Chapter Text
“Mom? Who’s my father?”
“Where’d that come from, little bird?”
“Well… Everyone else in school is always talking about how good their fathers are at hunting, but I can’t join in!”
“Well… Your father wasn’t a very good man, so I had to leave him, for both our safety.”
“...”
“I know it’s hard, you’re already a different species from the other kids, and you have to add this on top of it all, but trust me, this was for the better.”
“Ok… But… Why do you hold so much more knowledge on the Fae than even the best hunters in the lodge?”
“Well… Let’s just say… Your father did have a lot of knowledge others had no idea about, but he was still very dangerous, and it’s for the best I got out of there. But if I had never fallen in love with him, you, my little bird, would never be here, so although I do have regrets, I don’t regret having you.”
“Ok Mom! But… Why’d you fall in love with him in the first place?”
“Well… He showed a much different side of himself to me, and I hadn’t seen him in any other way, so I suppose I ended up blinded by a false love.”
“So, how'd you find out?”
“Hm?”
“How'd you find out he wasn't a good man?”
“Well… Soon after your birth, he revealed his true colors, so I had to leave to protect both of us.”
“Ok.”
“Now then, let's get back to your lessons! What's the most important rule with the fae?”
“Never give them your name.”
“That's right, now-”
>-~-~-~-<
I sighed as I made my way through the city, on my way back from another lesson at the hunters lodge. A 16 year old grumbling about her constant headache, even if it's not as bad now as it always is in there.
Mother says it's because they constantly spread the airborne deterrents, not caring that some of those are not the greatest for other species' health.
Avians being one of those species. My wings also always itch when I'm there, but I can't deny that the skills and knowledge they teach is useful. Even if I never truly run the risk of running into a fae of other mythic species.
I know the hunters lodge is meant for taking out the problematic members of those species. For example, if a phoenix keeps specifically letting their rage take over in crowded areas, or if they run the risk of detonating their core in a crowded area, they either need to be contained, or killed.
There is also the fact of having to find criminals of those species when they are refusing arrest. Monarchs be damned, those cases are hard, not even because I have to take part in the action, but because the hunters just push the paperwork on the students!
It's annoying, I sigh, looking around, I'm almost home.
>-~-~-~-<
Walking into the apartment, I see Mom packing.
“What are you doing?” I ask with confusion.
“Oh! 1x, it was rather sudden, but the lodge wants me to go to the Monarchs Domain for a couple years.” Mom looks very upset at this news, but we both know there's not much we can do at this point.
“What about me?” I ask, knowing there's not much point arguing, any members of the lodge can be sent anywhere they are needed if the lodge sees fit, there is rarely anything the members can say to combat this.
“My brother will be coming over to take care of you for that time, he knows the situation and is willing to stay with you for that time.”
“When are you leaving?”
“Tonight, my brother should be here soon though.”
“Alright, can we still review before you go?”
“Sure, little bird, let's see, which species were you going over today?” Mom goes over and sits on the couch while saying this.
I joined her on the couch, “Phoenixes, though they were pretty vague on their major variant.”
“Makes sense, Void Phoenixes are a rare sight to see these days, they may be highly social, but they are also highly migratory. They are usually seen in villages and towns when stocking up supplies.”
“Yeah, we went over that briefly, but when we started talking about their flock structures, some kid decided he wanted to hear more and Sphinxes despite the fact we went over them last week, and the lesson derailed from there.”
“Of course it did, most of those kids are either in for the money when they become hunters, want specific knowledge about a specific species, or they're family members with a hunter.”
“Yeah, but anyways, flock structure?”
“Of course! Void Phoenixes flock structure is made up of three main types of flocks, family, hunter, and explorer. The family, as you can likely tell from the name, is made up of flocks that raise the young of the species. Do you know why that is?”
“Because their eggs are formed from the ashes of their fallen, so they have to keep a different order to it than every other species.”
“That is correct, now, hunter flocks are the ones we know the least about. This is because whenever someone tries to ask them what they hunt, they refuse to say anything more than it's extremely dangerous.”
“A lot of the other kids in the lodge theorized about it, but the dumbest answer has to be frogs.”
“Where did that one come from?”
“Dude just hates frogs I guess.”
“Right, well, we know they frequent towns and villages to stock up on both ash and arrows, we also know they are rather adept combatants.”
“I vaguely remember them also talking about the void phoenixes unique rituals?”
“That is correct, and that leads me into the final flock type, explorers, they are the information keepers and historians of the Void Phoenixes, they know all their unique rituals, the hunters know a few minor ones, and one major one, and the families know a couple minor ones.”
“What’s the difference between a major ritual and a minor one?”
“Well, a minor ritual can create minor works of magic at smaller costs, while major rituals can create simply amazing feats.”
“So wh-” Just then, there’s a knock on the door, both of us look over confused, wondering who it was, before mom got up and walked over, peeking through the peep hole.
“It seems my brother's arrived, he'll take care of you for now, but I need to finish packing.” Mom says as she unlocks and opens the door, her brother walking through. This would mark the third time I had met the guy, fun times.
“Hey kid,” He awkwardly starts, “How's it been going?” I somehow always forget how little he actually interacts with people.
“Hi.” I stare at him, wondering how little I can interact with him without seeming rude.
Mom finishes packing at this point, “Well, I'll leave you both to it, keep safe, my little bird.” She comes over and hugs me at this point, I return it. Then, grabbing her stuff, she walks out the door.
It's at this moment I'm glad I ate dinner on the way home, since uncle also can't cook for shit. “I'm going to bed.” I say as I walk over to my room.
“Not even gonna eat?”
“I already ate.”
“Well, see you in the morning I guess.”
“Hm.” And that marks the end of that awkward conversation, I flop face first onto my nest, ready to just sleep at this point, hopefully, tomorrow's better.