"You saw me in the Underworld?!" Sean grabbed both sides of the Phoenix, making it let out an aggrieved cry of pain.
"Sorry, Fawkes. I got too excited." Sean quickly let go.
Fawkes turned its head aside and tidied its somewhat ruffled feathers. It did not seem to mind, instead looking Sean up and down. "I remember now... I saw you in that place—the Underworld, as you called it... Oh, my head hurts."
It pressed a wing against its beautiful head in a very human-like gesture and tilted its head. "Some memories suddenly appeared..."
A thoughtful look flashed through Sean's eyes. He guessed that Fawkes had returned to the Underworld, so that place's memory-eroding effect had continued to work. But after leaving again and seeing him, the memories that had been worn away showed signs of awakening once more.
Looking at it that way, the part of Ariana's soul that had split away had become the reason Fawkes was dragged into the Underworld, but it had also become the reason Fawkes could endure there, including the recovery of its memories.
After all, half of it was in the living world and half in the Underworld. That was equivalent to being half alive and half dead. Coupled with the wondrous abilities of a Magical Creature like a Phoenix, nothing that happened would be surprising.
Still, how had Fawkes seen me in the Underworld?
He did not rush to question it. Instead, he gave Fawkes enough time to recall more.
With the body of a Magical Creature, Fawkes recovered quickly. Before long, it lifted its head and stared at Sean with human-like shock. "You saved me... I remember now..."
After thinking it over, Sean, who had already expected this, nodded. He had guessed as much.
And the Sean Fawkes had seen in