Burning Phoenix - Saga 1

(Quintiles 22, 59 / 11:49PM)

(Gwen) Our plan wasn’t a success but at least nobody died.

(Benn) That’s every encounter with them.

(Luke) I just wish that our plans succeed…

(Gwen) Hey, be careful of what you wish for…

In the building that everybody called home, the dark angels sat near a firepit in the open night sky. As the burning wood released embers into the night, the dark angels could only watch as the smoke rose to the Lagefor night sky.

The dark angels as well as some other soldiers were sitting side by side, enjoying the peace and tranquility that they were rewarded with.

(Gwen) I’m surprised that you and Fred were able to make such a cool bullet. Tranquilizer darts? That’s honestly pretty scary.

(Luke) It was Fred’s idea, his way to limit the amount of lethal casualties.

(Fred) I mean, it was a cakewalk to create so it wasn’t all that to be crazy for.

Fred put a cold beverage to his lips, his mouth opening slightly as he gulped down the entire bottle of beer in his hand. Swiping away a bit of beer on his lip, Fred then turned towards where Luke was, hiccuping as tried to stand straight.

(Fred) You know, I’ve never seen you drink beer, Luke? All of us have tried or at least drank a bottle or two but not you?

(Luke) Tried it once. Spat it out immediately. I’m not good with alcohol in general.

(Gwen) Did this happen when you were a kid? Maybe you had tequila or vodka.

(Luke) It was just a normal beer.

Everyone then started to laugh. There was one laugh in particular that caused all the boys to turn their attention to.

(Luna) snorts and giggles … oh man … snorts and giggles … that’s too funny … snorts and giggles.

As Luna put her right hand to her mouth, geekishly snorting as she giggled, it caused Luke to turn red as he looked away. Noticing that Luke was nervous, Luna put on a devilish smile as she stared at him.

(Luna) What? Not gonna look at me? You know I’m not that angry now.

With a beer bottle in her right hand, she made her way towards Luke, still devilishly smiling at him. Towering over him, her eyes sharpened as Luke still avoided eye contact, his face looking right as she kept her gaze on him.

(Luna) Oi, look at me.

Her eyes changed from a stare to a glare, her face reddening from the alcohol she intaked. Hope, who kept watching Luke avoiding eye contact with Luna, stood up from her seat.

With her hands shaking, Hope made her way towards where Luke was, her eyes unwavering as she put herself in between him and Luna. Stretching her arms sideways, she continued to give out death glares at Luna, which caused her to sharpen her eyes at Hope.

(Luna) Oi, I’m talking with Luke. Move.

Hope didn’t falter, as her soulless eyes continued to stare into Luna. Showing no signs of backing down, Luna walked towards Hope and towered over her, with her fists slightly shaking.

(Luna) I said move!

(Hope) Leave him alone.

(Luna) Don’t care, move you bitch!

(Hope) Whore.

(Luna) Say that again!

(Gwen) sighs … There are other guys in the world you know?

Putting herself in between Hope and Luna, Gwen looked at both of them, her eyes looking at the two rivals glaring at each other. Hope sat back down slowly, eyeing Luke as she clasped her hands together. Luna meanwhile was face to face with Gwen, her eyes unwavering as her fists started to shake more violently.

(Luna’s thoughts) Why does everybody butt in my way?

Eyeing Gwen with a vein bulging out of her, Luna continued to control her anger from coming out, wanting to move her fists into Gwen’s face yet she didn’t. Gwen, who watched Luna glare at her with a goofy face, put her hands on her hips, tilting her head.

(Gwen) Just get another beer to smooth you out. Come to think of it, this is your third bottle of beer as of right now huh?

(Luna) And?

(Gwen) Last time you got drunk, you tried to fight everybody except Luke. Remember what caused you to lash out at everybody?

(Luna) Shut up!

(Luna’s thoughts) Why were my emotions loose during that whole incident…

(Jack) Just say that you liked him, man, are you insecure that he’ll reject you—

(Luna) Stop using your stupid telepathy blessing!

