Rebirth of the Phoenix God

"What…"

Shaking his head, Fen could feel his consciousness returning to its usual place in his body. After this silly attempt at clearing his mind failed, the young man rested his head against his open palms, trying to make sense of everything that he just saw.

"When did the visions start?"

For some reason, as soon as Firo realised that Fen was back to his senses, she instantly asked a very specific question. Yet, the problem was, Fen had absolutely no idea how to describe it!

"In the throne room… I guess?"

This answer was as ambiguous as it could get. While every kingdom and empire liked to flaunt how they are the most important if not the only real civilisation, the truth was, thrones were aplenty in the world. Finding out what kind of place it was required a bit more than just what kind of building was there.

"Throne… hmm… maybe during the birth of the Phoenix Sanctum? That would mean that your bloodline traces its routs all the way to the prime pioneers."

Stopping himself from starting at the girl, Fen only nodded his head slightly. The connection between what she said and what the young man saw, was obvious. If she already spoke using about his origin as something nearly ancient, then what would she think once she was to learn that he saw the things from as far as nearly two generations behind?

With every single element like that, Fen could see that the truth behind him, was far deeper and more profound than what he ever imagined. Starting with his Phoenix bloodline, through strange connection to Draconis, all the way to the apparent heritage of some powerful group?

'There has to be some way to connect it all up…'

There was no one willing to provide the young man with answers just like that. In order to learn the truth, Fen had to gather all the scraps that he had. And looking at the dual-faced maid in front of him, the young arcanist knew that his chance to glue everything up just appeared.

"Hey… Could you please explain to me what's going on? You see… I have this lingering doubt that you know far more about me than I know about myself."

In the long stretch, Firo's connection to his executed master was his chip. If anything were to go south, if all of this situation turned out to be nothing more than a church's provocation, Fen would still have an ace in his sleeve.

A single look in Firo's eyes. That was all it took for the young man to realise that there was simply no fucking way that she could be with the church.

Those tears that lingered on her face ever since she learned about her acquaintance's death were enough of a proof for how genuine her feelings were. And that meant, there was a huge chance Fen finally found someone who could actually, realistically and practically help!

"Listen, my blood… The bloodline dried up in me. While I do not possess the qualifications to become a fully-fledged legionnaire, I lived in this world for long enough to learn a lot. And while I don't want to startle you, my wish... "

Taking a short break in order to compose herself, Firo fell down on her knees, lowering her head. In the next moment, she opened her eyes, turning her face up to Fen's stare.

"I will finally be able to fulfil it."

There wasn't even a single hint of erotism in what she said. While it was an undeniable fact that with her teary eyes and oddly relaxed expression she was simply a beauty, there was this kind of dignified aura around her that made it clear what her intentions were.

"Long in the past, I made a mistake. By helping someone like you out, I might be able to finally atone to my sins. Knowing that you knew grandpa…"

And here most of the mystery got revealed. It was his master that sparked this strange connection between Fen and Firo, just by appearing in the young man's life. Adding another small stone to Fen's mosaic of knowledge, that old man in a way set the young man to sooner or later meet with his apparent granddaughter. Yet, what could be Fen's master intention be in doing so?

At this point, even though certain assumptions seemed obvious, Fen decided to not try to use what he already knew to uncover the reality. All the events of the last few days continued to influence him, making him more prone towards taking hasty decisions. Rather than that, only by gathering more knowledge could the young man make sure what was the truth and what was a lie.

"So, could you start helping me by explaining what does this mean? How my dreams? Visions? How whatever it was started in that throne room has anything to do with me?"

Given the situation, pushing for more was the obvious choice. This girl clearly could help him a lot, and with her declaration, this would be somehow mutual exchange. Fen needed something and so did this girl needed this specific young man.

"If your bloodline memories start with the birth of the Phoenix Sanctum, then you most likely belong to the pioneering line, starting with the beginning of the mercenary kingdom. Those who survived the northern culling set their tracks to the southern part of the continent. It was around here, where the Kingdom they created thrived the most."

Bit by bit, everything was slowly starting to make sense. How could someone of the persecuted bloodline simply appear in the middle of the empire? How could a huge portion of the people the young man ever met, actually have some ties to a certain group or organisation? With every Firo's sentence, the curtains that shielded the deeper truth of everything were slowly unravelling.

"Northern Culling?"

Recalling one of the images that appeared in his head, Fen couldn't help but ask, feeling a bad premonition about what he was about to hear.

"Ah, it's also called Royal Madness. It's from the very beginnings of the legion's history on this continent. Initially, their appearance was connected to their mission of finding the seventh, royal tribe that was allegedly exiled some centuries prior. Yet, due to certain reasons that are already lost in the past, when five out of six clans moved north, they… just disappeared."

Surprised by this sentence, Fen looked down on the girl. What he saw in those strange memories included the notion of all five clans getting massacred… But wasn't it some kind of battle? If this mercenary kingdom they would set up later really was a power to respect, how could the memory of such a huge event disappear so quickly?

"Disappeared…?"

Unable to believe his ears, Fen accidentally let this question slip through his lips. Yet, to his surprise, after giving him a look filled with curiosity, Firo obediently answered.

"The records of what happened, almost everything about the white legion… Is forgotten today. After burning the books, this tyrant that lead this great civilisation to its downfall banned any attempts at spreading the knowledge of the history. It won't take long before the fact that this kind of group existed, will be completely erased from the common knowledge!"

It was at this moment, that Fen realised something. With his body shaking for a moment, the young man quickly calmed down and raised his sight at the girl in front.

"You meant that my blood is that of some ancient heritage… But didn't you just told me that only a single one remained?"

Even if Fen's memories reached far deeper into the past, it didn't mean he understood those snippets. By learning more about the moment of conception for the mercenary kingdom, he could at least compare what a certain starting point for him could be.

"That's the beginning of what we actually still know. Using some kind of method, the remaining tribe created two great artefacts. To avoid further splitting of their forces to not repeat the mistake of the other tribes, a banner was created. Made out of Phoenix's feathers, the ultimate treasure of this ancient group, and the blood of the last lord of the old clans, it's said that as long as a person with royal blood would touch it, they would wield the command over all the tribes to do their bidding. But it was the other artefact that should bring your attention."

Out of nowhere, the talks suddenly turned from something akin to a conspiracy and turned into such a grand topic. Yet, a single look at Firo's expression was enough for Fen to understand that the worst was only about to come.

"The blood pool. Something that the church has stolen yet despite the passing years, failed to understand. In short words, the main pool was created by the blood of the last of the ancient clans. When there was no heir to their bloodline, their last living members offered their own blood in order to create it. Later on, many other great figures of the new clans offered their own blood to the pond. With time, just by opening your veins and allowing your blood to flow through the pool, would be a moment that all your powers would awaken, shortening your period of growth from years, to merely a few weeks."

There was something wrong with what the girl just said. If the bloodline of the old clans died out, and the distance how far one travels to the past depends on the bloodline he or she possesses, then wouldn't that mean that somehow Fen was the descendant of the original bloodline? Hailing all the way back to the clear leader whose name wasn't even mentioned in the legends?

But how?