Icarus
Written by Nezz
(Flashback Vol 3. Chapter 7)
The forest illuminated and receded into the shadows with the ebb and flow of the flames. Fire plumed from the Black family's house, shedding light on three lone figures. There, Mercury faced Cinder and Emerald.
The young man could barely stand on the bloody pillars of flesh he used to call legs. Experience taught him to be careful of those driven into a corner. His father taught him how to be the one driven into the corner.
He couldn't mask his bated breath, nor the severity of his injuries. Mercury was wounded prey. The one question on in his mind was whether the two unknown women before him were predators.
"What are you looking at?!"(Mercury)
"….I'm looking for Marcus Black," Cinder answered coldly and calmly.
Mercury turned and spat. "There you go," he drew their eyes to the dead corpse beside him.
"That's the assassin?"(Emerald)
"And you're his son," Cinder said with a slightly impressed tone. "We saw your fight from the tree line. He's taught you well."
"Guess so."(Mercury)
The young woman in the red dress stared into his eyes like she was peeking into his heart. Cinder was evaluating his worth, his potential….His usefulness.
"What's your name?"
"…Mercury."
"Mercury." Cinder smiled. "Tell me, are you anything like your father?"
"….Well, I'm not dead," he answered with an air of bitterness.
Cinder let out a small laugh.
"Cute."
Icarus.
The tale of a boy, who flew too close to the sun. Apollo saw he was an impudent prick, so he melted his wings, and watched him fall to his death.
….
Was that mercy?
To be able to fly. To know true freedom, and then have it taken away from you,
Was it mercy to have him killed than experience that loss for the rest of his life?
Walking around with a large chunk of you missing, like some half dead loser.
Sometimes I wonder if I was better off dead than trying to regain what I lost.
More and more, it all seems pointless.
…
Maybe, I am better off dead.
(Two weeks after Cinder recruited Mercury)
In an abandoned warehouse, near the harbor of Atlas, Mercury was sitting on his sleeping cot. Cinder and Emerald were away on mission, leaving the young man to do nothing but wait for their return.
His hands knotted tightly in each other. His teeth clamped down hard and his jaw went rigid. Mercury's eyes narrowed and twitched as he tried to put strength into his legs. His feet trembled and he could feel his nerves on fire. Without lifting himself even an inch off the cot, he felt himself sitting back down.
Suddenly, out of the corner of his eye, he saw the wooden crutch resting on a chair nearby.
It pissed him off.
It pissed him off that the first thing he looked to, while losing to the pain in his legs, was that ugly, annoying crutch. As if the thing were taunting him to be used.
The anger fueled his stubbornness. Mercury redoubled his efforts to stand and finally lifted himself off the bed. For a fraction of a second, he felt victorious. The sensation was immediately followed by a deep wave of loathing for himself.
Two weeks I've been stuck to that damn cot…! I'm supposed to be happy with just standing?!
Mercury scolded himself inwardly.
He hated having Cinder and Emerald take care of him—Emerald especially. The green haired woman hated his guts, and she spared no effort in hiding it. Cinder was different in that she was surprisingly attentive to him, but every kind word and generous gesture was laced with strings attached. She wanted something in return and Mercury shuddered at thought of what might happen if he didn't deliver.
He tried to will his legs to walk.
Weak bandages and stitching were all that kept his shins and calves together. Cinder and Emerald brought him to an underground doctor the night they found him. The prognosis wasn't good.
Given enough time, he would heal and be able to walk, maybe even run. But as far as fighting or moving at top speed was concerned, his "wings" were clipped forever.
Mercury refused to accept it.
Despite the harsh training by his father, the young man grew to love fighting, and prided himself on his agility. To move faster and leap higher than any other. To fly in the air while other mortals were stuck, crawling on the ground. Like sword masters who found meaning and identity through a stroke of their blade, so too did Mercury define himself by the strength of his kick.
Tears began to form in his eyes as he began shifting most of his weight to his right leg. He forced it to the ball of its feet and started to pivot. Mercury's left leg groaned with a small push off from the ground.
The kick was tiny. Pathetic and short. It had the speed of a small pendulum, and didn't go any higher than his knee.