Looking towards Jack, she sent death glares towards Jack who went slightly pale as Luna looked in his direction. Now ignoring Gwen, she made her way towards Jack, her eyes purely focused on him. Jack, who was still sitting in his seat, was about to surrender until.

Luna vanished.

(Jack’s thoughts) Aww shit! She used her teleportation blessing.

Luna then managed to teleport behind Jack, grabbing his arms and pulling them hard enough as if his arms were about to break. Feeling his muscles being stretched, Jack used his fingers to gently touch Luna’s arm, but Luna still kept pulling.

(Jack) Wait, Luna! You’re going to dislocate my arms!

(Luna) Shut up! This is payback for that stupid song you sang six years ago—

(Luke) Luna! Do you want this?

Standing up, Luke got out from his pocket a strawberry glazed donut, cherry filling leaking out of the holes that it was put into. Raising his arm high, Luna eyed the donut, her mouth slightly open as she licked her lips.

(Luna) You can’t win me over with food!

(Luke) If you want I could eat it—

Instead of sprinting, Luna used her blessing to teleport near Luke’s location. From the back, Luke turned rapidly as he saw her snatching the donut out of his hand, her mouth slightly drooling. Putting the donut into her mouth, Luna’s body and fists start to mellow out as the donut does its work.

Seeing the entire incident unfold, the behind-the-scenes guys continued to drink beer with teriyaki chicken. With warm smiles and laughs filling them inside, the men’s mouths were coated with the stench of alcohol, and their cheeks remained flustered.

(Gary) Why is Luke so lucky? Having the attention of two girls…

(Diego) For a time, Fred had some attention, remember Gemma?

(Gary) Yeah, she was pretty … a shame that she sacrificed herself.

(Fred) Yeah … I still miss her.

(Stan) And never forget Ryan’s death too, we lost two good people for what? To get stronger? The four of us didn’t even get our blessings, so what was the point?

As the old group of friends had beers in their hands, they all looked down as they remembered the fond memories of the 13 of them, talking and being themselves by the campfire.

(Fred) Those were good times huh?

(Gary) We were kids … of course, we didn’t think too much of it. Honestly, looking back, training wasn’t that bad at all. Yeah, they put us in really good shape, but nothing can top The Array in terms of cruelty.

Gary put his hand on his left eye, his face looking into his right hand that carried his beer. Seeing that his palm was healed and recovered from all that intense training, only to be put into data management for the government, he looked up to see the main group.

(Gary) I think that’s just part of growing up. The older we get, the more we reflect on the things we take for granted.

Having a tear run down his right eye, Gary swiped it fast as he didn’t want anybody to notice it. Looking up towards Luke who was with the main group, Gary’s face made a small smile as he recalled a past rivalry that he and Luke had.

(Gary’s thoughts) If you told a 14-year-old me that I’d be working just fine with Luke, I wouldn’t believe it for the world.

As Fred looked towards Gary looking at Luke, he turned his head upward to see the cloudy sky starting to break free. Noticing a light coming from above, Fred squinted his eyes, standing up as he placed his feet on his chair.

The more the light shone, Fred looked down to see everybody still having a good time.

(Fred) Hey, you guys look up! Everyone look up!

Fred stood up and yelled at his friends and even the main group, getting everyone's attention as their eyes focused on Fred. Pointing his finger towards the sky, Fred’s body began to squirm like a little kid.

(Fred) The clouds are finally breaking free!

Seeing that the clouds were slowly dissipating under the night sky, the night showcased the biggest reward that Terra could receive. Seeing the sky fully lit up, the gentle rays of one of Terra’s moons shone on the city of Lageofor.

(Luke’s thoughts) A single super full moon…

As everyone looked at the super full moon, their eyes sparkled because their eyes started to reflect the large moon shining down on them.

(Stan) How long has it been since we saw a single full moon?

(Diego) That’s once every decade, I guess we lucked out huh?

(Luna) The moon…

With a simple stroke, it was just the 11 of them, all wishing, all hoping, and all dreaming that these days will never end…