[Flashback] Phoenix

[Magnolia Corvidae]

Entry One 19th of Spring, 506 AV Dying is not so tragic. After your nerves have incinerated and the skin crackles and sheds like black snowflakes. After your own screams have turned to ash, blown away by the wind howling in your ears. After you finally hit the ground to kiss the cobblestones with boiling breath- lay your lips upon eternity. Then, dying is not so tragic. Galevances approached me in my flat, tall, thin, swaggering as ever. His matted hair, always covered with signature top hat, smelled of stale oil. I disliked the man now, his rigidity was astounding for a supposed actor: no ale, no wine, no drugs, nothing. So I kicked the wine bottle beneath the bed, though he was already aware of my inebriation. For the moment, I stared defiantly into the smoldering green eyes towering above my bed, sitting on the edge as if perpetuated by chastity. My attempt to suppress the rising hiccup resulted in me dropping the hairbrush I had been falsifying grooming with, and it clattered to the ground as my body betrayed me with a slight spasm. The silence was broken, and I stared down at the floor as if trying to collect the pieces with my mind. Galevances never yelled, his voice instead a dangerous growl, "You, Magnolia, are quite possibly the worst investment I have made. In the name of Rhysol, is it possible for you to step on stage without first drinking half the wine in Ravok?" Galevances shook his head with heavy disappointment, taking a chair from the girl's dusty writing desk as his seat. "Tonight broke the camel's back, you are done with acting in my troupe." The audience clearly did not like my interpretation of The Voice. I swayed, continuing to stare at the rough, wooden floor as my addled brain began processing what he said. Done with... I looked up to him, hyperbolic horror drawn on my face. Sincerity was painted on every inch of his meaty face though, so I attempted to retort- to slur something to save myself. The words came out slow and chewed, "But, but... I will stop drinking now. One more, just one more chance" The gravity of the situation continued pushing its way through the fine Akalakian vintage, and despair threatened to overwhelm me. What would become of me? The city of Ravok held troves of secrets from me, I was lost without the troupe. I had struck a new path to the future, and suddenly this man had lowered an iron curtain across it. I dimly looked into his eyes, tears threatening to well up within me, and the immense weight of his conviction hit me like a falling star. I was nothing more than dust In retrospect, I should have realized I would have another chance. However, nothing prepared me for the opportunity Galevances proposed. His gravelly voice became soft again, in the same way I had known it when he first took me into his acting troupe, "Despite your failure," the man purred in her ears, "My dear, you are still an investment nevertheless. I chose you because you were vibrant, intelligent, willing to try anything. Now I need you to try something else for me, a task none of the actors are willing to attempt." The hot tears behind my eyes threatened to break their dam any minute now, listening to Galevances speak to me like this after my immense failure was like having hot chains wrapped around my freezing body- I basked in the heat even as they burned me. "Magnolia, I need a hypnotist." Again, I stared at him for a moment as my brain dully clicked and whirred. "Wha-what do you need?" The tears were forgotten as confusion crept onto my facade. Galevances' hand fell on my shoulder, steadying me as I swayed violently. "You have inhaled, smoked, and drank everything under Rhysol's black sun, Magnolia, nobody here knows what is means to alter perceptions quite like you do. None other wishes to touch the notion of magic, yet you will do anything. You even came from Zeltiva, a city of magicians." A reassuring smile had found its way onto Galevances, the once father like figure broke down any resistance simmering in my brain before it arose. This is possible. He was giving me another chance, a second salvation. Galevances was my guardian, a protector from the horrors I might find in Ravok. "A-alright, I will... I will try." The sun gasped back to life, removing the iron curtain and illuminating my future once more. Magnolia Corvidae, Hypnotist Extraordinaire.