Two hours later…

Phoenix slowly came back to the waking world. Her dreams had ranged from sad to horrifying. She felt even more drained than she had been when she fell asleep. "Finally awake?" came the questioning tone from Namor. The chimera took a deep breath before slowly rolling up onto her belly. Namor was sitting nearby. She noticed the seaweed frond had dried out and was attached to her fur. With a silent exchange of asking and granting permission, the Sub-Mariner approached and started to pull the frond off. It was so dry that it flaked off in pieces. "Amazing. Your powers are worthy of admiration," he said when he saw the wound had healed without a trace. He heard something crack and looked in time to see a new tail suddenly fire from the anchor on Phoenix's hindquarters. The chimera looked at it as she flexed it. "That…took longer than usual," she noted, as she let it rest so the chitin could harden.

"Amazing," Namor said, awestruck. That was a rare feeling. He had been around so long, few things surprised him anymore. "Was that instant regeneration?" he asked. "In a sense. Depending on how much of my tail is lost, it varies how long it takes for regeneration. Normally, if I lose my entire tail, it takes around twenty minutes for it to regenerate. Judging from the sun, I've been out for two hours at most," she said. Her head swung forward again and she put her nose to the ground, eyes closed.

Namor's eyes moved to look at Phoenix's face. It was still a marvel how humanlike she was because she could facially emote as well as any humanoid. "I think it's time to address the real reason why you came back," he said, simply. A sigh met his words and Namor watched as Phoenix shifted into her human form. Her back was to him and he caught sight of the scar down her spine. It looked really bad and he was of the same opinion that she shouldn't be alive, much less walking. Still, it didn't detract from her otherworldly beauty. She remained sitting but turned herself around to look at him. "You saw Bucky the last time I was here. There's no way his left arm went unnoticed," she said. The Sub-Mariner kept his eyes locked with hers before he gave a dip of his head. "A non-Wakandan with an arm made of vibranium is indeed something I wasn't expecting. Allow me to guess, my goddess. Your lover has a connection to Wakanda," he said, with a smirk at how her face got a bit red. He did enjoy irritating her with his title for her.

Phoenix nodded in the positive and Namor moved to sit more comfortably in front of her. "Tell me the story," he said. The woman closed her eyes for a moment. She then launched into a cliff notes version of how she and Bucky met and how he ended up with a piece of Wakandan tech attached to his body. Namor was very attentive and she could practically see the gears turning in his head. "So now, you know," she concluded. She spoke before he could. "So why did you do it? Why did you attack Wakanda?" she asked. Namor looked down for a moment before he started his own story. He filled her in on any details she hadn't heard via the bird. It didn't lessen her horror any because of all the innocents that got caught in his grudge match. She acknowledged that one of his people was killed when Shuri and Riri Williams were rescued but his response was a bit of an overreaction on his part. Hundreds lost for the sake of one?

Still, Phoenix knew it was her general ignorance talking. She had no idea how human governments worked. She had a barely functional idea of how the Empire did business and the major conflicts associated with the Empire were hundreds of years ago during the Faction Wars. Phoenix thought back to her nightmares. "Do you fear me even more now, goddess?" Namor then prompted. Phoenix met his dark eyes before her own dropped to his hands. "I knew the moment I saw you that your hands had blood on them. I never stopped to ask myself how much, though," she said quietly. She reached her own hands out, shaking a bit, and Namor met them. She gripped them a bit and he kept them relaxed. He didn't take hers in kind. Her eyes started to glow violet a little and he saw a ghostly image of her horns appear on her forehead. "That's why it baffles me that hands such as yours could also be kind…," she said, sounding far away.

Namor patiently let Phoenix process things, the ghostly horns eventually fading from view. He knew from what history she told him that she associated hands with abuse rather than kindness. Her lover had proven that hands could be gentle and it sounded like he treated her well. There was a certain irony in the whole thing because Phoenix herself could turn into a human. How did she see her own hands? "So much death. And I can't understand why. Why are innocents dragged into a battle of nations?" she wondered.

The Sub-Mariner shifted to a kneeling position, his hands deftly moving so he held both of hers gently in one of his own while the other cupped her face. Phoenix flinched a bit but a slight tightening of his hand kept her still. "Life is messy. You're old enough and have experienced enough to understand that. But from the sounds of things, you spent so much time alone that you lack any real baseline. I did what I did to protect my people. War is never fair. I responded to an act of aggression and betrayal. You would be foolish to fault me for that. However, I don't fault you for your innocence. You live in an entirely different world than I do and this goes beyond the surface world and the sea. You lived a life where your relative solitude protected you from the large-scale ugliness that comes from living in a nation. Your own life experience makes it hard to believe that hands are capable of both great comfort and great pain," he said.

Phoenix met his eyes again and Namor gave a small smile, his thumb absently tracing her cheekbone. "Máax jach jats'uts Ma'atech kun yaantal ok'om," he said, in a kind tone. She didn't understand what he said, though, but it sounded nice when combined with his actions and expression. His thumb on her cheekbone almost lulled Phoenix into complete relaxation but the ringing in her head made her sigh. She took the hand on her face and pulled it off. "I don't know what you said but I'll take it as a compliment," she said, entirely in Draconic. Despite her unicorn heritage, it was a simple fact of life that she had spent more time with Seiryu than with Queen Allianna. Thus, she had a better handle on the language of dragons. She could see that Namor was pleasantly surprised and confused at the language she used. "You're not the only one who speaks a language other than Common," she said, almost a little cheekily. "I suspect it's a language from your homeworld, goddess. I've been around for a long time and have heard many tongues. This one is foreign to me," Namor conceded.

