December 20, 1939 - Białowieża Forest, Poland
Footprints hit the snow repeatedly. Harsh breathing was materialized into heavy clouds of white as they escaped her chapped lips. She looked back over her shoulder. Whimpers could be heard as she bent over and clenched her injured shoulder tightly. Blood seeped through the thick coat's fabric staining her hand.
"Da drüben!"The uniformed men shouted behind her. Some rode in their ZZ motorcycles. The rest followed in military cars. She wasn't fast, and less with an open bullet wound on her shoulder. The wooded terrain aided in her narrow escape. She tagged every tree that she could, bouncing her weight on each and every tree trunk she encountered.
She managed to duck her head as the bullets came zipping by. Turning on a sharp corner she caught her breath hidden behind a thick tree. Her mismatched eyes wondered above the tolling heights Polish forest. The grey sky was bitter as the daunting winter.
"Sie versteckt sich im Wald!" They parked, the woods were becoming thick. It wouldn't be an issue for the hounds to sniff out her blood on the snow. The doors slammed and the roar of the German motorcycles came to a lull. Ferocious barking suddenly echoed the winter woods.
The woman's eyes darted around the forest seeking for an escape. There was none. She was trapped. The hounds sprinted following her scent. The Germans followed. They pointed at her, their aggressive faces red and swollen from the cutting wind.
Her fingernails buried into the bark of the tree. She pulled up her father's pocket watch from her pocket. One of the last reminders of him. Inside was a photograph of the two of them.
"Hide. Always hide." She remembered the words he would often utter to her. She could almost feel his large hands pressing down on her shoulder's. "Hide."
The German's charged. She raised her opposite hand which was stretched wide open. Heels buried into the snowy ground. Blood dripped down her arm. The pocket watch slipped down her fingers.
A blinding white light, almost brighter than a sun spread through the forest. The leaves of the pine trees writhed and shook with the impact.
Flash.
White Space.
[Present Day] - SHIELD HQ, New York City, USA
Nick Fury walked into the atrium of the SHIELD headquarters. His one eye was sharp and focused on the empty sofas in the middle of the room.
Steve Rogers, Captain America, conveniently happened to come bouncing from the upstairs gymnasium. He was drenched in sweat and wore his gray gym clothes.
"Director Fury," He acknowledged as he approached the esteemed Director of SHIELD.
"Where in the world is Stark?" Fury slapped down the papers fussily. Steve barely had a chance to answer. "I've been calling, and calling-"
"I was busy. Had important affairs to manage," A suave voice suddenly echoed from the surroundings of the room. Tony Stark strolled into the room. He wore Prada sunglasses, the latest Armani suit which he was buttoning and a million dollar strut. "If by affairs you mean your dates with Ms. Potts then they are not important." Fury grumbled irked.
"Let's not waste any more time." Nick Fury began walking away. One long strode before the other. His dark coat fluttering behind him. "Meeting room. Both of you."
Tony and Steve exchanged what appeared to be a confused look before following.
Maria Hill held a tablet as she waited inside of the meeting room. Natasha Romanoff was already in the room waiting with her arms crossed over her chest.
Nick Fury wasted no time in setting up his presentation. The group took a seat. The massive screen which stretched from wall to wall before them was displayed with what appeared to be an ancient text. The alphabet was illegible, the paper was yellow and torn, it appeared to be thousands of years old. The symbols appeared to be ancient runes.
In the middle of the text were two large drawn eyes. Despite the color having faded from the text you could tell that one was green and the other was blue. Both appeared to be starring at a perfectly round circle drawn above them.
"What you are looking at ladies and gentlemen is the ancient text of The Sage, as described by the Nordic tribes of Scandinavia." Fury elaborated.
Tony appeared to be bored out of his mind and kept his attention busy with his smartphone's keyboard. The Captain observed with interest as he stroked his chin. "This text was found in a lost grave in Greenland. It was hidden for centuries until it was found in the early 1900's by a group of German explorers."
He clicked and a second screen slid into view. In this screen was a drawing of a circle with lines that appeared to be coming out it. The circle was lightly stroked with a thin outline of horizontal lines around it, almost like streaks of light.
"Look familiar?" Fury said as he proceeds to the next slide.
