Phoenix Rising

Phoenix Rising

Phoenix, rise and begin anew…more details will be arriving soon…in the meantime…check the accounts… you know what to do.

Aliya Tekari was thoroughly confused as she stared at the note in her hand. It had arrived earlier this morning in a sealed black envelope… no return address. Phoenix? What kind of name was that? And the cryptic nature of the note did nothing to ease her confusion. The note was definitely delivered to the wrong address. There was nothing particularly sinister about the note but still…it seemed wrong to just throw it away. It obviously had great importance; perhaps the sender would realize their mistake and come calling for their mail? Aliya decided that she better hold on to it… for safe-keeping. Maybe she would solve the mystery of the note later. For right now though, she needed to get ready for her students.

The Burning Dragon Dojo was not a place that you would call a state of the art training studio, with its peeling walls and scuffed mats filling the space, but it was where the most dedicated students of Jiu-jitsu trained. Aliya was able to boast that she was the best Sensei of Jiu-jitsu that Harlem could offer. She had a natural gift for the form and had risen quickly amongst her peers until she was unrivaled. Students from all over the world clamored for her attention and jumped for opportunity to train with her.

Aliya looked around the dojo as her students started to trickle in, frowning as she took in the dilapidated training spaces badly in need of upgrades. Upgrades that she could not afford. She was so far behind in the mortgage and upkeep of this place it was embarrassing. To be a renowned Master who could not even afford to keep this place up and running for much longer. She lifted her face skyward and spoke a silent prayer, “Whoever is listening, I need a miracle”.

“Sensei Tekari, this box just arrived for you!!”. Rushing toward her was Saeri, one her younger gray belt students, who was holding a non-descript black box. Saeri eagerly handed her master the box that was delivered. Aliya took the box gently from her and frowned as she scanned over the box. Just like the note that had arrived earlier, the box had no sender address. Just a picture of an emblazed phoenix stamped on the top of weathered old black leather chest-like box.

“Thank you Saeri, go join the others in the warm-up” Aliya swiftly turned to head to her office as Saeri ran to the training mats to rejoin her classmates. Closing the office door behind her, Aliya walked to her desk, littered with unopened bills and past due notices, and set the box down on a clear spot. For a few moments, she simply stared at the box, as if the box itself would reveal its answers to her. Her attention soon drifted to the golden phoenix decorating the top of the box; its symbol catching the light streaming through her office as if it was glowing with a golden fire.

Sighing, Aliya realized she was stalling in opening the box, whether from fear or from the heavy sense of responsibility that seemed to be shrouding the mysterious package. Finally, Aliya’s curiosity got the better of her and she reached towards the box, opened the lid, and looked inside. Sitting in the middle of layers of crushed red velvet fabric was a simple black notebook. The notebook had the same phoenix logo embossed on its black leather cover. She was sensing a theme with this mysterious sender. They really liked phoenixes…or maybe it was a logo of sorts?

Aliya could feel the anticipation building as she debated whether it was her right to look through something that was clearly sent to the wrong person. Her conscious argued that perhaps the contents of the book could give some information as to the identity to the sender, so that she could return it. With her mind made up, Aliya carefully opened the notebook and began to read:

Phoenix, the Guild has called you into action on this day of unspeakable disrespect and chaos. The Alliance has gone too far this time and we have prepared to silence them…permanently. Listed on these sacred pages are your targets. They threaten the peace we have so artfully crafted over the years and we can no longer let them grow in power…the consequences would be devastating. You have trained and you are ready. Go forth and carry out our will.

May the Light guide your hand and the Shadows guard your secrets.

-The Council

Aliya’s hands were shaking as she continued to read the pages of the notebook. Was this page really detailing assassinations? She thought back to the note she received earlier about checking the accounts…which accounts? Her bank account? It was a long shot but Aliya figured with the way this odd day was going that it wouldn’t hurt to look at her bank account. She grabbed her phone off the charging pad next to her and loaded up her banking application.

When the screen finally loaded, Aliya nearly dropped her phone in disbelief…the silence of her office was deafening and she could hear her heart rapidly beating loudly as the shock set in. The numbers on her phone did not make sense! Stunned, she looked at her phone again and saw the numbers “23,475.61”. This could not possibly be true. She had checked her accounts last night and there was only 3,000 dollars left to her name. And now, she had suddenly come into 20,000 dollars!

