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Ironically, it was Gloreth who had introduced Nimona to the concept of a “phoenix”.
“Can you turn into a phoenix?” the young girl had asked.
Nimona hadn’t. She stared, unblinking, trying to figure out if there were any parts of the word she could use to figure out what it was. There wasn’t.
“It’s a bird,” Gloreth explained after a few moments. “Like an eagle. Except, it can’t die. You can kill it, but it erupts into flames and a new, baby phoenix rises from the ashes!”
“Woah,” Nimona commented.
“My mom told me about it, in the story she told us last night. She said they’re really noble creatures, who deserve respect!” She sat up straight and got really serious as she said the word ‘respect’, pounding her fist on her leg for added emphasis.
“What do they look like?” Nimona asked.
Gloreth squinted her eyes and hummed for a few moments. “They’re really big, and their feathers are made out of fire.”
“That sounds dangerous,” Nimona commented.
“Yeah! That’s why they’re so respected. Because they have the capacity to be super dangerous, but aren’t, unless someone really hurts them.”
“I don’t want to become something that might hurt you accidentally.”
Gloreth appeared to contemplate this for a moment. “Could you turn into a small one?” she suggested.
“Maybe,” Nimona replied. She stood up and backed a few steps away from Gloreth — she didn’t want to take the risk of accidentally burning her friend. Then, she focused on the form. An eagle, but with feathers made of fire. She’d need to make sure her skin was fireproof, and that her eyes could see well in bright light.
The itch passed through her whole body, and as soon as she felt wings form, she flapped them as hard as she could to give herself some air.
“Woah!” Gloreth exclaimed as Nimona soared through the air, dancing for a bit before landing on a nearby , abandoned brick fence.
“Phoenixes are so cool,” Gloreth remarked. She started to reach her hand out, as if to touch Nimona.
“Careful!” Nimona exclaimed, quickly shifting back to her little girl form. “They’re fire. You could get burned.”
Gloreth giggled as she retracted her hand. “You really are a phoenix.”
~*~
It had been years — nearly a decade, even — and after spending nearly every day practicing, Gloreth had decided to train an elite force of knights specifically to slay Nimona.
Nimona had been watching, naturally. Occasionally being spotted and attacked. It was morbid curiosity, more than anything. How could a person turn their back so easily on their friend like that? How was it so egregious that Nimona had defended herself? How long would Gloreth continue to hate her? But every time Nimona was spotted, whether it be by Gloreth herself or someone else, it seemed solidify in the young woman’s mind Nimona’s monstrosity. Warp what happened that fateful night into a tale Nimona couldn’t even recognize.
And then Gloreth had gone to the king and asked to form the Knights of the Realm. They needed trained heroes to defend against the monsters that were attacking the kingdom. Others in her village testified that Gloreth had been protecting them against monsters for years, beginning with a dragon that had disguised itself as a small girl who tried to burn their village down. They neglected to mention that the fire had actually been started by one of the villagers, and subsequent attacks were small, pink rats who quickly scurried away, and pink birds peering from far-off trees.
“Are other villages being plagued by these monster?” the king had asked.
“I don’t know, my lord,” Gloreth, still kneeling before him, replied. “It wouldn’t surprise me. They are relentless in their pursuits.”
“And what form do these monsters take?” The king asked. Nimona, at the time, was common sparrow perched in an open window overlooking the king’s throne room.
“At present, they most commonly take the form of unnatural looking pests.”
“Pests!” the king exclaimed with a laugh. “You need an elite force of knights to defend yourselves against pests?”
“They sneak in as pests!” Gloreth exclaimed. “Then destroy our homes and try to kill us.”
“One of them stole one of my cattle just last week!” another villager exclaimed. Nimona remembered watching said cattle batter down the fence and run off. She didn’t do anything about it.
“Please, your majesty. I know how to defeat them. I can train up forces to protect us, before it’s too late.”
The king hummed for a moment. “I shall think on it.”
~*~
Somehow, Gloreth had gone and gotten the king's permission to start a task force of knights, supposed to last generations, to fight against "monsters". Nimona wasn't sure the intention was entirely righteous; she was convinced the king was going to use it to exert more control over the residents of his kingdom.
Still, though, Gloreth had been given a penthouse in the Central Kingdom overlooking the whole Kingdom and surrounding land. It took a while for Nimona to figure this out; she tended to avoid the Central Kingdom at all costs, but eventually became curious where the blonde woman went. It was close to sunset now, and Nimona, shifted into an eagle and observing from the distance, could see Gloreth standing at her east-facing balcony window. From Nimona's view, the sun was setting behind Gloreth's penthouse with an ironic halo, or some kind of mocking phoenix. It annoyed Nimona. How could Gloreth believe she was in the right in this situation?
You really are a phoenix. The memory hit Nimona with enough force, she could've been convinced for just a moment that she was back there, with her friend, shifting into a phoenix for her amazement.
Nimona realized, as she remembered the lore of the phoenix, she could inspire a different kind of awe in the "knight".
She soared from the edge of the Kingdom, ensuring no one would have a close view of her, then double-checked with extra-sharp vision that Gloreth was still observing the view. She was.
In the last second before perching, Nimona shifted. Admittedly, shifting into something so big was a bit taxing, but she needed to ensure Gloreth could see it, process it's features, understand the message. The sudden shift in wing size only caused a slight unsteady landing. The light surrounding her eyes made it slightly difficult to see, but she could still see the woman's eyes, that were previously serenely overlooking the scenery, land on the glorious image of a pink-tinged phoenix in the distance, and widen in fear. Nimona smiled internally. Her message was clear. I wasn't dangerous, then you hurt me. But you can't kill me. I will rise again.
Gloreth's fear was satisfying. Despite only reading her lips, Nimona could practically hear the quiver in her voice as she said "We need... something. We need a wall!"
The idolized woman then turned and ran. After leaving her sight, Nimona turned back into a regular eagle, and perched on a nearby tree. Nimona would win. It might be years, perhaps centuries, but Gloreth's legacy would be dismantled, exposed as the sham it really was.