The Phoenix Has Been Resurrected

I followed the smell of bacon, and it led me right to the dining room. Ah, breakfast; the most important meal of the day. Tobias’s panting was the only thing that made us known to the royal Vampires in the room.

“Damn, Seraphina, I’m not as fast as I used to be!” Tobias snapped at me. “And I’m running on fumes right now!”

“You’re cranky,” I said as I walked to one of the available chairs. “You need to feed.”

“Yeah, and then get executed. I don’t know about you, but I prefer for my head to be attached to my neck.”

I rolled my eyes at his dramatics. “Drama Queen,” I muttered.

“So, I wasn’t dreaming,” Blaze said dazedly. “Well, that doesn’t explain why you suddenly changed into a giant pink bunny.”

I gave him a look that questioned his grasp on reality. “Why would I change into a giant pink bunny?”

“I dunno, you tell me,” he said with a shrug of his shoulders. “Wait — you didn’t change into a giant punk bunny?”

“Oh, so now I’m a ‘punk bunny’?”

“Will someone please explain this to me?” Blaze complained, looking around at everyone. “’Cause I’m very confused.”

“Do you want to try the magic lollipop?” Tyrone asked.

Everyone turned toward Adam. “Did you throw him out the window? Again?” Andy asked.

“What makes you think that I did?” Adam asked grouchily.

“Well, he was wearing a dress last night. A pink dress.” Blaze said, rolling his eyes.

“I’ll have you know that I didn’t push him out the window this time,” Adam snapped. “He wanted to play superheroes, so we went to the roof.”

“That’s an impressive drop, Seraphina. The highest point in this place has got to be at least fifty feet off the ground,” Tobias muttered to me. “I wonder if you could make it?”

“Oh, joy,” I said sarcastically as Tobias began dragging me away from the dining table.

“Where are you guys going?” Kenton asked around a yawn as we past him.

“Tobias is going to throw me off the roof.”

“Won’t he get in trouble for doing that?” Ty asked, following us.

“Not for science!” Tobias said excitedly. “You know, you’re not as light as you used to be, Seraphina, so, I don’t know, can you get up?”

I sighed, standing up out of the chair. “You’re giving me a piggyback, though,” I said with a smile.

“No,” he said almost immediately. “The last time I gave you a piggyback, you were ten, and almost four feet tall.”

“I don’t care,” I announced, hopping onto his back. “Onward!”

He cussed under his breath as he began running.



“Well? How’d it go?” Kenton asked, probably prepared to tease me.

“Fine, actually,” I said with a shrug. “Tobias had some difficulty getting onto the roof with me on his back. Oh, and then I threw him off.”

“We are never doing that experiment again!” Tobias yelled as I patched him up.

“And what are the scars from?” Tyrone asked curiously.

“Oh, well, see …” I said to buy myself some time, “the thing is, that I accidentally threw him the wrong way.”

Tyrone looked at me knowingly. “Then explain the crash.”

“She threw me into the other tower! Purposely, might I add,” Tobias shouted angrily, glaring at me. “What the hell were you thinking?”

“I was thinking that there was no way you were going to tie my wings together,” I answered, rolling my eyes. “Now hold still! You have a giant piece of glass rammed into your back.”

“You know, if I didn’t love you like a daughter, then I’d kill you!” he growled furiously. “You broke both my wings!”

“Yeah, well try having two spears into them!”

“Big whoop-de-doop!” he spat sarcastically.

I jerked the glass piece out from his back, and he screamed out in agony. “I can make it hurt a lot more if you don’t shut your blowjob hole!”

He started laughing. “I can’t believe you’re quoting Lizza, Seraphina. What is the world coming to if you can’t properly insult me?”

“I swear …” I grumbled. “Look, I’m not really in the mood to threaten your balls, because frankly, it belongs to Ala.”

“It belongs to me!”

“Not from how I see it.”

“Who’s Lizza?” Tyrone asked.

“Who’s Lizza?” I repeated dramatically, placing a hand to my chest, and panting as if to catch my breath.

“Oh, great,” Tobias said sarcastically.

