This is a test, a ficlet to see if I could get on a roll with the new style and direction I wanted to do after not knowing where I was going the first time. I have this problem of creating good starting points, but having a rough time closing it or putting in a middle to the plot. I want to change that and hopefully this is the start. Ficlet starts after the cut!

So everyone, please, give it a read and let me know what you think. It's rated G, and well, no spoilers for anything since it's all in my head. XD;



A slow exhale of breath escaped his chapped lips, as his pale blue eyes glanced around the surrounding area. He could practically taste the ignorance in the air and clenched his teeth in disgust; if there was any lingering doubt in his mind, it had been erased with that inhale of breath. Returning his gaze to the intricately designed black door, he withheld the strong desire to touch the engraved designs, knowing full well it would trip the ward set by one of their strongest spell casters.

Fortunately for him, he was better.

The phoenix on his shoulder chirped quietly, but was hushed by a tap to the beak by his finger. “Quiet,” he murmured. “You’ll be safe soon.” With a slight rustle of its feathers, the phoenix folded them and stayed still, talons slightly curled into the worn leather of his trench coat. It would only take one touch to do this right, or to fail and have the last chance to change everything wiped out along with him.

It was enough motivation for him. Slowly, he raised his left hand, his fingers “sparking” with yellow energy and eyed a specific symbol on the door. He flexed his fingers to remove any last nervousness, and slammed his fist into the lower-left symbol which translated to ‘nobility’ in the “accepted” language of the state. The door disintegrated, giving way to the entrance of a bare, white room.

Quietly, he stepped into the room and his eyes settled on the boy sitting against the center wall. The boy’s dark purple eyes were blank, staring ahead into nothingness, his entire body limp and unresponsive. Kneeling down beside the boy, he picked the phoenix off of his shoulder and set it gently on his arm while he placed his own right hand on the boy’s chest. A void opened quickly, as if one had turned a key in a lock, and a smile came to his lips.

“Go,” he instructed the phoenix. “This is it.”

The phoenix looked at him and nodded, spreading its wings and hovered for a moment before heading straight into the boy’s chest. The void closed as soon as the phoenix entered, showing no signs of such a thing happening. With a soft groan, the boy’s eyes sharpened, and were blinked a few times to adjust to having sight again. “…what…?”

“There’s no time to talk, Phoenix.”

Phoenix frowned, his body aching from having been stationary for so long. “Who are you? Where … are my friends?”

“What?” (Hell, they did a number on your mind … I nearly forgot.) “…I’ll take you to them. Get up.”

“But--”

“Ransem Lorade!” an enraged voice yelled, their voice thundering down the open corridor. “You have gone too far!”

Ransem cursed, and grabbed Phoenix’s arm, pulling him to his feet. “When did they get the lead out of their asses? Come on, Phoenix, we’re going into the city.”

“My … My friends are there?” Phoenix’s thin lips curled into a frown, confusion clouding his features, hearing noises and feeling sensations he had little idea of what they were. “Mr…Lorade? Are they there?”

Ransem didn’t answer, and threw his arm out - creating a doorway of his own. “…time to change the world.”

=TBC=