Deep in the countryside sat a house far too modest for its inhabitants. Although the house wasn't surrounded by much, other than grasslands and forests, it still maintained a lively atmosphere. No doubt, this was due to the efforts of a single person.
"Papa! Look, I made a sword out of fire! Check it out!" cried out a little girl, one clearly enamored by magic. All she wanted was for her father to give her some attention, and he happily obliged.
"Wow! Very impressive, Ash! My little girl has finally achieved elemental armaments! Quite the prodigy you are, eh?"
With those compliments, the little girl started beaming with joy. Her happiness was so bright that her father could barely look at her without being blinded by cuteness.
This was simply part of the daily life of the remnants of the House Phoenix. Though once a great house, with a lineage dating back to the age of Gods and Apostles, focusing all of their efforts on magic research led to them being outwitted politically. Thus, they found themselves in the middle of nowhere in a far too modest abode. Though, truthfully, the former Baron and Baroness didn't really care. As long as their daughter was safe, and they were still able to practice magic, they would be happy.
You would be correct to call them foolish and ignorant. Refusing to pay attention to anything but their own happiness, they neglected the duties that were required of nobles. Even after being punished for their negligence, they continued to live as if nothing had changed.
They never even saw how much danger they were putting their precious daughter in.
And so, once again, they would be used by another noble family. This time as a scapegoat, the very people they had once neglected would be turning their ire towards them.
From the perspective of Ash's Papa and Momma, it just looked like a bunch of farmers and peasants busted down their door in the middle of the night out of nowhere. It would have been easy for two high ranking mages to kill all of the peasants in an instant, but instead-
"-Icicle Fortress"
"Papa I'm scared," cried little Ash. "What's going on?"
Ash's father had never killed anyone before. He was just a researcher of ice magic– there had never been a reason for him to ever fight. Therefore, instead of fighting, he chose to build a wall around those he wanted to protect.
"Ash, everything is going to be alright," he assured his daughter, while looking to his wife for guidance.
"We should run towards the woods," she said resolutely.
"you're right," he nodded. "Here, take Ash. I'll hold them off and then come after you guys."
A good, calm assessment of the situation led the Baron to this conclusion. It was a good plan –except that he had failed to realize that it was not just peasants and farmers who were attacking them that night.
Leaping over the Icy wall and out of their house, the family landed in the lawn outside.
"Veil nos with thine well –Fog Recluse"
With this spell, the baron covered the entire area with a thick fog. Without missing a beat, he summoned dozens of Ice walls between them and their assailants.
Then he turned to his wife and daughter, "Run. I'll be right behind you."
"I love you. Stay safe," the Baroness said, briefly kissing her husband on the lips with their daughter in her arms.
With that, Ash's mother turned and ran full tilt towards the forest.
"Momma, what's going on?" asked little Ash. "Why is this happening?"
Truthfully, Ash's mother didn't really know why this was happening herself. She still reassured her daughter though, "Don't worry sweetie, everything will be all right."
Weaving between trees, the pair ran. The baron's fog spell was strong enough that it penetrated deep into the forest, making it hard for Ash to see even a few feet in front of her face. Yet somehow, Ash's mother managed to skillfully navigate the dense forest.
"That's as far as you'll go..." echoed an ominous voice through the forest.
The factor that House Phoenix had failed to calculate finally revealed itself. 10 men dressed in all black surrounded the pair. The fog that had been shrouding them somehow disappeared. Though Ash had recalled being unable to even see more than a few feet in front of her, mere moments ago, now, even the skies were completely clear, and the moonlight shone bright enough to illuminate the shadowy figures before her.
"Why are you doing this?!" Shouted the little girl, somehow finding the courage inside her to do so.
"What are you talking about? We aren't doing anything. –It's those peasants that are going to kill you. We're not even here right now," he sneered, revealing a set of crooked teeth from beneath his hood.
With that, the shadowy figure leaped in with a dagger. Immediately conjuring a spear of Ice, the Baroness parried the attack. The other shadowy figures then began moving in to attack as well.
All little Ash could do was cling to her mother, whose defenses were slowly getting chipped away.
The baroness was quite skillful, considering the fact that she was carrying a child while fighting 10 skilled assassins. However, there was no way she would be winning this fight.
Well, that depends on how you define winning in this scenario. To the Baroness, all she needed was for her precious daughter to survive the night. Thus, from the moment the fighting had begun, she had been chanting a spell that if finished would guarantee her victory–
"...Thus, having given my all to your heavenly grace I beseech thee protect that which is my salvation –Impenetrable Sanctuary"
Ash looked into her mother's eyes, refusing to let go. She was surprised to see that her mother was smiling, through the tears streaming down her mother's face betrayed her true feelings.
