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~Date: Unknown ~
~ Location: Unknown - interdimensional space pocket... for now ~
✨─── ･｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───✨
~[ AUTHOR'S ☯ POV ] ~
~*~ Phoenix's Awakening ~*~
Phoenix stood frozen, taken aback despite the calm mask he wore out of habit. His instincts demanded distance, analysis, caution. His heart, inconveniently, offered something softer: recognition. Before he could decide which reaction to trust, the small dragon spoke first.
~ "Welcome back, Master Phoenix."
Phoenix narrowed his eyes. "Wait. Hold on a second. Are you… Solaris?"
Astonishment flickered through him, followed quickly by skepticism. The little dragon floated higher, spun once in the air, and wore such a proud, triumphant expression that Phoenix almost forgot to be suspicious.
Then Solaris blew a tiny bubble no larger than a muscadine. It drifted gently toward Phoenix and stopped in front of him, hanging in the air like a pearl of mist. When Phoenix reached out and poked it, the bubble burst soundlessly, dissolving into a soft vapor that fell away without leaving so much as a drop behind.
A genuine smile tugged at Phoenix's lips before he could stop it. The expression startled him almost as much as the dragon had. It came too easily, too naturally, as if some guarded part of him had recognized Solaris before his mind could finish objecting. Solaris brightened immediately.
~ "Master Phoenix, allow me to formally introduce myself. My name is Solaris, and this is my true form. Do you like it?"
Solaris spun again, practically vibrating with excitement.
~ "And this is not all that has changed! While Master slept, I worked very hard. I have been waiting for Master Phoenix to wake so you could see everything for yourself. You were asleep for a few hundred years this time, so I managed to accomplish quite a lot. Please look around, dear Master, and tell me what you think. If there is anything you do not like, I can change it for you."
Solaris was so animated that Phoenix briefly wondered whether he was truly awake. Perhaps he was still dreaming about Solaris having a cute physical form.
'But wait. Did I not picture him as a three- or four-year-old boy? How did he become a dragon? This has to be a dream. I am definitely still asleep, right?'
He discreetly pinched himself to confirm it. The sharp sting was immediate and deeply unhelpful. He was, unfortunately, very much awake.
Phoenix was still reeling from the fact that Solaris was a dragon—not merely a dragon, but a dragon with an apparent physical form. Hold on. Is this truly his physical form, or can I simply see him now? I will ask in a moment. He said to look around, which means the nursery must have changed.
~*~ The New Nursery ~*~
Phoenix shook his head to clear it, then finally let himself look around. The more he took in, the more speechless he became. The updated nursery was not merely beautiful; it was magnificent on a level he had never imagined, filled with splendor, wealth, and a strange sense of familiarity.
It did not feel like a prison, a battlefield, or a temporary holding place between lives. For the first time, the nursery felt dangerously close to a home.
The space was filled with lush plants and radiant flowers. Elegant furnishings stood throughout the area, opulent yet somehow comforting, as if Solaris had taken every idea of "home" Phoenix had ever stored away and transformed it into reality. There was even a fully equipped kitchen.
Phoenix walked toward it slowly, running his fingers along the state-of-the-art appliances with growing disbelief. The gesture was small, almost reverent. He had owned palaces, laboratories, and empires, but very few places had ever felt made for him rather than useful to him.
A grin spread across his face, sharp and delighted.
'How is everything I stored with Solaris here? There are fountains. With running water. How is this possible? Is soul power truly that powerful?'
'The Bed, the Floor, and the Cosmos'
He approached an intricately carved jade bed and sat on the cloud-soft mattress, still marveling at his surroundings. The bed alone was a masterpiece unlike anything he had seen throughout all his years of world-hopping.
When he leaned back, he noticed the wide canopy above him and froze again. It was as breathtaking as the rest of the nursery, carved with an immense, finely detailed dragon dancing and intertwining with an equally stunning phoenix.
