Kris had no choice but to go back up to heaven, leaving Chanyeol under the care of the two mythical beings. Before leaving, he bent down to caress the younger male’s dirty cheek, littered with dirt, mud and scratches. If only he could heal, he wouldn’t have to feel this way – this anxious feeling tightening his chest.

“Don’t worry about him, Kris.” The phoenix reassured him, bending down its head to nudge Kris gently. The bird’s fiery head was almost half of his body.

“...” Kris pressed his lips firmly, “Please, I know I don’t have any right to ask you...” The dragon let out a low growl, indicating that it was getting impatient with the interaction between him and the phoenix. “Please, can’t you help him?”

“You’ve asked too much from the phoenix, angel.” The dragon retorted before the phoenix could say something. “You already know that it’s weak, what makes you think that it’s capable of healing him?”

“Because I can.” The phoenix said, much to both Kris and the dragon’s surprise. The phoenix turned its head back to the angel in between the giant beasts.“I can heal at least one person, dragon.”

The dragon narrowed its eyes at the bird, “I won’t hear any of it. I don’t care just how kind you are--”

“This isn’t about that.” The phoenix lowered its gaze down at the lying figure on the ground. Kris followed its gaze and flinched lightly as the dragon clawed the ground in frustration. The phoenix was unfazed.

“What’s done is done. You don’t have to push yourself to do this human a favour after--”

“Because of this particular human, though, I was able to come back.” The phoenix said. “Though, he may just be a reincarnation of the former Chanyeol that became my vessel, it doesn’t change the fact that because of what happened to me, his own fate has been affected.”

The dragon narrowed its eyes at the phoenix who still remained unfazed at the fuming beast before it.

“I want to heal him.” The phoenix said. “I owe him that much.”

“You don’t owe this human anything.” The dragon replied, flashing its fangs at the phoenix for being so stubborn. “You’ve already given his predecessor a chance to live again. I don’t see why you have to help this one out.”

Kris was confused, he knew basically the gist of what happened between the two beasts and his and Chanyeol’s predecessors but he didn’t know that the phoenix still felt some kind of remorse for it. Kris looked up at the bird, wondering why it felt so guilty about what happened to Chanyeol. Surely, what the dragon said was true. The phoenix had already done enough by giving the human a chance to live again. Why must it still feel bad about what happened?

“Phoenix...” Kris said softly but the mythical beast heard him well.

“Wondering why I still feel guilty about the whole thing?” The phoenix read his mind. He nodded slowly. The phoenix looked at the unconscious Chanyeol before him before bending forward to nudge at his body. “Because I knew it would happen.”

Kris gawked at the bird. The dragon grunted, startled. It seemed to have not known that at all.

“I knew that the former Chanyeol would become my vessel and what it would result to.” The phoenix said. “I also knew that the Chanyeol right now would be affected as well. I knew everything.”

“What is the meaning of this?” The dragon growled angrily. “How could you have known that? That’s impossible. As powerful of a being as you may be, you couldn’t have foreseen that far into the future... unless...”

“Unless...” Kris’s voice faded as the realization dawned on him as well. Who else could have known something like that but... “That guy...”

The phoenix simply looked back at Kris as he realized just what it was that was going on.

“That guy... he told you didn’t he?” Kris uttered, feeling slightly ticked off. “He knew everything from the beginning, didn’t he? And he coaxed you into it?”

The dragon’s yellowish serpent eyes gleamed dangerously, “Phoenix. Why didn’t you tell me from the start?”

“The fact that I grew weak was inevitable. He simply told me that I would fall down into the hands of a human and make him my vessel and that I would affect not just him but his later reincarnation.” The phoenix closed its eyes and looked up at the heavens, as if it were also addressing the higher being up there. “I knew everything that would happen – which is why I also feel twice as bad about it. I knew what would happen but I couldn’t do anything until the last minute.”

The dragon rose suddenly, causing Kris to turn back, wary of what it was going to do. The giant beast roared loudly, angry at either the phoenix or at the being above the heavens. “How could you not have told me from the start that you knew what would happen?”

“What difference would it have made, dragon?” The phoenix looked back at the beast with sad eyes.

“It would have made a big difference.” The dragon grumbled. “You... If you knew... We could’ve done something--”

“There are some things that even we mythical beings couldn’t, no – shouldn’t – intervene in.”

“Still!” Kris looked at the phoenix seriously, “It just made it look like you were coaxed into the whole thing – like he used you all this time.”

“That’s what annoys me the most.” The dragon growled.

The phoenix chuckled, “The two of you finally agree on something for once.”

“Now is not the time to joke around, phoenix.” The dragon hissed unpleasantly. “Why are you always so soft with these two...?”

The phoenix could