“Lizza is the most totally awesome person you will ever meet! She insults you through dirty jokes; she’s a kick-butt fighter; and, most importantly, she’s my best friend since I was in diapers!” I said, waving my arms around wildly.

“Seraphina plus Lizza equals party,” Tobias said, rolling his eyes. “Now fix my damn wings!” he snapped at me.

“Jeez, alright, alright!” I said while rolling my eyes. “Extend,” I commanded.

“No.”

“Tobias, don’t be a baby! If you’re good, I’ll give you a lollipop.”

He glared at me. “What am I? Five?”

“Nooo, of course not,” I said sarcastically. “Now, extend! I need to see the extent of the damage done to your wings.”

He sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Alright.”

His black wings unfold from his back, and I held the leathery surface of one to examine it. “Yep, just as I had expected.”

“What? How bad is it?” Tobias asked while attempting to twist his neck an impossible length to see for himself.

“Lots of cuts, a few debris; but, altogether, nothing too serious, or permanently detrimental.”

“So, can you fix it?” he asked irritably.

“Yes, I suppose,” I said, shrugging. I looked over Tobias’s back at Tyrone with a goofy grin on my face. “Do you wanna be my nurse, Ty?”

“Oh boy! I’ve always wanted to play doctor!” Tyrone said, bouncing with glee.

“I wanna help, too!” Lila yelled, pouting.

“Alright, Lil,” I said, smiling at her. “Can you get Tobias some blood? He’s probably thirsty after screaming like a newborn girl,” I said teasingly.

“Okay!” she squealed enthusiastically, skipping away.

I turned to face Ty. “I’m gonna need a first aid kit.”

“Got it,” he said, lifting it up. “Now what do I do?”

“Whatever I say I need, you hand it to me,” I explained slowly. He grinned, nodding to confirm that he understood. “First, I’ve got to clean out his back with alcohol.”

“Alright! I’ll go find a beer!” Tyrone said, running out of the room.

“You know, I’m beginning to question him,” Tobias said. “Why do you hang around him?”

I shrugged. “He’s comedic, in a way; doesn’t let what people say bother him; and, most importantly, he makes the world worth living.”

“Yes, he does. There should be more people like him around,” Tobias agreed.

“This is so fascinating!” Kenton said excitedly, examining Tobias’s wings. “They feel so heavy. How is it that you can fly with them?”

I whacked his shoulder, and proceed in shooing him away. “This is no time to learn about our kind! Shoo! Get! Be gone!” I yelled, chasing him out of the room.

“What am I? Cattle?”

“At least you know your place.”

He opened his mouth to yell at me, but I slammed the door in his face.

“I got the beer!” Tyrone yelled, running into the room. “But Dad wants to know what it’s for.”

“For me to drink,” Tobias said, taking it out of his hands. “Thank you, Tyrone.”

“Anytime!” he said, saluting. “Now, what do I do?”

“Why don’t you go find Lila, and see if she needs any help?” I asked as I began wiping down Tobias’s back. “She’s been gone an awfully long time.”

“Okay!”

He was running out the door, leaving it gaping open for Kenton to reenter. “Why did Tyrone run in here with a bottle of beer?”

“He misunderstood what Seraphina meant about alcohol,” Tobias answered.

“Sit up straight!” I commanded. He sighed as he obeyed.

“Aren’t you supposed to refer to her as Princess Phoenix Seraphina?” Kenton asked.

“Not when I’m her godfather,” Tobias snapped. “Now mind your own business, kid.”

“I’m twenty-one!”

“Yeah? I’m two hundred and ninety three.”

“Really? You don’t look a day over twenty-five!”

“Because I died when I was twenty-five.” Tobias said with annoyance. “Now, could you please go away?”

“Alright, Tobias, this is gonna hurt. Please try not to cuss like you usually do.” I said, studying the blood-stained glass piece that just barely missed his spine.

“Now, why would I —”

He was cut off as I took hold of the shard, and yanked with all my strength. He howled in pain, and cussed like the wind.

“What happened?” Blaze asked as him, his brothers, and sisters all ran to our little infirmary.

“Nothing,” I said casually, setting the glass down onto the table beside me.