The offset of the motion caused him to fall. Mercury felt his bandages come undone and some of his stitches rip. Blood trickled across his skin, but he didn't care.
And then he looked to the side to see the crutch again.
He felt numb and dead to the world.
He was Icarus, who had his wings taken away, but survived the fall.
…
…..
"Now, Mercury. You know you're not supposed to die~ At least not until I tell you to."
A dark, sultry voice permeated the air.
Mercury turned to the source and saw Cinder and Emerald walking toward him.
"The idiot's bleeding again. We told you to stay down, but I guess that was too difficult for you."(Emerald)
Emerald bent down to help him up, but Mercury gnarled and swatted her hand away.
"Fine! Stay and bleed all over the floor!" She turned to Cinder. "I told you he isn't worth it. We should just ditch the dead weight and sell this tech to the highest bidder. Atlas tech goes for a high price on the black market."
"Money doesn't buy a true, blood and loyal soldier." Cinder bent down to Mercury and caressed his cheek. "Isn't that right, Mercury?"
Behind her, Mercury could see Emerald giving him her most hateful glare to date.
"Now stop standing there uselessly, and bring him up."(Cinder)
"….Yes, ma'am."(Emerald)
As Mercury was resettled into his cot, he spoke.
"So? Where have you two been?"(Mercury)
"Breaking into Atlas's R&D division."(Emerald)
"Find anything good?"(Mercury)
Emerald brought over a crate and opened it for Cinder. The red dressed woman reached in and pulled out a pair of prosthetic legs. The shine off the polished steel flashed before Mercury's eyes.
"You won't find this at your local shoe store."(Emerald)
"A prototype model Atlas developed for its soldiers, who lost their legs. Purposed so they could put the warrior back together again and return him right to the battlefield. How humpty dumpty," she joked. "Unfortunately for them, the cost was too high and the project was scrapped. Fortunately for you, they kept the prototype in storage just for an individual such as yourself," Cinder grinned mischievously.
"That's….for me?"(Mercury)
"You see anyone else around here with a walking problem?"(Emerald)
Cinder handed Mercury one of the robot legs to examine. The young man ran his fingertips across the gears and mechanisms. His eyes wide as if he was looking at a gift from a goddess.
And then his goddess spoke.
"We'll need to visit an old associate of mine to have it calibrated. But let's get into the real heart of the matter."(Cinder)
Mercury looked at her uncertainly.
"What?"(Mercury)
"Obviously, we need to chop off your real legs to put them on," Emerald answered.
"What?! You can't just make it support or some kind of armor?"(Mercury)
"What is this? A comic book? Look at it. It's whole package. We can't take it apart."(Emerald)
"But…."(Mercury)
"And that's not even the worst part."(Emerald)
"There's a worst part?"(Mercury)
"Hmm. We don't even know if it'll work."(Emerald)
Mercury's hands gave an intermittent tremor, as he held the robotic leg. The young man looked down at it, reflecting on how all his hopes he had just a second ago had been dashed in an instant. He was unsure and afraid as to what to do. Doubt and hesitation plagued either decision. He wanted time to think, to reevaluate all his options.
"It's your choice, Mercury, but I'll tell you now, I'm not a fan of waiting."
Mercury looked up into the razor sharp stare of Cinder.
"I expect my warriors to be strong, decisive, and demonstrate unflinching loyalty regardless of what they choose. So be strong, Mercury. Be decisive. And prove yourself loyal to me."
Underneath the fiery stare, the young man saw only one answer before him.
"Do it," Mercury answered with a firm resolve. He looked at his bloody legs. "I don't need them."
Cinder smiled.
"Good answer."
(Three weeks later)
Mercury's surgery was successful, and was now sparring desperately against Cinder, who had yet to break a sweat.
The young man's techniques were atrocious and his motions sloppy. Getting acclimated to his new legs was harder than he anticipated. And if the rehabilitation wasn't hard enough, as soon as he managed to move a single step, Cinder pushed him into sparring session with her and Emerald.
Mercury threw kick after kick, each one slower than the last. He could have used the gun tech on his boots, but the last time he fired a round, his leg almost tore itself off. Mercury put off mastering that particular ability for now, and concentrated on improving his basic fighting at present.
