“Suddenly, something fluttered down from the nest to rest at Chasmira's feet. She picked it up- A phoenix father.It glistened in the sunlight, and tracing her fingers along its edges, she marveled at its soft and delicate touch.Extending it to Aaron, she said quietly, "They say a phoenix feather is a symbol of everlasting friendship.”

“And...remember the phoenix feather.”

“You are different." She lifted a hand to delicately trace his hairline.He closed his eyes, feeling her fingers tremble against his skin."For whatever reason," she said softly, "when you are with me, you aresimply Isaac and I am Coral.”

“Time is something of an enemy" she opined, "for us mortals. And yet I love it" - she fluttered her fingers in the air - "I love this moment, and it's a child of time.”

“olivia reminds me of a bird sometimes, how her feathers get all ruffled when she's mad. and when she's fragile like this, she's a little lost bird looking for its nest.”

“After a thousand years pass, it builds its own funeral pyre, lining it with cinnamon, myrrh and cassia. Climbing to a rest on the very top, it examines the world all throughout the night with the ability to see true good and evil. When the sun rises the next morning, with great sorrow for all that it sees, it sings a haunting song. As it sings, the heat of the sun ignites the expensive spices and the Phoenix dies in the flames.But the Phoenix is not remarkable for its feathers or flames. It is most revered for its ability to climb from its own funeral pyre, from the very ashes of its old charred body, as a brand new life ready to live again once more. Life after life, it goes through this cycle. It absorbs human sorrow, only to rise from death to do it all again. It never wearies, it never tires. It never questions its fate. Some say that the Phoenix is real, that it exists somewhere out there in the mountains of Arabia, elusive and mysterious. Others say that the Phoenix is only a wish made by desperate humans to believe in the continuance of life.But I know a secret.We are the Phoenix.”