Chapter Text
Damn… this bird bitch really talks… Pheonyx thought. Keres was trying to explain something to Vortex. Something about fighting. At least that's what Pheonyx picked up from eavesdropping on their conversation.
Pheonyx’s tail twitched as someone came into the room, knocking her out of her trance. “What are those two arguing about?” Azrael’s distorted voice cut through the bickering across the room.
“No clue. I think it's something about fighting techniques or something.” Pheonyx responded.
Keres turned on her heels. “No, it is not actually. I saw that brat you have told us about on his way here with the twins and some random constellation they probably picked up along the way. Killed one of my babies and critically injured another as well!”
Pheonyx froze. “They're what?!” She shouted loud enough that her voice bounced around the room. Vortex covered its ears, growling at the noise. No no… he can't be… not yet. It's too soon, the plan is fucked. Shit shit shi-
“What was that?” Ophiuchus’ voice cut through Pheonyx's spiralling thinking.
“N-nothing. Sorry, Xir.” Pheonyx muttered nervously
Ophiuchus' sighed. “One, you know to call me Ophi when we aren't in meetings. Two, shouting is not nothing. What is going on?” Ophiuchus sternly stated.
Keres flew over to Pheonyx, “Since she is not gonna say it because of her Leo-Ego, I saw Zeta, The Twins, and a random brat coming our way. They are a day or so out, so there is no need to panic… yet” they explained.
“Aww, your side-bitch is looking for you!” Kerian teased
“Kerian!” Vortex and Pheonyx yelled.
Kerian raised zer hands in surrender, “Jokes. All jokes.”
Ophiuchus leaned on the wall trying to come up with something. “It's not like we can just pick up our home base and move. I've spent too long on this small town of ours to just abandon it.”
This is all my fault. If I hadn't talked to him in the forest, none of us would be in this shit. Pheonyx started scratching her prosthetic leg as her mind spiraled.
While the others were discussing a plan, Keres noticed Pheonyx spiraling in the corner. She slipped out of the discussion and sat on the floor in front of Pheonyx. They looked up into Pheonyx's eyes, trying to get her to do the same. “Hey. Stop scratching the metal. That is an expensive, rare material for us and you know that.”
Pheonyx looked into Keres’ eyes, tears threatening to fall. “It’s my fault… He’s too powerful… they’ll kill all of you and probably take me back and put me in a cell again and-…” she mumbled.
Keres’ eyes widened, looking into Pheonyx’s non-tinted eyes. They had never seen Pheonyx without a red tint in her eyes. “Hey, hey, no. Do not speak like that. Cetus, Azrael, and I could wipe the floor with that group. That non-Zodiac will be the easiest, next to Castrated of course.” She tried joking, not being too good at it though. “Listen, no one on our side will fall. We will be alright, all of us. I promise. On my flock, on my life, I will not let any one of us die.”
“You can’t promise that…”
“I can and I will.”
“No, you can’t. If it’s meant to happen, it will happen. You aren’t stronger than the forces of fate.”
“I can certainly try.” Keres smirked.
Pheonyx shook her head and sighed. Keres would not change their mind no matter how much Pheonyx told her the opposite. “You’re so stubborn sometimes…”
“I know.” Keres smirked, her wings ruffling behind her. “Now. You look exhausted. Go rest. We will be okay.”
Pheonyx stood up and paused. As soon as Keres stood up, Pheonyx wrapped her arms around the bird’s waist, hugging her tightly. Keres stood there shocked before they wrapped her arms and wings around Pheonyx, shielding the cub from the reality of the situation. She shouldn’t be dealing with all of this, but Pheonyx was and she was pushing through it.
“Awww, they’re both so adorable.” Vortex teased, acting like it was cute even if they were mentally throwing up
Pheonyx growled as Keres let go. “Leave us alone! sh-”
“They” Pheonyx interrupted.
“Hm?”
“They. I wanna try out They/them pronouns.”
“Alright. They have been through a lot the past week or so, so fuck off!” Keres said, correcting herself. She turned to the lion cub, “You know where to find all of us. Ophi is a literal shout away. Go rest, 'Nyx.” Their dull claws lightly patted Pheonyx’s head before ushering them out of the main base. Azrael went with his housemate and crossed the wooden bridge to their house on a floating island near the base.
Pheonyx climbed up to their half of the house, a black, starry cat coming to greet them with a meow. They went over and laid down on their bed, sighing as the cat hopped onto their lap. “Meridian… Why does this entire thing have to be so stressful? Why can’t I just… stop them? I mean, Zeta is powerful… more powerful than I thought.” The cat looked up at her owner before laying down on her back and purring. Pheonyx started softly petting the cat’s belly as the worst thoughts came into their mind. “I’m at fault for this… If I hadn’t left… if I hadn’t talked to them in the forest… none of this would’ve happened. I could be at fault for Zeta getting infected, or worse… I could be at fault for the Zodiacs losing their best archer…” They sighed before continuing, “You don’t even care, do you, Meridian? You are just here for my attention, aren’t you?” Pheonyx shook their head, “at least go turn the light off, we can cuddle while I rest.” The cat meowed before jumping off the bed and going over to the small switch by the ladder, pushing it down to turn the lights off. Meridian’s eyes glowed orange in the dark, the white spots on her body shining like stars as she walked back to the bed. Meridian curled up next to Pheonyx as exhaustion took over both of them.
