Zodiac Academy 7: Heartless Sky

We walked through an overgrown courtyard, but with every footstep we took, the vines and weeds retreated, exposing an ancient mosaic on the ground of a Phoenix dancing with its own flames. A stone fountain stood at the heart of it, a Phoenix bird rising from the centre of it and as we approached, fresh water bursting from its beak.

“There seems to be a theme here,” Tory muttered.

“Phoenixes?” I guessed through a laugh and she snorted.

We turned towards the dark doorway which was thick with shadow, creeping inside and the moment our feet touched the flagstones, fires burst to life in the sconces all along the walls.

We followed the fire deeper into the ancient palace, turning past another old courtyard in the centre of it where a tall tree stood, casting it in shade. On its branches were large green mangoes and I wondered if that was what we were going to be eating down here.

Despite the place seeming to come alive at our touch, I didn’t understand what we were supposed to learn from simply being here.

Two stone doors opened ahead of us and we shared a look before tiptoeing through them and gazing around at the enormous throne room we were in. The throne was made of a ruby red glass, its back carved into the shape of two huge Phoenix wings. Upon it, lay a single feather, the bronze colour seeming to glint with a fire that burned within it. An arching window beyond the throne sat high up on the pale walls and sunlight filtered through the room in slanted rays.

I stayed close to Tory as we approached the throne and I reached out to touch the feather.

The moment my skin connected with it, the feather fluttered away from me, spinning up in the air right before our eyes as a shimmering red and blue light built around it.

We staggered backwards as the feather suddenly shifted and a goddess of a woman took its place, sitting on the throne with her bronze wings stretched out either side of her, her body clad in armour similar to the kind Geraldine had gifted us. Her hair was as dark as charcoal, her skin a rich brown hue and she had a mouth that seemed used to smiling. At first it seemed like she was solidly there until her wings folded behind her and I realised I could almost see through her.

“Descendants,” she sighed, her beautiful features lifting with happiness, her eyes so bright they burned. “Finally, you have come.”

“Um, hi,” I said and Tory raised her hand in a two finger wave.

The apparition looked between us then threw her head back and laughed so loudly it filled up the room.

Tory and I shared a glance, backing up another step as the woman got to her feet, smiling eagerly at us.

“You don’t know who I am, do you?” she asked and we both shook our heads, but then I frowned, realising she did seem kind of familiar, though I couldn’t place her. “Perhaps this will help you.” She raised a hand flicking her finger and a beautiful crown appeared there that was so stunning it stole my breath, the platinum set with deep red and blue stones which made the fire coating my skin flare hotter.

“You’re a queen?” Tory guessed and I gasped as I suddenly remembered where I’d seen her before. In Lavinia’s memories.

“She’s the Vega queen I saw in Diego’s hat. She’s the one who banished Lavinia to the Shadow Realm,” I said and the queen’s eyes darkened at that name.

“Yes, I am Avalon Vega,” she confirmed. “Or at least, I was. Now, I am nothing more than a spirit summoned back to this place to assist my descendants.” She smiled warmly at us, reaching out to touch my cheek and I shivered at the tingling against my skin, though I didn’t feel anything of her fingers. She touched her hand to Tory’s shoulder next and my sister shivered as the queen assessed her.

“Lavinia has risen again, yes?” she asked, a bite to her tone.

“Yeah, she’s risen alright,” Tory said as her upper lip curled back. “And she’s playing house with Lionel Acrux.”

“Acrux,” the queen growled. “Yes…I see it now. The stars are offering me the knowledge I need to help you. So many years,” she sighed. “Empires have risen and fallen in the time I have been gone.” She gasped at something, then her eyes snapped to the Imperial Star hanging from my throat. “You possess it.”

I touched the star protectively, nodding as the queen stepped closer with a hunger in her eyes. I wasn’t going to be letting some back-from-the-dead ghost woman steal it.

“You must never let it go,” Avalon said firmly, looking between us. “It will be your greatest gift when you ascend.” She reached out, brushing her fingers against it like she wished she could take hold of it.

I shifted back a little, clearing my throat. “We had to go through a lot to get this.”

“Yes, there is always a price to possess greatness,” she said, her hand falling to her side as she looked between us once more. “Goodness…you will pay such a price for one of you to rule. What a curse twins have when they vie for the same goal.”

My hand shot out the same time Tory’s did, our fingers clasping in unity.

“The only reason we’re going for the throne is to destroy Lionel and Lavinia so we can restore peace to Solaria,” Tory growled.

Queen Avalon smiled sadly. “For now, but when the time comes, you will both want the throne, and you will fight to claim it from each other.”

“We’ll never fight each other,” I said fiercely.

“Power is the root of our kind,” Queen Avalon said softly. “There is no shame in choosing it over our siblings. It is the way of Fae. I fought my brother for this very throne,” she said.

“Well, we’re not like you,” Tory said and the queen’s eyes flashed onto her, but not with anger, just curiosity.

“Perhaps…or perhaps not,” she said. “Either way, I have much to teach, much you need to know if you are to defeat my old rival.”

“What happened to us? To the Phoenixes?” I asked. “Why did they die out?”

She hesitated for a second before answering. “I died before our kind was lost.”

“But you said the stars have filled you in on the years that passed after you died. So what happened?” Tory pressed.

“I…cannot say.”

“Because you don’t know, or because you won’t tell us?” I asked in frustration.

“I do not know,” she said then swept past us, her wings passing through our bodies as she practically glided across the floor. “Come now, I have much to teach you. You must be trained in the ways of our kind. You must learn of our gifts, you must be ready for any opponent.”

“How did you know we’d come here?” Tory called as we jogged after her our skin still burning with the fire of our Order.

“It was a prophecy gifted to me by a great Seer,” she said without looking back. “I knew one day my descendants would rise, and I knew you would come to me ignorant and in need at a time when Lavinia returned from where I banished her. I bound myself to this place when I died so that I could return to train you, to teach you to fight as I can fight, to rule as I have ruled.”

“Keep the broken promise.”

The whispered words echoed through my head and Tory stiffened as if she’d heard them too, looking to me in alarm. Those very words had been spoken to our father Hail Vega from the Imperial Star.

“Did it just…” I looked down at the star, taking it into my palm as we walked, the flames on my fingers licking it fondly while leaving it and the chain it hung from intact.

“Come now,” Queen Avalon called like she hadn’t heard a thing, drifting out of the room and leading us into the courtyard where the large fruit tree stood. “It is time for your first lesson.”

The woman came to a halt beneath the tree, raising a palm and casting a ghost of Phoenix fire in her palm. The flames shifted, growing larger and larger before splitting away from her body into a fully fledged Phoenix bird, the creature flying all around us, spilling trails of blue and red fire everywhere it went. It opened its beak and released a beautiful cry that filled the air and sent a quake through the entire palace.

I shared an excited look with Tory and we waited eagerly to be taught how to do that.

Queen Avalon smiled at us. “This will take some time to learn, but the power of your Phoenix fire cannot be fully unlocked until you are able to set it free like this.”

“We’re ready,” Tory said and I nodded, raising my hands in preparation.

The queen of old moved toward us and my heart hammered in anticipation of all we were about to learn. And I realised that within these walls, the grip of the curse barely seemed to have a hold on me at all. So perhaps when we were done here, I’d break free of it for good.