The Sub-Mariner let their hands drop before he tilted her chin up to look her in the eye. "Do you fear me more?" he asked again. Phoenix shifted her head a bit to make him drop it. "Yes," she responded, simply. She took his hands again and looked at them. "But I can separate the actions of these hands into kindness and cruelty. I've been learning a lot I didn't know before and it's been hard. These hands have taken so much life for Weaver knows how long…but at the same time, these hands helped me when I was wounded," she trailed off. Sighing, she stood up. Namor followed. "All the same, those hands will end me if given the chance or reason. You proved that with Wakanda. I'm more ill at ease being around you than I was initially. Doesn't matter how you see me. One wrong move on my part and you'll kill me without question," she said.

Namor didn't bother to retort. She was right in a sense. But he was less willing to bring her harm because of her divine status. He met her hard violet eyes. "But I promise you this. If you ever target Bucky, if he ever comes to harm by your hands, I will retaliate without hesitation. He's gone through so much in his adult life that I can't abide anything further happening to him," she said. The Sub-Mariner smirked before leaning towards her to be more on her level. "Should such a time come, goddess of the plains and trees, how much of a chance would you have against me? My warriors had you strung up and you were at their mercy," he said. "They had the jump on me and you know it. They were wise to have roped my tail because it's my primary weapon. If they hadn't, I wouldn't have been at the mercy of anyone. Don't forget what I did the second my tail came off. I'm not fragile and I generally wouldn't fight someone on your level. But Bucky…I swore to protect him and that's what I'll do despite the odds," she explained.

"Love makes you beautiful. I hope you know that," the Sub-Mariner said. Phoenix's face went red but she remained stoic. She watched as the man straightened himself up. "For your sake, I pray we never come to blows. You're a fascinating creature and I would hate to snuff that light out of those eyes. I know you've kept my secret and I trust you'll continue to keep it. That is the thing that will keep you and your lover safe from me. My kindness only goes so far," he said, walking towards his cave and passing too close to Phoenix. She turned to avoid him as he did, their eyes locking. "Why did you save me? Why not just take my head as a trophy? After all, you'll never find a creature like me in this world," she blurted out. Namor paused, looking up at the trees above, before turning to look at her again.

"Is your divinity not enough of a reason?" he asked instead. Phoenix just scowled in response. With a sigh, he turned back to face her again. "It's because there's no other creature like you in this world that I saved you. It would be a waste to kill something so beautiful. I'd prefer seeing you running wild and free than to have your horns adorn my home," he said. Namor had taken everything he had used to help Phoenix back to his cave while she had been out. All that remained was the satchel, cushion, and spear. He packed the cushion into the satchel and took hold of his spear. He then turned to face her again. "You're worth more to me alive than dead. You're unique and exotic. I can appreciate that enough that keeping you alive is better than taking you as a trophy," he continued.

Phoenix watched him approach, spear in hand. In spite of herself, she let Namor take her face in hand. "Given today's events, it might be best if you stayed away from Yucatan. I was able to protect you this time. Next time, you might not be so lucky. Go back to your lover. Stay there. Keep him safe. Live your life," he said, his thumb barely brushing her lower lip. Dropping his hand, Namor stepped back and placed a fist to his heart, and lowered his head a bit. "Ba'ax le síitech a kaxáant toj yéetel ki'imak," he said. Phoenix lowered her head in kind and watched him turn away. He slung the satchel over his shoulder and headed for the cave. He paused for a moment and looked back, his eyes aimed at the remains of her old tail. Phoenix looked at it and laughed in spite of herself. "Please take it. Better that it disappear than fall into the wrong hands. However, I'm not parting with the telson in one piece," she said.

Namor closed the distance again. Keeping their eyes locked, he pulled a dagger and handed it to Phoenix. She took it and went to the tail. She cut the telson off and carefully opened it. The venom sacs were then scraped out and she punctured them, rendering the venom useless. "You're bound and determined that no one gets their hands on your venom," Namor mused, taking the dagger back after she cut the stinger off. "My stinger is unlike any known scorpion species. And its lethality is off the charts. I'm able to dry sting, unlike my secondary genetic ancestor. I only use it as a last resort. It takes two weeks to restore," she explained as the Sub-Mariner used the dagger to cut the rest of the tail into segments, placing them in his satchel. He stood up and gave a half-smirk. "I accept this gift of the goddess with humility. I'll put it to good use. Farewell, Phoenix," he said.

She watched him walk to the cave and he dove in. She took a deep breath and sighed. He had even taken the remains of the telson. She looked at the sand where she had punctured the venom sacs. She brushed more sand over it to dilute it further. Topically, her venom was inert. Like any venom, it had to be injected to be lethal. But she was paranoid about it all the same. She then looked out towards the sea. After a moment, Phoenix sighed and shifted. She let out a call before turning in place, vanishing onto the Road to return to New York.

Translations:

Máax jach jats'uts Ma'atech kun yaantal ok'om : Someone so beautiful should never be sad

Ba'ax le síitech a kaxáant toj yéetel ki'imak : May fortune find you happy and healthy