"You... You can't be... The mother"

Her chuckle sounded almost musical as she bowed her head, almost as if in greeting, before her eyes became serious.

"It is good that you know of me child, of your origin. But now is not the time for reminiscing. I have awoken for you Celeste, and now the time has come for you to decide your fate Celeste as the last of our ancient bloodline. Will you fight for what you love...? Or will you die?"

Celeste felt the air catch within her throat at the ghostly figures words. Fight or die? She had always thought that there was only one option within her life, to watch as all that she loved fell before finally her own life fell victim to her fate. Never had she considered the possibility of fighting against her odds.

She frowned at the thought, furrowing her brow as she clenched her fist, a strange anger seeming to bubble from within as she looked towards the mother of her kind.

"What do you mean: do I want to fight for what I love? Of course I do! But thanks to your cursed blood, all I am is fodder for the creatures of nightmares! I wanted to fight when they mutilated and murdered my parents. I wanted to fight when Echo threw himself at a vampire to save my life and I sure as hell want to fight now that they are coming to take away my new found family... But what can I do? I'm the dreamer phoenix, I create illusions... What good is that beyond a distraction"

By the end of her rant, Celeste found that tears had begun to fall from her eyes as her heart broke a little more with each word. She truly felt useless now as Echo whined and nudged her hand, attempting to cheer her up and prove that he was still there for her.

The woman smiled sadly as she stepped closer, reaching her hand towards Celeste's face as she cradled her tear soaked cheek gently, a warmth passing through her flesh as she spoke.

"My child, you are not useless... nor are you merely the dreamer. You were born to be the last of our kind, the final phoenix, born with the strength of soul to be more than what you believe. I come to you now to offer you the gift of our kind, to take you too our final resting place that you may become what you were born to be, so that you may fight the evil that has plagued our bloodline"

She could see the uncertainty within Celeste's eyes as she seemed to process what was being said to her. She could understand that this was a lot for her to take in, having known only fear and hiding all her life, she could only imagine how it must have felt for Celeste to finally have a chance to fight back put before her. She sighed, seating herself upon the edge of the bed as she refined the words that she would speak next.

"Do not get me wrong child... There will be much heart ache at the end of this war, for yourself and all those you love. But with my gift, you will prevent this war ever being repeated again and also, there are those of our kind that wish to meet you before our bloodline ends, and those that would wish to see you once more"

Celeste didn't miss the vague connotation in the womans words as she felt her eyes widen in shock. Those that wished to see her once more? Could that really mean what she thought it meant?

"Are... Are they with you?"

"Yes Celeste. Your mother and father rest safely with me... Their courage is what brought them to the gates of my world, and the sheer depth of their love for you"

With those words, Celeste's mind was made up. There was no way in this world that she would turn down a chance to see her parents one more time or to give hell to the people who stole them from her. With a renewed purpose and a fresh fire within her eyes, she looked the woman square in the eyes.

"Tell me how I can get to the final resting place... I'll fight to the bitter end if it means I can see my parents again and prove they didn't die in vain for me"

"That is music to my ears child... The way shall be difficult with so many hunting for you, gather all you will need for the journey and prepare to fly for stone henge, it is the gateway to my world. Once there, simply speak the word 'Ambrosia' clearly. Do you understand child?"

Celeste nodded quickly as she spoke her one final question as the woman began to fade from sight.

"What is Ambrosia meant to mean?"

"Ambrosia is the name I was blessed with at birth child, the final memory of my own human years"