~~~
Pheonyx looks around the black void, confused. “Where am I?” They thought they had just said that in their mind, but their voice echoed around them, twice as loud as their own voice. “What the fuck? What is happening?”
“I’m surprised you're survived this long.” Zeta’s voice cut through the void. “You know. Hit after hit from a Zodiac’s personal weapon should have killed you by now…”
Pheonyx turned around, now face-to-face with a distorted, toxin-infected Zeta. His skin was a vibrant purple, eyes black as obsidian, matching his hair and markings. Every single one of their scars were oozing the black goo all infected toxins had. His back adorned two, torn up dragon-like wings. The most unsettling part on this horrific version of Zeta was the huge hole in his chest. A hole that went straight through their body with black goo staining his torn up shirt. “Wh- no. You aren’t real. You aren’t Zeta. He's never been infected.” Pheonyx stepped away, terrified of what was in front of them.
The infected Zeta stepped forward, stalking the lion cub with a sharp, toothy grin. “How could you be so sure? You haven’t seen me in a bit. One of the Vultures could’ve infected me.”
“Then where are we? Is this the void?”
“Nope. This is just a destroyed, empty part of our universe. No stars for light years. Just me and you.” Zeta's grin unnaturally widened as he admitted it was just them.
Pheonyx’s eyes darted around when they saw a glowing light far off. That had to be a star, right? They distracted this... creature with a fireball and started running for the light. They were free for a mere moment before the disgusting, wet snarl of an angry Zeta echoed behind them. Pheonyx broke into a sprint, but no matter how fast they ran, that light wasn’t getting closer. They blasted fire behind them to move their body faster, but the light was still not coming closer.
“Pheonyx~” Zeta’s voice felt like it dripped through the cracks of Pheonyx’s own soul. Dread washed over them; there was no escape, the light was a mere illusion. Zeta’s claws wrapped around Pheonyx’s body, squeezing their body like a stress ball. He brought his hand up to his now giant face, the smile more horrifying and the light from his eyes bright like an angler fish. Pheonyx looked into his eyes, their tail and hair extinguishing as all hope fled their body.
Just before their body popped, Pheonyx’s eyes shot open as they sat up in a cold sweat. Meridian mewed before rubbing her head on Pheonyx’s metallic thigh. Her soft purring helped ground Pheonyx to reality. “Ophiuchus?” Pheonyx’s voice softly called out, their body slightly trembling. Their heart raced, their breathing was uneven, they needed someone
“Yes, cub?” Ophiuchus spawned into Pheonyx's room. When his eyes locked onto their body, concern flooded his face. “Oh my.. Pheonyx, what happened? Are you alright?” He questioned as he sat at the foot of their bed.
“Zeta isn't here yet, right? He’s not infected or anything?”
“What? No, of course not. It’s been four hours since you left for bed, he’s not even here yet.”
Pheonyx sighed with relief, “fucking flames… it was just a dream…”
“A dream? Would you like to talk about it?”
“No… No, I don't want to talk about it… I don’t want to remember any of that shit.”
Ophiuchus nodded. He was silent for a bit before he got an idea, “Azrael might let you take a warm bath. That might help you relax. Meridian and Raccoon would love to accompany you. I could get Vortex to lend me some of void’s iapaya pits to make some warm tea if you’d like as well.”
“I do like myself some iapaya tea…” Pheonyx nodded, combing their fingers through Meridian’s long fur.
Ophiuchus chuckled, “Alright, I will go ask, you go take a warm bath.” Ophiuchus walked to the ladder before adding, "Oh, and don’t forget to take your leg off this time. I haven’t gotten any new parts to repair it again.”
“Listen! I was sleep deprived and forgot I had a prosthetic one time, you don’t have to keep reminding me!”
“I fear I do.”
“Otvali! (Fuck off!)" Pheonyx shouted.
“When did you learn Russian?!” Azrael piped in from the room below Pheonyx's.
“The common language doesn’t have enough curse words, I had to learn more and Russian sounded more aggressive.”
Azrael slithered up the ladder and sat on the ledge, “German is objectively more aggressive sounding.”
Pheonyx chuckled, “Yeah, with the basic words like bestreichen (butter), but otvali is a way more aggressive curse than sich verpissen (Fuck off/piss off).”
Ophiuchus chuckled, “Have fun you two.”
The two of them waved goodbye before continuing their arguing about the curses in every language they both knew. This was better than remembering the nightmare.