Alexander The Great Mage

Aleyria pondered on Fluff-fluff\'s question for a quick moment before answering.

"Alive? Definitely not. The energy within me is without a shred of will or intellect. However, it is deeply infused with emotions. As you probably can sense very clearly, the dark energy is filled with an anger that is as immense as the galaxies and grief as eternal as the stars."

"It has feelings? So it is alive?" Magius asked abruptly.

"It is not alive." Aleyria replied firmly.

"But you just said that it is filled with anger and grief!" Magius argued. "Plus, the Black Phoenix is a mythical creature. It has never existed in the long history of the universe before this. The only reason as to why you can be a Black Phoenix is…"

"It is not alive." Aleyria interrupted Magius and repeated herself.

"Reaching this level of existence… It gives me a deeper understanding of what being alive truly means." Aleyria looked at Magius calmly in the eye. "We are made up of three distinct beings. The body, the soul and the spirit."

"Huh? Where does this come from?" Fluff-fluff asked in confusion

"From my own personal understanding of my own being." Aleyria replied simply.

"Elaborate." Magius commanded. Though no longer the strongest of the group, many millenias of being at the very top of the food chain had ingrained a deep habit of authority and that was impossible to wipe off.

At least not in the short term.

And at that moment, the level of involvement he had in confirming Aleyria\'s claims had reached a very personal level.

"At this level of existence, I can clearly sense in minute detail how my very being exists in this realm in relation to every single thing in the universe. At this moment, my, and your, very being is clearly divided into three parts.

The first part is our physical bodies. The body is the vessel with which all living beings interact with the physical manifestation of all existence. The physical body receives input from its physical senses. As you know, it is the sense of sight, smell, touch, hearing and taste. Additionally, the body houses the energy we all call arcane energy or magical energy. For many life forms in the universe, the death of the physical body means a complete death of their whole being.

The second part is the soul, which is further divided into three parts. The first part of the soul is the mind. The mind\'s ability to process information is called the intellect, and produces our thoughts. The second part of the soul is the heart. The heart deals with emotions and produces feelings. These two parts of our souls, together with our physical senses, will drive and provide input for the third part of our soul which is the will. Our will makes our decisions based on our thoughts, our feelings and our senses.

The third part is our spirit. This is the true us. It houses the soul. This spirit is... our identity. It gives our bodies and our souls a distinct and completely unique life force. The death of the spirit is the death of the person, even if the body is still alive and well.

Most importantly, I could clearly discern at this moment that the spirit is also the seat of power of a person. All of my control over my power stems from my spirit. Be it the power over the elements, life energy, death energy, luck energy, and even intent, everything is wielded by my spirit."

"That is why, Alexander, you\'re you, and not King Aloxandros." Aleyria said softly to him. "When you entered this body, it was not merely your soul which entered his body, it was your spirit."

Alexander nodded in understanding.

"That is also why, Lord Magius, this energy within me which is filled with emotion, is not alive. It is not Lady Kyara." Aleyria added gently.

"You knew?!" Magius asked in surprise.

"I heard Flamewing\'s explanation to Alexander earlier." Aleyria chuckled. "I had wished to delay giving you this news, but I guess telling you upfront this way is fine as well."

"If you knew, then you should be clear on the prophecy as well. Kyara… She will arise from the ashes. It would not be just her emotions, but her entire being! This… spirit which you have just explained.. It could very well be slumbering within you.." Magius pressed on passionately.

"She is not." Aleyria said as gently as she could. She raised her hand lightly and released her aura lightly. Immediately, the aura took on the form of a Black Phoenix around her.

"Kyoooo!" The Black Phoenix cried out lightly.

"At my current level of existence, there is nothing within my body that is hidden from me. The bloodline of the Black Phoenix which slumbered within me had been thoroughly ignited. Its full power is now flowing within my veins, with nothing left in reserve. Although my control over it right now is tenuous at best, my understanding of it is not. There is no Lady Kyara within me, Lord Magius."

"How can you explain the depth of the emotions that the Black Phoenix is emitting then…? You\'ve said yourself that the spirit houses the emotion. And where there is emotion, wouldn\'t the spirit be there as well? Whatever that happened which caused you to receive the bloodline of the Black Phoenix, surely it could bestow upon you the spirit of the Black Phoenix as well!"

"I am not privy to the workings of fate." Aleyria sighed deeply. "But based on my view of the laws of the universe, the bloodline of the Black Phoenix which slumbered within me can only come upon me before my birth. I was born with the bloodline of the Black Phoenix already within me.

Sometime in the course of my parent\'s marriage, Lady Kyara\'s Golden Phoenix spirit was released from the clutches of Zegaro\'s curse. However, she was no longer Lady Kyara the Golden Phoenix, life partner of Magius. Its unique identity had merged with the curse and through thousands of years of torment, it had completely transformed itself to become, very simply and without excess, the Black Phoenix.

The Black Phoenix was in spirit form, and needed to revive in a body. As a Phoenix, there was only one way for her to do it. She combusted herself and allowed its power to enter a person, entrusting her destiny to fate. And through the workings of fate, that person was me.

The key takeaway here, Lord Magius, is that after thousands of years, the Golden Phoenix whom you cherish deeply is no more. Somehow in the six thousand years, the seat of power and the core identity of the Golden Phoenix, its spirit, had been stripped clean of its mind, will and the core portions of its emotions. When it combusted itself, even its core identity is lost. Only its power and a portion of its emotions imprinted on my bloodline and caused it to evolve.

Right now, I am simply Aleyria."

Aleyria took a deep breath and reached out her hand to hold Alexander\'s.

"And Aleyria loves Alexander."

*-*-*-*-*-*-*

Deep in the heart of the Symphonian Empire, a tall and handsome young man stood upon the battlements of a ruined megafortress. He was clad in light golden armor with a beautiful golden cape about him, giving him a heroic air that would cause the hearts of countless women to flutter.

However, there were no women to speak of in his vicinity. In fact, there were no men too, for that matter. All about him, thousands of undead ghouls, zombies, skeletons and other monstrosities were feasting on billions of dead.

He was Prince Marius, Emperor Candidate to the Throne of Symphonia, Scion of Zegaro.

"Prince Marius. You have held up your end of the bargain magnificently. The entire planet is now under our control." A soft whisper sounded in the air around him.

"It is time for you to keep your end of the bargain." Prince Marius replied coldly.

A shrill laughter rang out wildly. "Do not worry, Prince of Symphonia. A powerful man like you who could willingly sacrifice an entire planet of billions for the sake of power… You are a perfect fit for us!"

"Stop yapping and give me the ancient relic!" Prince Marius snapped.

"He he he he.. As promised, here is the Ancient Relic of Zegaro you have requested.. Welcome, Young Prince Marius, into our inner circle…" The voice lingered for a moment and then disappeared totally. However, a small chalice materialized near Prince Marius.

He grabbed onto it hungrily and immediately activated its power.

"GRAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!!!!"

He let out a bestial roar as a powerful surge of undead energy surged into his body.

"GRAHHH!!!!!"

The surge of undead energy began to take effect and seeped into the tiniest units in his body, transforming him from within. He drew his Crystal Sword and pointed it upwards.

A thick beam of golden energy shot out from the sword.

BOOM!!!!!

A golden ring of energy erupted from his body.

A Scion Lord was born.