"Anything," she chose to respond.
I need you to be my eyes in this time as I look over the others.
She wasn’t sure what she meant, but Nyssa replied, “Okay,” anyway.
They are safe.
"Who?"
Your King and Queen.
Nyssa’s heart fell to her knees. "What?"
But the phoenix didn't answer her directly.Through every doorway, I will watch, the Sun said.There will always be one open for you should you call. I will come.
The phoenix bowed her head then for a long enough moment that Lovi shoved Nyssa's back. Nyssa stepped forward, hand reaching out. And when her palm pressed to the great bird's beak, the familiar shiver pulsed through her.
It was the same shiver she'd felt upon first seeing it in her room when Aydra had come back for her. Nyssa sank into what felt like a warm hug wrapping her insides and quelling the ache in her chest.
Aydra's hug.
Nyssa nearly lost her balance as the abrupt comfort of it swelled inside her. She could feel Aydra's arms holding her head into her chest like she was standing just in front of her. Hear her heartbeat against her ear. Aydra’s arms cradled around her, hands stroking the back of her head. Nyssa could smell her sister's hair. Ocean. Citrus. Sunlight. Nyssa held onto the feeling as she held on to her life. She dug her fingers into her sister's back. Held her with every fiber of her being.
Exhale the fire, sister,Aydra said, and Nyssa could feel her sister's breath on her skin with the words.
The sensation of it brought not sad tears but comforting ones. Comfort and belonging. Reassurance that she was where she was supposed to be.
Through every doorway, she remembered the Sun saying.
Had she just opened up a doorway to a memory of Aydra?
Nyssa pushed the thought from her mind, not wanting to get her hopes up for anything that might have meant seeing her again. She would settle for the few seconds the Sun had allowed her to relive.
Thank you, Nyssa said to the Sun as she wiped her face.
The Sun gave her another bow before letting out a great shriek that vibrated the entire reef. Lovi's hand was on Nyssa’s arm, and Nyssa stood stunned with him as the wind from the Sun's great wings whipped the air.
She disappeared into shadow and clouds, and the bright orb that was the setting sun showed itself once more.
Nyssa stood steady in its embrace, letting her skin soak in the brightness. The warmth covered her cheeks. Until she heard Lovi laughing once more.
"You Sun children and your Sun," he said. "Always trickster. She be back."
Lovi left her there and started his walk back to the village.
She could still feel Aydra's arms wrapped around her.
It was Lex who reached her first.
Nyssa hardly realized the Second Sun was in front of her until she felt Lex's hands grasp onto her cheeks, wildly shouting before her.
Reality swooped over Nyssa as a cold splash to the face.
“—talk to me!Nyssari!"
Nyssa grabbed onto Lex's wrists. "Lex, I felt her."
"What?"
