Chapter 12: Triggering the Forgotten
"Audra," Phoenix repeated, frowning up at him. "I'm sorry."
"Me too." Altair flashed a brief smile. "But dwelling on things past doesn't solve our current problem."
"Which is..." Phoenix began, wondering which of the many problems they faced could be considered most "current."
"We need to catch up the Ares and the heirs. But you have no motivation to do that."
Phoenix jerked back in offense and stalked off across the little room, the wooden floorboards creaking beneath her quick steps. "I'm plenty motivated. Just because I'm chasing phantoms with no space in my memory and no clear action from you on why we're doing this--"
"I've told you why. You have to defeat the traitor. You have to stop the Militia. You need Ares to do that."
"Why? What good is combining the two of us? Tepid water? I'm fire and he's ice - we cancel each other out."
"No. You compliment each other. That's how it always is. We come in pairs - even the Ancients. We balance out each other's powers so no one can become too strong. Pairs work in tandem. Fire and ice. Light and dark. Night and Day..." he trailed off, his eyes going out of focus.
"What? What is it?" Phoenix waved a hand in front of his face.
"Night and day."
"Right. Opposites. You were saying."
"No. I wasn't enough to trigger your memory. You don't remember me from before."
Phoenix patted him on the arm, hoping she was comforting. "You're really very vaguely familiar."
"But I'm not enough. Of course, I'm not enough. Yes, I've watched over you your whole life and spoken to you on thousands of occasions, but I've always been a bit of a phantom in your head. You need something concrete. Ares would do it, I'm sure. Ares or Maverick could trigger a memory of themselves, but without them here....yes. It must be tested."
"Please consider making sense at some point," Phoenix said, crossing to the bed and dropping down with a plop as she folded her arms.
In response, Altair closed his eyes and spread his hands before him. "Selene, Elyo, hear my call. Come to me."
A searing light filled the room, and Phoenix threw up her hands to block it. When it dulled she squinted between her fingers, eyes widening at the sight of two glorious, glowing beings standing facing Altair. Where she sat outside their peripheral, she could observe them without being seen.
The woman was tall, pale, and sharp - fierce in her stance and expression as she glowered at Altair. Her silver hair braided into a crown around her head, and her black dress looked like the night sky itself, dotted with silver stars.
"What right do you have to call us?" she hissed, stepping within an inch of Altair and pointing a finger into his face. "How dare you summon us after what you did. You were supposed to be watching over her - and where is she now? Ashes. Her blood is on your hands."
"Selene." Elyo placed a hand on her arm, calming her with just a word. His face, however, was like stone, immovable and intimidating, his eyes blazing. The hand at his side clenched in a fist, and Phoenix felt sudden fear for Altair.
"I ought to end you right now," Selene said, her teeth bared, her eyes filling with tears. "If I didn't know the consequences, I would."
"It's only Adonai's ruling that keeps you standing here," Elyo said, his voice deep. "But even that may not be enough. You spent all your time looking for a traitor, only to betray us all."
She'd heard enough. Phoenix launched from the bed and jumped in between Altair and the attackers. "That's enough. Both of you need to calm down. Whatever he did can't be so terrible he deserves to die."
The open, stunned stupefaction on their faces was almost funny. She knew who they were, intellectually. Altair had told her the name of her parents countless times. Looking at them, face to face, she could see it. She'd inherited her fiery red mane from Elyo, who had one to match--her brown skin from him as well. In fact, almost everything about her own appearance she could find in her father - the eyes, the face shape, the nose. Turning to Selene, Phoenix had to search for the similarities. They were built in a similar manner - lean and strong, but apart from that--
No, there. I see it. Phoenix brushed her fingers against her own lips, the same shape and fullness as Selene's.
Her inspection lasted only a moment before their surprise wore off. Selene moved forward, but Elyo pulled her back.
"What is this? Who is this? I don't understand." He continued to hold Selene back, keeping her away from Phoenix. "What have you done?"
"He didn't do anything," Phoenix snapped, coming once again to Altair's defense. "I rose from the ashes. Big surprise--fire revives Phoenix."
"It was her rebirth." Altair placed a hand on her shoulder. "Her transformation nearly destroyed the body you'd hidden her in, and her death and burning revived her."
Selene finally extricated herself from Elyo and rushed forward. Phoenix stepped back like a spooked cat, moving behind Altair so he stood between them. It was as though she'd slapped Selene right across the face. Shock and hurt turned to anger as once again she turned on Altair.
"You've turned my daughter against me!" she cried, pounding her fist against his broad chest. It did little to affect him. "You kept her from us. You knew she was alive and you didn't tell us! You brute! What are you playing at?"
This time, Elyo didn't stop his wife. As she beat on Altair, he rounded them both, cornering Phoenix, a strange expression on his face.
"Do you know me?" he asked, his voice calm, quiet.
"I know who you are," she replied, her back against the wall. He didn't draw closer, giving her space, but didn't move aside to let her pass, either. "Altair told me who you were, but I don't remember you. I don't remember anything."
At this, Selene stopped pounding on Altair's chest, tears streaking down her face as she stretched to peer over his shoulder at Phoenix. "Nothing?"
She shook her head. "I know my name. I know what happened to me. There are some things I sort of remember if I think long and hard enough, but no."
"This is why I hadn't told you yet," Altair said, his voice low. "I wanted her to remember before she saw you."
Phoenix had to look away from Selene. The expression on the other woman's face was one of undisguised anguish.
