"That was what I was asking about" Yvie said, with quite the annoyed tone, as she looked at the confused Lizard.
"Either you know everything, which you have proven you don't. Or you must have gotten the story from somewhere else" Yvie said proudly, as her deduction skills felt like they were developing quite fast lately.
"I… I am…" The Lizard stumbled on the words, as it felt quite unsure about the current situation.
"I am an echo. An illusion. Something that exists but remains in the veil between reality and imagination" It repeated what it had said from their first meeting, sounding sure of itself. But Yvie wasn't convinced.
"You said that last time too. But what does that even mean?" She asked, the annoyance in her voice shining through, as the Lizard once again scrambled for answers it didn't have.
"It is not my fault that you fail to understand such simple matters" The Lizard spewed in a desperate attempt to shift blame, but Yvie wouldn't just stand there and take it. She knew better now.
"If you can't explain such simple things, do you even understand it yourself?" She spewed back, as she glared at the little pitiful creature in the water.
"I.. I DO!" The Lizard tried, not ready to admit defeat. It was a being grander than this… This form it had somehow been trapped in. But how could it make the Young One understand this. How could it make itself understand this?
"The sooner you admit to not knowing anything, the sooner you'll know just a little bit" Yvie chimed, as she felt like she was dropping a knowledge bomb. Not only had she discovered this herself, she was now passing it on. An even prouder feeling took place in her chest as she smirked, walking over to take the Lizard up.
"Just admit you don't know" She said as she took it in her hand.
"There is no shame in not knowing. It just means you have a starting point for finding out" She reassured it, as the Lizard squirmed in her hands. It wasn't about to admit that everything it had believed in was a lie. That it didn't know anything. That everything had been a lie.
But…
"I… I don't know…" The Lizard admitted in shame, as it had given everything it had. It couldn't escape the claws of ignorance, nor the hold Yvie had on it. The pressure had gotten to it, as well as her words having reached it properly.
"Great! Then let's find out where you got the story from as well!" Yvie sang cheerfully, as she was excited. For a story that had scared her, since it promised answers, it now felt like a turning point for the both of them.
"Oh!" Yvie said, as she repeated the way Aqua had spoken.
"Do you want to hear the name I came up with for you?" She asked the Lizard, still holding it in her hands, taking it up to eye-level, as they stared at each other.
"Phoenix! Your name is Phoenix!" Yvie said proudly, as the Lizard gave a defeated nod.
Just then, fire broke out on the Lizard's skin, making Yvie drop it involuntarily down the water. She bowed down to pick it up, as she blamed the sun, but the Lizard was nowhere to be found.
"Phoenix…?" Yvie said carefully, as she was scared of there being no response. A little gray pile of ash flew up to the surface, as she collected it in her hands. A little blue and white scale glinted as she gathered it in her hands, feeling tears press behind her eyes.
A sense of loneliness and regret filled her, as she blamed herself, since she couldn't blame anyone else. She didn't know what had happened, nor did it feel like she could find out.
"Young One, do not cry" A beautiful red, blue, white and orange bird said, as it flew down in front of her. Yvie stared it into it's eyes, as they felt somewhat familiar. Not only that, the bird itself seemed like the exact image Yvie had of a phoenix.
"Phoenix…?" She asked, carefully, but with a more pressing sense of urgency than before.
"It seems so" Phoenix answered, as it looked a bit around itself, not fully understanding what was going on as well.
"But… How… How did.. Why?" Yvie tried making a coherent question, but gave up as the big bird placed itself on her head.
'How did Phoenix turn into a phoenix at the exact moment I named it that?' Yvie thought to herself, trying desperately to find a somewhat logical answer, but nothing came to mind. It was a strange occurrence. It could neither be explained, nor could the question about it be answered.
"I don't know" Phoenix said proudly, as it had just learned to admit so. Somehow it was much easier to get the words out from it's beak. It felt refreshed. Like it had burned through insecurity for just a while. For a long time it had questioned the body of a Lizard, but this truly felt… right…
"Great…" Yvie mumbled, feeling like this whole ordeal was just a tad too crazy for her. How did a lizard change into a bird? And not only that, a mythological bird! A bird that had only been drawings of in books, or descriptions of in legends.
"My head hurts" She said as the big bird flew up into the air, enjoying itself not being too restricted.
"My head feels nice" Phoenix said, as it continued to fly around, not caring much about Yvie who felt herself getting more annoyed in the water, as time went on. It wasn't only that she was confused. Nor was it that she just got a ton more questions.
The main reason she was upset, was that now that Phoenix WAS AN ACTUAL PHOENIX, she might as well just have named the lizard Lizard instead, not spending any time coming up with the name.
"I just wanted it to have a cool name…" She mumbled under her breath as she looked down, not wanting to look at the bird having fun, but sadly seeing the reflection instead.
With an angry splash, trying to erase said reflection, she felt the pleasant water splashing up into her face, once again reminding her of Aqua.
Was she simply being jealous again? That the bird could fly and she couldn't?
'I should be happy for it!' She decided, forcing herself to look up with a smile, as Phoenix was having the time of it's life.