Ambivalence

Part 10 [End]

Warnings: There are mentions of blood and injury and there could be swearing. I don't think there is anything else?

You don't know how long you've been there when you feel a presence near you. When he speaks you don't recognise the voice so you assume its one of the assassins of the sun that came to help. "We extend our condolences on behalf of the Emperor", his voice betrays no emotion and you ignore him as you feel him start to walk away. 

But the mention of the emperor has your mind racing. You snap your head up and see the guy walking away from you and towards three other assassins. You shout for him to stop. He does and turns back to you with a blank expression. "I need you all to help me carry him into that jet in the garden", your voice sounded hoarse as it harshly bounced off the walls. 

The guy stared at you for a few seconds before walking towards you and motioning the others to do the same. Between the four of them they lifted Bucky and followed behind you as you led the way to the jet. Once inside they placed him on a medic table and strapped him to it. 

You start closing the jet and booting it up when the guy speaks again, "we need to get off, we must go back to the Emperor". 

He still conveyed no emotion and you ignored him for a while as the jet started to lift, then you spoke, "that's where I'm going". He didn't say a word as he and the rest of them sat down. Once you had put in the coordinates you put the jet on auto pilot. It would take around ten hours to reach the desert and you intended to sit next to Bucky the entire time. 

You noticed that your arms were still bleeding, and your face hurt when you heard Steve's voice come overhead, "where are you Y/N? What have you done with Bucky?". He sounded somewhere between angry and desperate as you got up to walk over to the controls. 

You press a green button and say calmer than you thought you would, "I can't tell you that Steve, I don't want to build your hopes up". You don't wait for his response as you turn off all communication and sit back down next to Bucky. 

You don't want to touch him, to feel his stiff, cold skin. It gets harder and harder to look at him too, not seeing his chest rising and falling. So, to distract yourself you look over to the guy that seems to be leading the team and say, "what's your name? I never asked?". 

He looks over to you as he says, "people call me Az. No need to tell me yours, the Emperor spoke very highly of you before I was sent here". 

You give him a small smile and ask him a question against your better judgement, "tell me Az, have you heard of a myth? About a bird called the Phoenix?". 

Az looks slightly confused by your questioning he says, "I have heard of the bird, yes, but I know nothing of its myth". 

You nod your head, expecting as much, as you carry on talking to him, "well, the bird itself has many stories and legends across lots of different cultures. Most say it is a magical bird, that when dies, bursts into brilliant flames, only to be reborn again from the ashes. It is a symbol of the rising sun and the burning of flame. Some legends say that its eyes are a burning blue. Do you see where I'm going with this Az?". 

He squints his eyes at you before shaking his head, he has an expression on his face as if to say you have gone mad but you continue explaining, "You are called assassins of the sun, your first symbolism of the Phoenix. You have Knights of the Flame, your second symbolism of the Phoenix. The head Knight is bestowed a knife with a blue jewel, your third symbolism of the Phoenix. Now, I never thought about all this when I first heard the legend in the whispered halls of your guild. I remember scoffing at the idea of what they said. Some legends say that the Phoenix has healing powers that come from its tears. So, do you know what those people whispered in the hall? That when your guild was first built and the first Emperor declared, that Emperor caught the Phoenix. He locked it away in his chambers for years, using the powers it held for himself. Its said that after years of not seeing the sun or the sky it started to die, too early for another to be reborn in good health, so it made the first Emperor an offer. To let the bird go free and it would cry him a river of tears. The Emperor saw no use for a dead bird and so agreed".