Another clumsy flurry of wide kicks was thrown and dodged without effort. When Cinder threatened to attack, Mercury retreated, almost tripping over himself.
"You're still tentative."(Cinder)
"I can't get the footing right!"(Mercury)
"That bears no relation to your cowardice."(Cinder)
Cinder closed the distance in a split second. Her daggers hummed around Mercury's neck, stopping just short of severing his head.
"To fight, is to step fearlessly into your opponent's heart. No thoughts of pain, no mercy, and certainly, no excuses."(Cinder)
She stepped back and let Mercury fall backwards.
"Get him up, and we start again in two minutes," Cinder ordered Emerald.
As Emerald helped Mercury into a chair, she complained, "I thought we stole you new legs so I wouldn't have to do this anymore."
"Don't blame me! The mechanic must've attached it wrong, or something's bugged in the leg itself!"(Mercury)
"And why do you believe the fault resides not with you?"(Cinder)
"Because I've done all this before. This thing's supposed to respond to my thoughts and reflexes, right? Well, it's not, or else I would've been good from the get go."(Mercury)
"Oh, really?" Cinder strode around him, the familiar vicious smile crept across her expression. "From what I've seen, you're not digging your big toe into the ground hard enough to stabilize your movements. Also your weight displacement for your kicks is too off-balance, and you're not even loading your knees correctly."
"I know how to throw a kick."(Mercury)
Cinder halted her walk. "Obviously, you don't," she worded sternly.
Mercury and Emerald stiffened at the change of tone. A good tense second passed before Cinder began pacing again.
"You've relied on your god given gifts until now. Children hardly ever need to learn fundamentals when growing up. Young brains absorb what they see and what they feel so fast, the basics come second nature. Are you beginning to understand now?"(Cinder)
"….Yeah."(Mercury)
"You were spoiled. You've never spared a thought to your form, the alignment of your stance, or the minute wrinklings in your feet. But now you have to."(Cinder)
"…."(Mercury)
"Relearn everything and start from scratch." Cinder moved to exit the warehouse. "And don't disappoint me, Mercury. Or I'll turn you into scratch."
The warehouse doors closed loudly behind her.
In the echo of the shutting doors, Mercury and Emerald sat in silence.
"She really is going to kill me, isn't she?"(Mercury)
"….Maybe."(Emerald)
"I thought you'd be happy. I know how much you love her and being alone with her."(Mercury)
"YOU-! Shut up!"(Emerald)
"Heh!"(Mercury)
"Don't make me steal your legs again. I'll do it."(Emerald)
"And then I'll tell mom, and she'll hit you again."(Mercury)
Emerald released a low tone growl.
The two lapsed into silence again.
…
"We—I'VE invested too much time in getting you up and working again, and I don't want to leave things half finished."(Emerald)
"Are you….being nice?"(Mercury)
"Hardly," she said, while rolling her eyes. "Just don't make me think you were a colossal waste of time."
Emerald sat up and extended her hand to him. With an obnoxious grin, Mercury grabbed it.
"Let's go, Merc. The whole unsteady-newborn-deer-legs thing isn't as adorable when a moron's doing it."(Emerald)
"Whatever. You know I'm adorable."(Mercury)
(Two weeks later)
Mercury fired a few rounds from his legs. Each bullet clashing with one of Emerald's in midair. The two dashed towards each other and met in the center. They weaved between the other's strikes, not a single blow landing cleanly.
Emerald released the chains on her guns and was about to wrap Mercury up. In response, the young man executed an acrobatic aerial maneuver and escaped the encirclement.
"Enough."
The two stopped fighting on hearing Cinder's voice. She walked over and faced Mercury.
"You've gotten the hang of them….Good."
Mercury scratched his nose with his thumb.
"S' no big deal."
Emerald rolled her eyes.
"Now that your skills are at an acceptable level, it's time we executed the next part of our plans."
Cinder handed each of them a file folder. Inside the folders, was information detailing a certain huntress.
"'Autumn'. Who is she?" Emerald asked.
"Our next target."(Cinder)
"She doesn't look very dangerous or important ," Mercury commented.
"Looks can be…. deceiving."
If Icarus survived the fall, would he have tried to rebuild his wings?
Apollo could just ride by again and burn them.
I don't know….
….
Hell, if I care.