Archive of Our Own ^beta

“Let him go! Please! ” Maya screeched from where she watched the unknown men haul Nick from the floor, face messy with golden ichor rather than mortal red blood. As immortal as her brother was, he wasn’t immune to pain and exhaustion, head hanging down against his chest as his body was moved around like an unloved doll.

At some point during the night, they had both been taken from their beds. Maya wasn’t sure how they had got past her sigils and taken down every single security measure she had in both the village and her home in Kurain, but they had, and the two of them had ended up wherever they were now. Nick had been awake and waiting when Maya had finally regained consciousness, she assumed a sleeping spell had been put on the to avoid waking them before the kidnappers wanted. Upon waking up, Maya had discovered high-power sigils keeping them in place, written in a language she didn’t recognise, but from the way she found herself unable to leave the chalk circle on the concrete floor, it was obvious the sigils were used to keep something in place; in this case a witch and a phoenix.

Now, witches weren’t rare, there were plenty enough in Kurain itself, and you could find them just about anywhere: hospitals, banks, the local cafés or animal shelters. They were as common as colds, but what power they held gave them away to rarity if necessary. Maya was a spirit witch, not the most powerful being, but up there as Master of Kurain and a Fey, but even then, there wasn’t much she could give except maybe a séance or channelling a spirit - which kidnapping didn’t seem the best route to obtaining either of those things, Maya’s job was literally to offer her skills to the public.

So, witches weren’t rare but a phoenix? They were as hard to come by as- well, anything . As far as Maya knew, Nick was the only phoenix alive, she had never met another and even when she did meet Nick, he hadn’t overtly announced what he was for a long while. Maya was sure Mia had known (he’d eaten poison and died, for Christ’s sake) and Maya had eventually found out when Nick had been whacked over the head with a fire extinguisher , died, and suddenly burst into flames in front of her before somehow being alive again - although not without amnesia and a bad concussion - that had been one hell of a day.

Maya did not know what these people wanted. So far, they hadn’t given any type of demands, but whatever it was, Maya was willing to give them anything - diamonds, cash, her magatama - if it meant they stopped hurting her brother. Yes, she knew he would just heal up once they were done, and he’d be as right as rain, like always, but that didn’t mean things didn’t hurt (both Nick and herself) and there would be lasting scars mentally if nothing physical could be left behind. Except, there was one thing that she knew that could hurt a phoenix: adamant. Difficult to come by, but deadly to most supernatural creatures, it was the toughest and oldest metal on Earth.

“Please stop!” Maya tried again, launching forward, only to bounce back with an sharp, electric shock running through her body after colliding with the invisible wall that kept her locked in place from floor to ceiling. Without knowing the sigil’s language, Maya had no way of breaking it and helping her brother, who gained a heavy fist to the face. “Just- please! Tell me what you want!” She demanded and finally, after so many previous tries, one of the goons stalked up to her cell. More magic must have been concealing their identities, because as Maya looked at their face, despite seeing features like a nose and eyes and mouth, she just couldn’t commit their face to memory, and it was difficult to look at them properly.

Leaning their forearm against the opaque barrier, the goon looked down at her with a sleazy smile. “We don’t want anything from you, Princess.” They said, rooting through their pocket and extracting a cigarette.

“What?” Maya asked, taken by shock.

“You can’t give us anything we need.” The person shrugged, lighting their cigarette and taking a puff. Thankfully, the smoke didn’t pass through the sigil barrier either, floating away from her instead.

“Then why am I here?”

“Insurance.” They answered simple, cigarette siting between their lips and waggling while they talked.

“Insurance?” Maya echoed, not understanding.

“Look, we know who tough these birds can be, can’t threaten them with death, can only threaten someone they love.” They explained, so casual, as if they hadn’t just been discussing threatening someone. Maya continued to stare at them in shock. Everything was beginning to make sense, sort of, but that didn’t make the situation any less unpleasant. “Ss’just business, lady, nothing against you.”

“But- wh-what do you want from him?...” Maya questioned, glancing over to Nick, who let out a cry as his face was smashed against the floor. Splatter of gold painted the spot and Nick looked dazed, before his head was forced down again. The crunch of his nose was audible and Maya felt the pain of it hitting her as she watched.

“Oh, you’ll see.” The person winked before moving away from her prison to join the others.

“Wait- wait! Stop! P-Please don’t hurt him!” She pleaded, not sure how much else she could help, her magic useless.