"Every culture has its own interpretation of it. The sun," he said before displaying a Mayan text. "Jesus Christ," many slides of Christian depictions flashed over. "Muhammad, Buddha, Nats, demi-gods, those are only some of the names which this individual has been called." Many more respective slides flashed the screen.
"But it is most commonly referred to as The Sage, or "To Faskómilo" by classic literature authors such as Plato and Homer-"
"Wait-" The Captain raised a hand, both of his eyebrows furrowed in confusion.
"Are you stating that the Son of God, the prophet of Islam and the creator of Buddhism are one individual?" Steve challenged Fury's controversial statement.
Despite having met two Norse gods, the American remained loyal to his Christian values.
"No," Fury deadpanned. "I'm saying that one person was all of the formerly mentioned entities."
Natasha's eyebrows furrowed in concern. Maria Hill remained focused on the presentation she herself had prepared.
Fury flashed her a frustrated look. The agent clicked some buttons in her tablet and all of the images zoomed out to fill the screen.
"All of these individuals had something in common. Power. Some were worshiped as gods. Eventually, the story of The Sage became a forgotten lore. They say the source of this individual's power is this artifact." Once again there was a zoom in into that drawn circle. "Often confused by the sun, resembling a host or a pearl in these texts the artifact remains unfound."
"Right- just like the Holy Grail, Atlantis, or Fury's sex life." Stark retorted sarcastically. "Stark…" The one-eyed man warned in an annoyed tone.
"So- what's the point of finding this thing? We don't even know if it's real. We could be looking for the Easter Bunny for all that we know," Tony added bitterly. This meeting was a waste of his time. He had bigger issues on his plate right now. Pepper's distancing was one…
"This artifact, "Fury began once again. "Is said to hold a power unknown to humanity. It is more powerful than vibranium and it is believed to grant supernatural abilities to the individual who possesses it. The reason why we will be seeking this object is out is due to the involvement of SOPHOS or a fraction of what was once formerly called HYDRA."
Captain America's attention perked at the mention of the organization. He didn't realize but his hands tightened slightly.
"Legends tell that the only human with the knowledge of where this artifact is hidden "Lie within the Sage," he translated the text above.
The following video that was displayed showed an elderly man. His paper-like skin appeared to be wrinkled and carried his heavy age. His mouth was agape displaying a single digit amount of yellow teeth. His eyes - blank as he was blind.
The interview was in German. The older man nodded and listened carefully. Then he gasped in horror as he elaborated on his story.
"This man was a former member of the ZZ. He escaped the Nuremberg trials and lived hiding in Argentina until the ripe age of 93. In this recording, he describes what he believes to be the last scene encounter with The Sage." Fury paused for a brief moment. His pause was interrupted by a loud gunshot which echoed the room. The old man's head tilted to the side and the screen flicked off cruelly. The people in the room held their silence.
"He claimed that his troop found the individual hiding in Poland. Because of this, the German invaded in the Fall of 1939. He said that they followed it into what is now called the "Dead Forest." Doctors were never able to figure how but that day 26 German men claimed to have been blinded by a bright light. No elaborate explanation was ever discovered-"
"The man- did you kill him?" Steve asked.
"SOPHOS did the job, his body was never found. This was the only bit of their data we managed to obtain."
Fury stepped to the minute of the room. His hands were crossed behind his back and he stood tall. Stark had long abandoned his cellphone's distractions and was now 100% focused on the task.
"We need to find The Sage and the artifact before the enemy does. You best believe that SOPHOS has invested years in the practice of tracking, finding and capturing The Sage."
"Save? By save do you mean capturing for SHIELD's use?" Captain America rose to his feet upset.
"Do not harm The Sage," Fury stated as a closing statement. "I can assure you that the artifact and the world will be safer with the Sage under our custody."
His eye flickered to the serious faces of the individuals before him.
"Dismissed. You leave at dawn."
Tony Stark was the first to be out of the room. "Get Barton," Fury said to the Black Widow who simply nodded her head obediently and exited.
Steve Rogers stood and shook his head. He couldn't believe what he had just heard. What he had seen.
"And Rogers-" Fury spoke momentarily a quick step before Steve walked out.
"I want Barnes on board."
Taken aback, Steve turned to face him demanding an explanation. However, none was given.
Without another word, he walked out.