Phoenix Force

I stood amidst the wreckage, the scent of burning flesh thick in the air, clinging to my clothes, seeping into my skin. Smoke curled lazily toward the heavens, dark tendrils against the moonlit sky, swallowing the stars whole. The battle was over. The Infernals lay scattered at my feet, their bodies frozen in grotesque agony, mouths open in silent screams. Charred remains of what were once human.

I had seen this sight too many times before—too many to count, too many to care. And yet, no matter how often I walked through the aftermath, it never failed to remind me of one thing: life was fragile. A single spark, a single misstep, and it all turned to ash.

I exhaled slowly, watching as the last embers drifted into the night, carried away by the wind. The silence that followed was unnatural, eerie, broken only by the occasional crackle of dying flames. The weight of my coat was heavier now, soaked with soot and the stench of battle. My hands still tingled from the fire, the heat lingering beneath my skin like an unshakable ghost.

The Holy Sol Temple's corruption disgusted me, its twisted sense of righteousness leaving behind nothing but suffering. But tonight, at least, I had done something. A small dent in their grand machine. One less pack of monsters to roam the streets.

It wasn't much.

But it was enough.

Or so I thought.

A sound reached my ears—faint, nearly swallowed by the crackling ruins around me. A child's cry.

I ignored it at first. Probably some poor kid caught in the chaos, collateral damage in a war they had no part in. It wasn't my problem.

The world was cruel. Always had been. The weak were the first to fall, and the system kept turning, indifferent to those crushed beneath it. That was how things worked. That was how I had survived.

But something made me pause.

The cry wasn't just weak sobbing—it was raw, desperate. A plea, not just for help, but for something more. A sound that cut through the smoke and fire, past the death and ruin.

A sound of someone reaching out.

For warmth.

For life.

And for some damn reason…

I listened.

I turned my head toward the alley, narrowing my eyes. There, nestled between the flickering shadows, was a small figure. A baby.

He was small. Too small.

Wrapped in tattered clothes that barely offered any protection from the cold, his tiny frame trembled, his breaths uneven. Wisps of white hair clung to his tear-streaked face, and his emerald eyes—wide, terrified—reflected the flickering firelight, twin shards of green amidst the ruin.

The embers danced across his skin, casting shifting shadows over the name stitched onto the filthy fabric of his shirt.

Auzra.

I stared.

Just stood there, unmoving, as the world burned around us.

What the hell was a baby doing here?

I had seen children left to die before—discarded like trash, forgotten by a world that had no use for the weak. I had stepped over tiny bodies in the slums, passed by hollow-eyed orphans in the alleys, watched warzones swallow them whole.

It was common. Expected. The kind of suffering that went unnoticed, ignored by the self-righteous fools in their golden halls. The Holy Sol Temple didn't see these places. Didn't want to. To them, the streets were nothing more than a graveyard they refused to acknowledge.

I should have walked away.

It would've been easier.

But I didn't.

I stepped closer, boots grinding against the charred debris. The baby flinched, a tiny, fearful sound escaping his lips. His body trembled, fragile and small, barely more than a bundle of bones wrapped in ruined cloth.

But instead of retreating, instead of shrinking away like any cornered creature would—he did something unexpected.

He reached out.

Tiny fingers, unsteady and desperate, curled in the air. Grasping at nothing. Searching for something.

I hesitated.

I had witnessed horrors beyond counting—blood spilled like rain, trust shattered like glass, the depths of cruelty humanity was capable of. I had stared into the abyss and walked away unshaken.

But this?

This was different.

When I finally reached out—when my fingers closed around that small, trembling body and lifted him into my arms—something unexpected happened.

Warmth.

Not the kind that came from fire or the heat of battle. No, this was something else. It seeped into my skin, spreading through my fingers, curling up my arm like a slow-burning ember.

The exhaustion—the dull, lingering ache from the fight—eased. The weight of my past, the restless whispers in the back of my mind, always clawing, always there—for the first time in what felt like forever, they fell silent.

What… was this?

Auzra curled into me, his tiny hands grasping at my coat with weak, desperate determination. He wasn't just crying anymore—he was seeking.

Comfort. Safety. Something familiar in a world of ash and ruin.

A fragile existence, reaching for an anchor.

And against all reason…

I held him closer.

Damn it.

I exhaled sharply, my gaze flicking back to the smoldering wreckage. Flames still licked at the ruins, casting long, writhing shadows against the night.

Had his parents thrown him out in a desperate attempt to save him? Had he somehow survived the inferno by sheer, impossible luck? Or was there something more—something lurking beneath the surface, waiting to be understood?

It didn't matter.

The reasons, the circumstances, the past—none of it changed the reality in front of me.

What mattered was that he was alone.

And for some damn reason, I couldn't leave him like that.

I looked down at him again, scowling. Small. Fragile. Alone.

"You're a weird one, kid," I muttered.

His only response was a quiet murmur as he buried his face into my coat, his tiny fingers curling into the fabric like it was the only thing keeping him tethered to this world.

I rolled my eyes.

"Fine. Whatever," I sighed, shifting my grip, holding him more securely. "You're coming with me."

No grand promises. No noble intentions. Just a decision made in the heat of the moment—one I had a feeling I'd regret.

As I turned and disappeared into the shadows, the embers behind me flickered, dimmed, and finally faded into the darkness.

What the hell had I just gotten myself into?

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