"MOMMA!" She screamed as her fingers were wrenched away from her mother's shirt.
Hundreds of layers of Ice appeared, wrapping themselves around Ash in a perfect sphere. They were as gentle as a soft blanket, but as hard and unstoppable as steel.
In casting this spell, the Baroness left herself completely open, causing her to be instantly skewered from all directions by the assassins. That didn't matter though-- she had already won.
"Be a good girl, Ash. Grow up well– That's all I ask."
While the Baroness said her final farewell to her child, the assassins did everything in their power to chip away at the Ice blocking them from their target. However, the ice regenerated faster than they could dig, so they began arguing amongst themselves over who would take the blame for this result.
Alone in her cold sanctuary, Ash watched as her mother's figure fell to the ground, unconscious.
As she shivered from the cold, she muttered one last word before losing consciousness:
"Let me wake up from this nightmare."
- - - - - - -
"So you're the last Phoenix…"
The Baron of House Phoenix had one last contingency in his plans. That was to break a twinstone that he always kept on his person. This certain stone was special because (as its name suggested) it came in pairs. Once one stone was broken, it's pair would also break. The one who had been the owner of the pair to the Baron's twinstone was a longtime friend who would one day father a "fraud" named Adam.
"Don't worry my old friend, I'll protect her as best I can."
Thus, the Marquess sheltered the little girl in his own estate. Training her as a maid and helping her to one day avenge her parents.
Perhaps the Marquess wanted to prevent Ash from going down a dark path, or maybe he just wanted the world's strongest maid to protect his son. Either way, he ended up assigning Ash to be Adam's personal maid against his own wife's wishes.
- - - - - - -
"Sorry Adam, I lied to you..."
Ash had known the identity of the assailants. They were the same assassins that she had met years ago (though currently greater in numbers), and through her investigation over the years, she found that they worked exclusively for Duke Lagrimas.
Sadly, she had never found enough evidence to convict anyone involved.
"But I'm glad that the targets for my revenge decided to show up at my front door. Saves me the trouble of finding you myself."
"You seem to be mistaken, missy," chortled the hooded figure. "You're all alone now. Don't you know that you'll be dying here tonight?"
"You don't have to worry about me getting lonely," she quipped in response. "I know at least you'll be keeping me company in hell."
Naturally, Ash couldn't help but be reminded of the similarities between this situation and the one her mother faced all those years ago. Surrounded, and trying to protect someone extremely important to them. But this scenario had one important difference from the one all those years ago: Adam was already safe as long as no one got past her.
"So all I have to worry about is killing these sick fucks..."
In that moment, one of the assassins got a bit too hasty and went in for an attack from behind. Ash skillfully dodged the knife, conjured a sword of fire, and stabbed the man in the neck. In that same moment, she also cast a spell:
"–Golden Phoenix Raindance"
Instantly, the room was completely set ablaze. Using the raging fire as a cover, she killed five more assassins. But looking down, she noticed that there was a knife sticking out of her leg.
When had I been stabbed? Was it someone's spell?
She hadn't recalled anyone chanting anything though… Perhaps they were more skilled than she had thought.
Deciding to change her tactic, she changed her flame sword into a whip and swung it in a wide arc around the room.
"Eminence of the Moon –Shadow Gauntlets"
Catching Ash's whip in his hand, the man who had been taunting Ash earlier finally made his move. He pulled the whip towards himself, breaking Ash's stance. She instantly dropped the whip, but In that moment, another assassin moved in and sliced Ash's wrist clean off.
Calmly, Ash assessed the current situation. In a fraction of a second, she came to a conclusion and committed to it completely, sneaking back into the raging flames.
"Just give up nicely now and I'll make it painless," called out the leader of the assassins. "I know you're not fireproof either, so doing this helps no one."
The lead assassin was correct in that Ash was, in fact, not immune to her own flames. However, to Ash it didn't really matter if she got a little burnt, so she continued chanting her spell.
Hearing Ash's mutterings, the lead assassin noticed a little too late what she was trying to do.
As soon as he did, he shouted, "EVERYONE GET HER RIGHT NOW!"
Ash smiled at that response from the lead assassin, and, mostly dodging the simultaneous attack from over 15 assassins, she finished her chant:
"…thus the Phoenix has found her nest. Yet beyond the dusk of the Phoenix lies the dawn of hope --For you I blossom"
Everyone in the room was instantly eviscerated. After the bright flash of light faded a bit, a rose of fire could be seen blossoming from where the estate once stood.
It's Ash's victory.