Aliya hurriedly grabbed the notebook and flipped through the pages. She scanned the names…or proposed targets rather. “Dominic Ratcliff…Sayora Menendez; high profile defense attorneys” As she read the names out loud, Aliya noticed a shocking theme. These were all high profile figures in Harlem. She recognized several names from the news coverage of the death of a young teen, Oscar Pasqua, and his murder trial that had happened a few months ago. Despite all of the incriminating evidence and clear admissions of guilt, Dominic Ratcliff and Sayora Menendez had been able to get their clients off without charges.

The family of the teen was devastated and many took to the streets to protest the outcome of the trial. Aliya had been at several of the rallies herself; had even helped raise funds for lawyer costs for the family. She had grown up a few houses away from the Pasqua family and had been devastated when she heard what happened to Little Oscar.

And everyone knew those attorneys were dirty…taking bribes from gang leaders, henchman and everything in between. Now it seems, Aliya had some proof of their misdeeds. The responsible thing would be to take this notebook to the authorities...but growing up here in Central Harlem, Aliya had learned to be careful getting the police involved. She was tired of her community being targeted and no one doing anything about it.

Aliya’s palms began to sweat as she realized how much of a smoking gun she held in her hand. She couldn’t possibly carry out the wishes of this mysterious council...assassinating people was definitely not her style. But she couldn’t sit back and do nothing! She had so many things she needed to consider, but urgency was driving her to head to the bank and secure her new windfall of money. Their mistake was her gain and she could do a lot with that money.

With her mind made up, Aliya quickly grabbed the notebook and stuffed them into her go bag and ran out of her office. On her way out, she asked her assistant to take over for the rest of the afternoon.

Walking out of the main dojo area, Aliya quickly made her way to the weapons cabinet she kept locked away from the students. She had never thought she might need use of these, but with the situation she found herself in, she wouldn’t take any chances. She chose her collapsible Bo staff and a Yawara stick. She took a glance at her katana blade…but decided to against it. She was arming herself for self-defense not battle.

With her weapons stashed, Aliya rushed out of the Dojo to her next destination: the Bank. At the bank, she quickly arranged to have her new found money withdrawn and placed in a safe deposit box only accessible by a passkey. With her business with the Bank concluded, Aliya began to plan her next move.

She was so preoccupied with her thoughts, she failed to notice the silent figure creeping up her behind her on the sidewalk. The figure, clothed in all black, slowly approached her, expertly disguising the sounds of his footsteps. With pinpoint precision, the midnight cloaked figure grabbed Aliya from behind and dragged her into a nearby alley. Fright nearly overtook her but her training instincts immediately kicked in. Aliya dropped her body weight causing the attacker to lose his grip and she rolled forward to put space between them. The figure moved like lightning and was gaining on her within seconds. Aliya delivered a low sweeping kick to his shins but the attacker flipped over her at the last second. They traded blow after blow until finally the attacker spun away to give them distance and spoke.

“Well, what an unexpected surprise? The imposter has some bite. I will admit, I am impressed to see what you are capable of little bird. But you should know, your life is now forfeit unless you submit to the Council.”

Aliya took a minute to compose herself and stared at the man. He was dressed in black combat fatigues and a combat shirt; weapons and gadgets were attached to his belt like trophies. He had a hard glint to his dark eyes. To say she was impressed and more than a little scared was a bit of an understatement. He spoke again:

“Hear the will of the Council. You have been chosen, though inadvertently at first, to carry out the task laid out in the notebook. The manner of which you complete the task is up to you, but you must eliminate your targets. You have three days to eliminate the first two targets, little bird. Know this, failure or success, I will be back. And my judgement for failure..is permanent. The shadows are watching.”

With this final statement, the man seemingly disappeared into the darkness of alley and was gone without another word. Aliya took several slow, deep breaths and carefully thought about her options. She had no real options: fail and be killed or assassinate two dirty attorneys. Assassination; there was no turning back if she went down that path. Could she really harm another to save her own life?

No, that was not an option she could fathom. The mysterious man said how she carried out the will of this council was up to her. She would find another way…one where she could keep her sanity and life intact. She would be smart, catch these criminals in the act, fight dirty to uncover truth. Do whatever she needed to do to take down this criminal organization…without killing.

And when the dust settled, she would untangle herself from this shadow web that was woven around her.

With her mind firm and resolute, Aliya turned to leave the alley with the wind blowing her hair. For now, she would bide her time, plan her next moves for this huge undertaking. And when "He" came back for her, she would be ready. She would show them all what this little fire bird was made of.