'Seriously, how in the actual multiverse is this even possible? This feels fit for a god. No—maybe it is too much even for a god. Am I really deserving of all this?'
The question slid under his ribs before he could stop it, quiet and poisonous. He hated that it still existed in him after everything he had survived.
He shoved the thought aside before his old mental demons could sink their claws too deeply into him. Instead, he forced himself to keep looking. I do not think I can be any more in awe than I already am, but let us see if anything manages to prove me wrong.
Solaris, who had clearly heard every thought, chuckled softly and watched his master take in the changes with eyes just as enamored as Phoenix's.
The floor was made of the finest lapis mosaic, held together with gold, rose gold, platinum, and a holographic metal Phoenix had never seen before. Precious gems from across the multiverse, each one unique and beautiful were in-laid throughout the design, turning the floor into something between fine jewelry and a map of the cosmos. It shimmered beneath him, vast and mesmerizing, as if he were standing on a galaxy captured in stone.
'How are the gems protected from being damaged? I wonder if it is a form of... Nix is that really what is important at this moment?' He inwardly scolded himself redirecting his focus.
His gaze continued to roam greedily across the room until he had to remind himself to close his mouth. Overhead, a breathtaking scene of dancing dragon and phoenix constellations glittered with precious gems. They looked less like ornaments and more like living stars.
Yards of flowing silk hung throughout the nursery, embroidered with stars in silver and gold thread. Everywhere he looked, dragon and phoenix motifs appeared—on the walls, the furnishings, the bed, the canopy, even the floor.
Phoenix was beginning to understand the theme Solaris had chosen, though the reason for it still escaped him. Perhaps it was simply because Solaris was a dragon and Phoenix's name was Phoenix. He could ponder that later. For now, he needed to finish gawking so he could focus on the questions piling up in his mind.
~*~ The Throne and the View Beyond ~*~
Just when Phoenix thought the grandeur could not possibly increase, his eyes landed on a throne-like chair.
No. Not throne-like. It was a throne. There was no question about it.
'What in the actual— That is a throne. A throne. Who has a throne? What was Solaris thinking? And not just any old throne, either. No, of course not. It has to be the most exquisite, breathtakingly opulent throne I have ever seen. How much is something like that even worth? How can Solaris afford something like that?'
'No. Not important. Focus, Nix. Stop getting distracted. There is more to see, and you have questions for Solaris. Hopefully, he will finally give you answers.'
Phoenix sighed, regained control of his wandering attention, and resumed his inspection of the nursery. No—the new nursery. It was nothing like the place he remembered.
The throne was carved from the finest jade he had ever seen. Phoenixes in various poses flowed through the design, their wings and tails woven into the structure itself. Diamonds, rubies, sapphires, amethysts, and other gems he could not name had been embedded throughout it. Somehow, it looked both masculine and feminine, delicate and commanding, impossible and perfectly balanced.
Beyond the throne hovered a glowing orb, framed by the vast expanse of space. Phoenix was not sure where all the extra objects had come from, but he could ask Solaris later. At the moment, he did not want to stop looking.
He walked slowly toward the throne, glanced at Solaris, and waited. Solaris gave him an eager little nod. Only then did Phoenix sit.
From that seat, he could see thousands of galaxies, stars, and planets—each one different in color, size, and brilliance. The glowing orb before him gave the impression of a blank slate waiting to be sculpted into a masterpiece.
For one startling moment, Phoenix could not help thinking that the sight alone made the last 365 lives almost worth it. The thought frightened him. Worth was too heavy a word, too close to forgiveness, and he was not ready to grant the universe that much mercy.
~*~ Phoenix's Robes ~*~
Only then did Phoenix look down and realize he was wearing the most magnificent robes he had ever seen. The fabric was so light and ethereal that he had not even noticed it against his skin.
