replied, “It’s kinda like a more limited version of what Orebela and Paul did, I think.”
“Well, perhaps that means next Caste she can chat with us too,” he replied with a grin, “I hope Rex gains the capability as well. It becomes more common the higher the Caste they are, but not always guaranteed.”
“So what all do you have for gems again?” Rayna asked, coming up beside her excitedly, looking from the glowing floating book to the Wayfarer.
She mentally checked her collection and replied, “I got Predator from that Mecha-cat that exploded on us. Regrowth from cleansing Uriel of Corruption. Fracture when my sword freaking broke,” she glanced at Dazien, “I still need to get a replacement, which might be nice to keep in your armory so it doesn’t risk breaking too.”
“That’s not a terrible idea, but you risk not having it if we get separated for some reason,” the party leader pointed out.
“Well, I don’t plan on fighting anything without my party, so it’s probably not too big a problem. Plus, I always have my [Night Blade] still like I’ve been using. Anyways, the last gem I got was the bonus for blessing Kara to destroy the Soul Reapers’ ship, the Abyss Spirit Gem. Technically, I have one waiting for me to hit Ruby too… from the Dragon Paul killed.”
“I’m sure Paul will enjoy watching you absorb that in the near future,” Dazien replied with a smile, “I think he would appreciate seeing you grow even more than you already will have.”
She returned his smile with a sad one of her own, “I guess that will be something else to look forward to.”
“There’s a lot for us to look forward to,” Saiya added, coming up to her other side and taking her hand, “We have a brighter future now ahead of us with the Soul Reapers no longer being a threat and the blood moon almost over.”
“We can have some fun adventures in our travels,” Rayna added with a grin, “Get tons of new loot and more upgrades to our abilities. So let’s see what these unlock for you, and then go try them out during our next monster fight!”
“Aren’t we stationed on the wall until the end of the blood moon?” Uriel asked, glancing toward Dazien, “We’ve been more focused on the reconstruction while we were down a party member, but now that Phoenix is awake, we’ll be joining the rotation again, right?”
“Yep,” he replied, “Plenty of monsters come within range, though, so I’m sure we’ll get to use at least some of the abilities you cultivate further… at least the less destructive ones.”