"First I thought my daughter was dead. Then when I went to my son, nothing I said would change the path he's on. Now, my daughter is returned, but she doesn't know me."
"You spoke to Ares?" Altair asked, unable to keep the interest out of his tone.
"We went to him," Elyo said, his eyes still on Phoenix. "He's lost to us now. He didn't recognize us, wouldn't listen to us, and nearly killed Selene. I had to pull her away."
"Castor warned us, but we didn't listen," Selene said. "He's the only one able to get anywhere near Ares now, and even then, he's in constant danger of Ares changing his mind. He won't listen to anyone. All he wants is destruction."
"He told us if we couldn't give him Canya then we were of no use to him." Elyo cocked his head at Phoenix. "Do you remember Canya? What she did? Do you remember Ares?"
"I remember being stabbed," Phoenix said with a nod. "But that's about it."
Selene stepped closer, blocking Phoenix in with no chance of escape, but she didn't rush forward or try to hug her. Selene stood at arm's length, her expression soft.
"I'm sorry you don't remember us. If there's anything we can do to help you, you will let us know?"
Compassion for everything Selene had gone through flooded Phoenix. She could sense her mother's pain--knew there was nothing she could do to ease it. Heart breaking, Phoenix reached out and took Selene's hand.
"Thank you, I--"
She stopped dead as a wave of memories hit her like a punch to the jaw. Images swirled in her head, each one faster than the last.
Sitting in a little room in a cottage, Selene and Elyo there with her. Standing on a path on the road to Osha, Selene's arms around her in a hug. Elyo holding out his hand as a ball of bright golden light formed, filling the room with warmth. Their faces as they saw her in Osha, pleased to be needed and shocked as she introduced them to someone else.
A young man standing over her, holding up a necklace with a sun and a moon intertwined, his expression twisting in fear and confusion.
Phoenix pulled her hand away, heart hammering against her ribs.
"What happened? Are you all right?" Selene and Elyo stood at her side, bracing her so she didn't fall. "Phoenix?"
"I remember you."
Altair grinned at her from a few paces away. "You remember them? Really?"
"Really." Phoenix wrapped her arms around Selene, an ache that had been inside her since the day she'd rewoken eased slightly, as though one of the many holes in her heart had been filled. Elyo's arms wrapped around them both, and Phoenix nuzzled her head into the comfort and safety of her parents' arms.
#
They couldn't stay forever. Phoenix felt both jubilant and bereft when they were gone, sitting in the pub down the street with Altair. It was cold and dank, with a smell of smoke and meat hanging in the air. They sat in the back at a table in the corner where no one could sneak up on them. Men laughed and drank all around them as women served and flirted.
"I still don't remember anything else," she said, sighing as she contemplated her mug of ale. "I remember all the times I spent with Elyo and Selene, and I remember living in a cottage away from them, but I can't remember the family that raised me."
"That will come soon enough," Altair said with a knowing wink.
"There's something else, too. A face." Phoenix screwed her eyes shut, trying to grasp that last image. "It's on the fringe of my memory. Blurry. I can't quite see it now, but I knew the face."
"In time. All in time."
"How did you know that would work?" Phoenix asked as a meal of chicken set down before her. A barmaid winked at Altair before wandering off.
"I thought it didn't." Altair stabbed a piece of meat. He didn't have to eat, but told Phoenix he found food enjoyable. "When you didn't recognize them at once, I thought nothing would work."
"But then when she touched me, it all came back."
"You aren't gifted with empathy like Abigail was, but you have something of that gift in you. You can sense what others are feeling. So much can be transferred through touch, and the bond you share with your parents is strong. I'm hoping that, if sight doesn't work, you'll remember the others the same way."
"The others?" Phoenix frowned. "How many are we looking for?"
"Maverick, Ares, Castor, Gwen, Finny - you have many friends." Altair smirked over at her. "Not to mention the ones who are still in Osha. Roman and Noelle."
"Roman and Noelle." Phoenix tested the names on her tongue. They felt familiar--more familiar than Ares--but she couldn't place them. "When we find Ares, do you think he'll listen to me? He didn't listen to Selene or Elyo."
"He doesn't know them like he knows you. For many years, he didn't know he was their son. You have a better chance."
"But he's known Castor always like I've known you, and he doesn't listen to him."
"He's looking for Canya because she killed you. Seeing you should stop him in his tracks. As for Castor..." Altair hesitated, looking at her from the corner of his eyes. "You need to be prepared to see him again."
"I've seen him before."
"You have. You knew him as Samson. He was...close...to you."
"Samson." Something about saying Samson's name made her stomach flip, and she had to pause a moment to consider it. "I don't remember him."
"For his sake, I hope you do when the time comes." Altair chewed his chicken, his expression thoughtful. "We need horses. That way we can move faster."
"Maybe we should get a pair and ride past where he is."
"What do you mean?"
"He goes from town to town. Why don't we just figure out where he's headed next and cut him off before he can do any damage - instead of just chasing him around and never catching up?"
Altair's mouth split into a wide grin. "Consider it done."
YAY!
Phoenix remembers her parents and is on her way to cut of Ares! Only problem - there's so much to talk about before we get there. I mean, what about Noelle? What about Roman's plan to free the Army? What are Mav and Gwen up to? Did they catch up to Eric yet? And Trey and Audra/Canya - are they hiding out, or is Eric going to find them?
Who misses Castor/Samson? I do.
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