“That doesn’t look like nothing,” Andy said, studying the piece. “What happened?”

“She threw me off the roof,” Tobias grumbles. I grinned. “How, I will never understand.”

“It was easy,” I said with a shrug. “You were already on the edge.”

“You’re a sadistic,” Tobias growled at me. “Throwing a poor old man off the roof. You should be arrested!”

“Oh, yes,” I said with an evil smirk. “And then when they ask me why, I’ll say —”

“Alright, Ms. Sadistic,” Tobias snapped, “I get it.”

I grinned triumphantly. “Wings!” I yelled. He sighed, unfurling his wings. “All the way, Toby.”

“Don’t call me that!” he snapped angrily.

“Whatever,” I said, rolling my eyes.

“Do all Demon wings look the same? Or are they like Fairies; completely different?” Kenton asked.

We glared at him. “You don’t wanna get on my bad side,” Tobias growled, “and you’re very close to it.”

“Quit squirming!” I said, whacking his shoulder. “Or so help me, I will stick this needle so far up your —”

“Now, now, Princess; don’t need to be loosing our temper, do we?” Tobias asked tauntingly.

“I will smack you.”

“Is it someone’s time of the month?”

I smacked him upside the head. He glared as he twisted his neck to look at me. “That was uncalled for.”

“No, that was me slapping you.”

I began stitching up his wings. “Can you hurry up?” he asked impatiently.

“I’m going as fast as I can,” I said calmly. “Incase you haven’t noticed, I don’t exactly have a medical degree.”

“Obviously.”

“You know, I don’t have to do this for you! I can let you get sick!”

“And who’s gonna take care of me?”

“Not Ala.”

He pouted. “And why not?”

“Because she always sides with me,” I said triumphantly. “You know it, too.”

“I don’t understand why.”

I purposely stab him with the needle. “Shut up.”

He nodded silently, pouting as I stitched him up, and proceeded in wrapping his torso in gauze. “I look pretty good like this,” Tobias said to help his ego. “Looks like I got in a bad fight. Not pushed off the roof, and into a tower by a girl that weighs a hundred and twelve pounds, and is … 5’4” or 5’5”?” Tobias asked.

“I don’t know! The last time someone measured me, I was ten!”

He stood up, and stared down at me. “You’re just barely shorter than your mom, and she was 5’6”.”

“How could she be 5’6”? Ala is 5’5”!”

“Yes, but Ala’s got over eighteen years on your mom,” he said, rolling his eyes as he put back on his shirt. “You’re 5’3” … and a half.”

“Wait, your mom? As in, Queen Esmeralda?” Kenton asked.

“No, Queen Elizabeth,” I said sarcastically. “My dad’s barely looked at any other girl.”

“Why not?” Kenton asked. “There’s plenty of girls down there, right?”

I looked down as I started putting everything away.

“I mean, he can have any girl he wants! I bet he could even have two girls at once!”

“The King is dedicated to raising his daughter,” Tobias answered firmly, “and to do that, he doesn’t have time to stare around at women much younger than him.”

“Phoenix Seraphina’s almost eighteen. I don’t know about the age of adulthood down in Hell, but here that makes her a legal adult.”

“Sixteen, sometimes fifteen,” I said.

“What?” Kenton asked confusedly.

“The age when you are no longer considered a child in Hell is sixteen, sometimes fifteen,” I repeated, “and for me it was ten.”

“Ten? You have got to be joking,” Adam said.

“She’s not. The King gave up his rights of guardianship when she was ten.” Tobias said, rolling his eyes. “That’s why she left Hell. Fiends are forbidden to leave Hell.”

“Why? Don’t they need to feed?” Kenton asked.

“Then their parents would get it for them,” I answered. “Fiends don’t have wings, fangs, or even the basic instinct to kill.”

“Demons have fangs?” Kenton asked, shocked.

“’Course we do,” Tobias snapped. “How else would we be able to eat?”

“I wanna see your fangs!” Tyrone said excitedly. “Please, Sarah? Pretty please?”

“They usually don’t come out unless I feed,” I admitted sheepishly.

