“The Phoenix curse?”
Axel nods. He sits at the other end of the table. He is wearing the same outfit he was the day he took me here. “A thing that we’re all cursed with. In that library in Token Street, I really did die in a fire. I wasn’t strong enough to resurrect until recently. I’ve died so many times, Anwen. You will too,”
“But I am alive?” I ask.
“Yes, you are,” Axel answers.
“Can I go back to my family?”
Axel sighs. “No, you cannot. There are five rules you must follow after a Res,”
“Res?”
“Resurrection,” Axel explains. He is patient with me as he continues. He doesn’t get angry with me even though I’m asking a million questions.
“So, the five rules. The first you must relocate after Res. You must file your Res with the Society. You must pick a new name for the living world. You can keep your initial name with us. You must leave your past lives as dead. There is no second chance. Just like if you were a human, when you died you really died. There is no going back. That’s what we do to keep the balance,”
“You said that we are cursed because of one of our ancestors. It corrupts our whole family line. So, my brother is like me?”
“Yes he is but you have to disregard him. The only reason my brother and I can be as close as we are is because we both died at the same time in the same fire. If he would’ve died just a day before, I would have to relocate and ignore his presence. That’s the rules,”
“So, all of the steps I did to move on… I have to keep that mindset?”
“Exactly, it isn’t that hard though. You have us,” Axel says with a smile. My heart almost feels at peace here. Almost.
I remember the way people were looking at Lucas and his friends when he showed up. They all looked at them like they were some deranged serial killers. Like they were worse than dirt.
“Why do people hate us?” I ask, thinking about how angry everyone was.
Axel reclines in his seat. The small room is basic. There are a couple ornaments and pictures on the wall but that’s all. “People hate what they don’t understand. How can they understand us if they don’t want to be around us or ignore our whole existence? I understand that we are born from a terrible crime. A reaper in our lines took advantage of a feeble human mind for selfish temporary pleasure, not caring about what curse they put their children under. I guess they think that if that Reaper was so treacherous, why wouldn’t their offspring be?”
“But that isn’t a good reason…” I start.
“Some of us are treacherous,” Axel says, spacing out. “Some of us act out because we are treated like such a shameful thing. No one talks about us. Even when we work for them, they still don’t treat us like we exist. You know how bad it was for us before we made our Society?”
Axel’s face is twisted in pain. He clutches the corner of the wooden table. “We would die and come back to life so many times without knowing what was going on. We would be pushed out of every home by everybody. Ghost, Reaper, Human, all of them casting us out. So when some of us hear the half-baked bullshit reason why we’re treated the way we are, we lash out in anger. But even that amount is a tiny minuscule amount. We’re tired, Anwen. We have too much time for all that revenge shit,”
I understand the tiredness he is talking about. The Resurrection as he called it took all my little anger at me from before. My cursed branding, my red wings have disappeared. Axel said they will come back from time to time to remind me of the curse I bear. It will be just as painful too.
“As your guardian,” Axel begins, snapping me out of my thoughts. “I must ask you a question. Do you want to be a part of the living anymore? Do you want to live a human life in this cycle? We can discuss a new name and give you all the documents. You can’t be with humans romantically but you can start a new life. You can have human friends and even adopt human children,”
Do I really want to give up life over and over again? Constantly doing those damn steps over and over again? Do I have to keep giving up people I love? This time was so hard and so draining for me.
“Is there another option?” I ask.
Axel smiles. “Yes, you can work with the non-humans. I suggest you work with us. I work under the Phoenix Society and my job is to find new Half-Bloods and bring them to safety. I made Token Street a sort of haven for us. Ghosts sometimes get through, like Jess did. But If that isn’t your thing, we have so many Half-Blood divisions to choose from. You can look around before you give me a definitive answer,”
“That would be nice. I don’t want to go back to the human world,”
Axel laughs. “Damn girl. Sick of the humans already, it’s only been one cycle.”
The intention to laugh is there but it doesn’t pass my throat. The light painted door slams open and Lucas is there with his new blonde hair. They really do look alike, Axel and Lucas. I want to ask if they’re twins.
Lucas points at me. “The Secretary wanted to see her,”
“The one of this division?” Axel says, straightening his back.
“No, the Head Secretary Victoria!”
“Why?”
“Hell, I don’t know. What do we do?”
I glance at both of them. “What’s up guys? Who’s Head Secretary Victoria?”
“She’s only one of the highest ranking officials of our kind. Just don’t look her in the eye. Broody did it and I heard she snatched his eye out,” Lucas quips.
“That was only a rumor you dimwit,” Axel responds.
“Then why was he wearing an eye patch?”
“Because he just got optical surgery,”
“Oh…” Lucas pauses. “Do you have proof of that? Got any medical documents. I won’t believe that it was a surgery until I see some concrete proof. I feel it in my bones that Mrs. Victoria did it, ”
“Ugh, Anwen, just be respectful and don’t mention her age. That’s all,”
“Okay,” I draw out. “Do I go now?”
“Yeah, Lucas will lead the way,”
______
AXEL IS BACKKKKKK.
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