“Just wearing him down, lovely, don’t you worry.” As if beating her brother to ‘wear him down’ was something she wasn’t going to worry about. Maya would have scoffed if she wasn’t so terrified by why they needed to wear Nick down. “We ain’t here to kill him.”

“Maya- ‘ll be fine.” Nick slurred, shooting her a small smile and trying to comfort her even as his nose was smashed in, and he looked horrible. She hoped to the Holy Mother that Franzi had noticed their absences…

“Nick…”

Phoenixes were powerful beings, as the goon had said. They were older than most creatures and beings of the sun, able to be reborn after death. They controlled the hotter elements - fire, lava, the likes - and had the ability to shift between bird and human form. Nick had a habit of setting himself on fire, and he was very good at running into people and body slamming them to the ground, as well as pinning them down with large talons or carrying them away with the help of his massive wings. Maya had no doubt he would have been able to escape immediately if heavy adamant chains weren’t secured around his torso and his arms and legs weren’t chained together either. Adamant metal, rendering his unable to defend himself or escaped. The people that had them knew this, they’d done their research, which led Maya to believe this attack was premeditated, perhaps for a while, and whoever was behind it, had money to hire people and obtain the metal.

The goons had no issue with heaving Nick around, using him like a punching bag, and not an ancient being. Maya could tell he was getting tired, and their kidnappers must have too, as they dragged Nick to the middle of the room, right under the flickering single light bulb. One person split off, leaving the room, while the others held Nick to the floor, his front pressed down. Scissors were used to cut open the back of his tattered and dirtied shirt, showing off his back and the raised bumps by either shoulder blade that his wings would grow from. Fingers were pressed to the stubs, poking and prodding as if searching for something and by Nick’s grunts, they weren’t being gentle.

Maya couldn’t tell you what they were doing, watching in a morbid curiosity as Nick squirmed.

“Get off-” A sharp kick to the face quietened Nick until somebody pressed hard on his back and in a second the empty space at Nick’s back was filled with bright, flame coloured wings. They fluttered and flapped, one swiping to the right and knocking one of the goons over before anyone could think to secure them. Maya held her breath, wondering if this was the chance they had been waiting for, watching as Nick did his best to fight off the attacks with his wings alone. Another person got thrown across the room, hitting the back wall and not rising back up, while the rest shouted and ordered each other around, adamant metal chains getting produced to wrap around Nick’s wings. He was making it hard for them, not willing to keep them still to be bound, fighting off the kidnappers until one got very lucky and managed to wind the chain around each appendage, pulling hard so that they snapped together, pulled painfully back, and chained together. It looked odd and with Nick’ wing size, the tops drooped down. Nick squirmed more so, obviously uncomfortable with the positioning of his wings.

The goon who had left returned promptly, dressed in heavy protective gear, and through the low light, Maya spotted a sickle within their grasp. Its metal - adamant, of course - reflected the light. Maya’s heart dropped, and a sickening feeling hit her gut at the sight of the tool’s sharp edge. Nick looked up as best he could when the door slammed shut, and Maya wished he hadn’t.

“W-Wait-” He stammered as he saw the sickle. “Wh-What’re you-”

“Those wing of yours…” The one who had spoken to Maya now stood in front of Nick, hand grabbing his chin, while their cigarette was stubbed out on the floor beside them. “You know how much your feather’s go for?”

“E-Excuse me?”

Maya’s eyes widened in realisation and horror. No.

“People out there… they’re willing to buy the severed wings of a phoenix .” They grinned horribly, hand smoothing through Nick’s hair before eyeing up his wings hungrily.

“My wings- no-” The realisation hit Nick now and his voice broke, wavering, and the pure fear in his tone shattered Maya’s heart. Nick began to struggle again, wings twitching as they tried to break free and move but to no avail. Maya’s panic picked up as the one with the sickle wandered closer, pointed to Nick’s wings by the smoker, and they nodded in understanding. “No- wait, p-please- stop!”

