Chapter 205: Chalice of Wishes (2/2)
”Your Wish…” Rakna uttered and his hand became covered in crystal. He extended it toward the forehead of the boy and tapped it. ”Shall Be Granted.”
Immediately, a crimson and golden flame erupted from the child's body and formed a pair of wings on his back made out of ethereal fire. The spectators gawked at the sight and it faded away as fast as it came.
Milo blinked in a daze and looked at himself. ”Eh? I don't feel any different… Am I really a Phoenix now, Mister?”
Rakna stood up and inspected his crystallized hand as it melted back to normal. He clenched it a few times with enough strength to audibly stretch the fabric of Andante and turned back to the young boy.
”Yes… yes, you are. One day, when you find your own nest, you will see for yourself. Have a good eternity… kid,” he said and disappeared from the room right as the flames of his sub-spell were extinguished for good and the enforcers barged into the building.
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Rakna sat at the edge of a roof, with the rain in his close vicinity turning into snow, watching as the enforcer group apprehended the criminals. He hadn't killed them with his needles; at worst, they would be paralyzed if they didn't have a good defense.
”{Well… it seems my little escapade in the depths of my library was not of that much use to you if you managed to do something like that with so little guidance,}” Fray commented as both he and his soul host looked at a system window.
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You have gained a new title!
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Chalice of Wishes
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Note: The power at the origin of this title surpasses the System's storage and encoding levels.
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”I guess…” Rakna muttered whilst gazing at his hand in thought.
”{So… will that boy truly become a Phoenix?}”
The therian sighed and cleared his mind. ”He will. I don't know how; but I can tell you for sure that he will… no, he is a Phoenix. He simply needs to find his ashes… that's what my instincts are telling me at least.”
”{Ah, but of course, how could I ever forget about those instincts of yours? Then what about the price? Should there not have been one for you to grant a wish?}”
”The Sage offered his first guest the same deal,” Rakna answered with information that he didn't even know he had. ”Since this kid was my first wish… I could also give it for free,” he explained as he spotted Milo coming out of the building while in the care of the enforcers.
”{Without making it sound like you have done something wrong; do you think it was a good idea to use that opportunity on a stranger?}”
Rakna looked at the stormy sky and twisted the corners of his lips. ”What do you think?”
”{…?}”
”If I could go back in time and offer this opportunity to Vivi, I would do it a thousand times over.”
”{Vivi…?}”
”An innocent girl who wanted to see the outside world,” he replied and Pronos took on a sad face at the reminder. ”For all intents and purposes, she was a stranger. One that I failed to save. Would it constitute a good-or-bad-idea question if I wanted to give her a wish?”
”{…}”
Rakna snorted and pushed himself to his feet. ”There you go. You got your answer. Ruminate on that, Exalted Quill,” he quipped and flash-stepped away.