“Or if you do this.”

Tobias grabbed hold of my nose, cutting off the scents around me. I felt my fangs extend, piercing my bottom lip with such unexpected force that it broke skin, and my pupils took up my entire eye. I growled in warning at him, and he released me.

“It’s really weird, but Seraphina relies on scent more than anything else. So, when you take that away from her, she acts on instinct, and attempts to kill you,” Tobias said, shrugging.

“Can you do that again?” Kenton asked. “I wanna get a picture of it for records!”

“No,” Tobias snapped, “you’ll make her crazed, and she’ll kill you in a flash.”

“Your fangs are really long. Did it hurt when it went through your lip? Looked painful,” Tyrone said, wincing.

“I didn’t really feel it at the time,” I said, “but now I do.”



“I find it very interesting how your teeth chose now to change,” Tobias said irritably. “Of course, you are a hybrid.”

“Would you shut up, and help me pull out my teeth?” I begged. “They hurt.”

He sighed. “Yeah, sure.”

“What’s going on?” Blaze asked.

“Seraphina’s teeth are changing,” Tobias replied.

“Changing?”

“Yeah; like a human child’s baby teeth fall out to be replaced by ‘grownup’ teeth,” Tobias said. “Except Seraphina’s getting her canines.” he continued studying my mouth. “Looks like a very painful change, at that.”

“Shouldn’t she have lost them when she was little?”

“Not necessarily,” Tobias answered. “Typically, a Demon’s teeth will go into the first change around age fourteen, and stop; only to start again every five years. It usually lasts for a week or two, sometimes three.” he looked around for something. “But Seraphina’s teeth first started changing when she was ten, and she never got all her canines. Her fangs are also set to come out again.”

“Wait, your fangs can come out?” Blaze asked me.

I nodded. “Every year; around my birthday. Hurts, but the sooner they come out, the sooner I’ll get my new, sharper fangs.”

“Do you want to pull ’em out yourself, or have me do it?” Tobias asked.

“You,” I answered.

He nodded, and I opened my mouth wide for his large, masculine hands to enter. “Alright … at the count of three …”

I knew he wasn’t serious. All he was really doing was preparing himself for the waterworks for when the first fang did come out. It hurts, and I would not wish that kind of pain on anyone. Tobias always hated having to pull out my fangs, but he could do it a lot faster than I could, and he knew it, too.

Suddenly there was a jerk on my upper jaw, and I felt the stomach churning suffering as the first fang was ripped from my gums. It was actually surprising how this didn’t permanently damage my gums, though they did become raw for a day or two. Before I could even blink, Tobias pulled out my two bottom teeth that were sharpened and extended much similar to fangs; and then he quickly yanked out the other canine on my upper jaw before I could bite down on his hands.

I screamed out in agony, slapping both hands to my mouth as I rolled out of my chair, and tears began pooling out of my eyes. God, I hate when my fangs have to come out. I groaned out in misery.

“What happened here?” Kenton asked.

“Pixie just got her fangs taken out,” Blaze said, a greenish tint painted against his pale face. “All four of them.”

“Maybe the Tooth Fairy will give you some money this year.” Tobias said awkwardly in the hopes of lightening my mood. I moaned in anguish in response. “I should call your dad, and tell him that we’ll be flying to Hell tonight.”

“Why not just take the same thing that brought you here?” Kenton asked.

“No; absolutely not,” Tobias snapped. “Not unless you’re willing to give us around fifty guards.”

“Fifty? That’s a bit extreme.”

“She holds a seat of power unlike any other, and there are a lot of people who would rather have her dead than throned,” Tobias growled. “Which is not an option for our country. Unlike you, she doesn’t have a replacement.”

“Are you really leaving tonight?” Blaze asked me. I nodded, and whimpered at the motion. “Can you stay just a little longer?”

I shook my head sadly.

“Come on, Seraphina, and I’ll go buy you a milkshake to keep you quiet about this.” Tobias said, rolling his eyes.

I jumped up hurriedly, bouncing slightly in my excitement. Milkshakes always make me feel better after a canine-pulling. Especially with extra-extra-extra whip cream.