“No-! No! Leave him alone!” Maya screamed, not caring for the multitude of electric shocks that coursed through her body every time she ran into the invisible wall. She couldn’t just stand there and do nothing! But there wasn’t much the witch could do… “Please! Don’t-”

“This is gonna hurt, feathers.” The goon with the sickle laughed, slamming a welding mask down over their face. The rest of them took multiple steps back and Nick caught Maya’s eye for a moment, eyes wide with fear, and Maya had to look away, unable to watch. Pressing her hands to her ears hardly did anything to mute the pleads Phoenix made, feeling her heart getting wrenched clean out of her chest as her brother went unheard. His imploring was only silenced by the sickening swoosh of the sickle and the horrid squelch of the blade cutting through muscle.

The worst part? It wasn’t over in one smooth cut.

Maya stupidly opened her eyes, hoping it was over, wishing it was, only to see as the sickle was lodged in the joint of Nick’s. The goon holding it tugged and pulled, like trying to free an axe from a tree, no care at all for the gut-wrenching sobs and cries Nick let out. Eventually it was torn free and fresh ichor splattered out of the wound, and Maya hoped maybe they’d stop, but no- the sickle was raised again and Nick’s wings were hacked at like butchered meat, no grace, not care, just aggression. It was cruel and horrible, and Maya found herself frozen to the spot, half dissociating as her brother was mutilated.

At some point, the hacking stopped and wings, somehow still burning bright, were hauled away. Maya wasn’t sure she’d ever see them again.

“Thank you, Princess.” The goon from before cackled, suddenly appearing in Maya’s vision, making her startle back. Arms wrapping tight around her own chest, she backed away from them, happy for once that the sigil kept them from her. The kidnapper didn’t pay her too much attention, lighting another cigarette. “Once we’re gone, you’ll be free.”

Surprisingly, they kept their word, and once every one of them had left, taking vials of ichor and Nick’s wings with them, the sigil around Maya’s feet faded away. Maya darted to Nick’s side as soon as she could, not caring as her knees smacked into hard and cold concrete, hands hovering over her brother’s back, not daring to touch him. The chains binding him turned to dust as Maya tugged at them, saving her from having to find a way to cut him loose. A short wind blew the tiny grains away, and Maya turned her full focus on her brother.

“Nick…” She whispered, almost too scared to be any louder. For a moment, Maya thought he was dead, breath stuck in her throat as she pressed two trembling fingers to his neck. As soon as her skin touched his, Nick’s eyes shot open, wide and terrified.

“Nick!” She gasped, relieved he was alive, but not so happy he was now awake and going to be in a whole other world of pain.

“ ‘ya?” He slurred before his body jerked, making Nick gasp and hurt.

“Please don’t move! It’ll be okay-” Only, Maya couldn’t stop him from peering behind himself as best he could to the messy stumps that were his wings, face twisting into a mix of agony and utter anguish. Fingers grasped at his shoulder, digging in before his skin began to glow. Immediately recognising what was happening, Maya scrambled back just in time as Nick set himself alight, skin turning blue as he burned incredibly hot. The overwhelming smell of burning flesh, muscle, and hair filled the room, a weird mix of sweet and sick, something she was sure would never leave her nostrils.

Yet, as bad as the smell and the heat was, the cry that Nick let out was the absolute worst.

Maya had never heard a banshee scream, but she was sure the noise Nick made could rival it. A loud keening noise escaped his throat, accompanied by an inhumane screech that left Maya’s ears ringing, and she clapped her hands over them. She’s never heard something so painful and heartbreaking, and Nick only fell quiet when the flames around his body died out. The wounds on his back hadn’t healed over, and his wings were still gone, super-human healing not working against a wound created by adamant metal.

Slowly, Maya moved back to Nick’s side and guided his head to rest on her lap.

“M’ya...” He whimpered, and Maya gingerly carded her fingers through his smouldering hair. Energy spent on trying to regenerate, Nick slumped on the floor, and Maya doubted he’d be able to even lift a finger at this point. No matter how much they needed to leave, Maya wasn’t going to be able to carry him, and there was absolutely no chance of her leaving him alone. Not like this, he needed her, and frankly, Maya needed him too right now.

“I’m here Nick.” She cooed softly, hoping to at least be able to provide him with some sort of comfort.

“I-I can’t-” Nick sobbed and Maya felt her heart clench, having never heard her brother sound so small and weak. “I d-don’t-”

“I-I know, Nick… it’ll be okay, somehow… Miles and Franzi will find us, I’m sure.” Maya reassured him, trying to put even the smallest amount of confidence into her tone, even if it was forced. Nick needed confidence, he needed to know they weren’t stuck here forever.

Someone had to come for them… right? It would just take some time...