'Where did this fabric come from? It flows like water, breathes like cotton, and somehow feels warm and comfortable like wool. It is softer than silk—no, softer than that. Almost like touching air. Can robes be made out of this? I want more robes made from this. Oh, my galaxies, is this what the bedding is made of? I hope so. Heavens, I really hope so.'
He realized too late that he had spoken part of that aloud. Solaris giggled beside him, still hovering at Phoenix's right and watching him with open delight.
Phoenix gently shook his head and continued inspecting the robes. They fit him perfectly. Stars and phoenixes were embroidered throughout the fabric in gold and silver thread, with purple jade and amethyst worked into the design until it looked as though he were wearing the night sky itself. His belt was platinum, inlaid with jade in shades of green, blue, purple, yellow, and red, shaped into a flying phoenix whose long tail feathers wrapped around his slender waist. The phoenix's eye was black jade, and its beak was a small white stone. The hairpin and crown in his hair matched the belt flawlessly.
His reflection, faintly caught in the polished surfaces of the nursery, seemed like an illusion—a celestial entity temporarily trapped in a mortal mirror. His midnight-black hair, woven with the deep violet hues of a dying nebula, cascaded around him like a waterfall of spun starlight. Bound in a half-up topknot that sat like a sovereign crown, the lower half spilled down his spine, shimmering with a faint, lunar luminescence that pulsed against the dim fabric of this world.
His skin, pale as a fallen comet, radiated a pure, devastatingly divine aura under the cosmic light, making the vivid crimson of his lips look like a drop of blood on fresh snow—an intoxicating temptation. Most striking of all were his amethyst eyes; streaked with violet supernovas and flecked with solar gold, they held the cold, ancient indifference of a god who had watched countless worlds burn, yet they perfectly mirrored the vast celestial nursery around him.
~*~ Back Home, but Not Yet Free ~*~
It took Phoenix a moment to realize that the vast expanse of space before him had changed as well.
He raised an eyebrow and looked at Solaris. "Did we finally make it back to your—our—home dimension?"
He felt as if he already knew the answer, but he still needed to hear it. His heart raced. If it was true, then he was finally beyond his imprisoners' reach. They could no longer control him, peer into him, or twist his existence into entertainment whenever they pleased. Relief rose so sharply it almost hurt, followed by suspicion, anger, and a fragile hope he did not know how to hold. He was not completely free—not yet. Solaris had been sent to find and rescue him for a reason, and Phoenix still did not know what that reason was.
Solaris nodded. "Yes, Master Phoenix. We are safely back in our own dimension, though not quite to our own plane. The Nursery unfolded and anchored here after the soul power from the 365 mission worlds stabilized it. You will need to complete the task set before you in order to return to the home plane. When you do, you will keep all the knowledge and power you have gained so far. For now, that is the most I can tell you, but I promise it should not be long before I can explain more."
~ "Ah. All right, then." Phoenix cleared his throat against the knot forming there.
"Solaris… did you do all of this for me? Did you use all your soul power on this?" The last question came out quieter than he intended. Concern, sharp and unfamiliar, threaded through the words before he could disguise it.
"Yes, Master Phoenix. I did all of this for you." Solaris began flying in delighted little circles, even managing a few loop-de-loops.
~ "Do you like it? Did Solaris do a good job, Master?"
Phoenix watched the tiny dragon dart through the air, barely able to stop the corners of his lips from twitching upward. He wanted, absurdly and dangerously, to scoop Solaris into his arms and praise him like a hatchling opening his eyes for the first time. The urge was so sudden and sincere that Phoenix had to bury it immediately. Affection was one thing when kept at a distance; it became far more alarming when it wanted to become action.
Instead, he stared at the adorable little dragon and gave a single nod, because anything more would have revealed far too much.
He was in serious trouble if Solaris ever realized the effect he had on him.
Solaris beamed.
~ "As for my soul power…"
~ ✨~🐉~ ☯ ~🐦🔥~✨~