The myth of Phoenix Yi originates from a small community of tight-knit farmers and blacksmiths. Throughout the years it has been passed down dutifully to their descendants. 

The myth goes like this: Mother Death’s faithful companion, Phoenix Yi, shows up during your last moments in this world to take away any pain or grief so that you may step into Her eternal garden with your soul at ease.

However, the myth they tell isn't entirely true. 

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With his mother’s hand held gently between his own, eight-year-old Yixing recalls her gentle voice as she told him tales of the mythical Phoenix Yi. All he can do now is hope the bird took away all of her pain like her stories told. 

It is the last he thinks of Phoenix Yi for several years.

𓆃

His nineteenth birthday is tomorrow, but today is the day he dies.

He is struggling to stay conscious, the lakewater filling up his lungs faster than he could have ever imagined. He can’t breathe. 

He knows his bodyguard saw the hooded men grab him, but he doesn’t know if Zitao is coming to save him or if he is dead in a ditch somewhere because he tried. 

If Zitao is coming, Yixing has a strong feeling it won’t be in time.

In front of him is a bird, one even bigger than he is, with a wingspan impossibly wide and a tail that extends beyond his line of sight. Its feathers are red with splashes of oranges and yellows and gold, and its eyes are like fiery flames. Its gaze, however, holds only a gentle warmth.

Phoenix Yi approaches him, its beak caressing the bridge of his nose. Wings envelop him, and he leans his head into the bird’s chest. He is grateful for a last hug. 

Except he wakes up to Zitao’s stricken face and his panicked voice calling Yixing’s name over and over again. 

Yet it is Yifan that rings in his head for several years.

𓆆

He is twenty-six when he lies on the floor of his bedroom, his pregnant wife trying to stem the bleeding in his gut from the assassin’s blade as she screams for help. All he worries about is if the stress her body is under will be harmful for the child. The pain is a distant inconvenience.

Phoenix Yi is with him again, except its name is not Yi, but Yifan. 

“Why?” he asks, though he is not sure which why he seeks the answer to.

“You wanted to live,” Yifan says, and his voice is so tender that Yixing feels his throat clog up. “So I made sure you did.”

When he wakes up this time, he is less surprised but no less confused. 

But his wife, upon seeing him awake, breaks into tears and thanks the gods that he is alive, so he pushes the questions aside to comfort her.

It is not the last he thinks of Yifan for several years.

𓆀

He is twenty-six when he once more finds himself at the threshold of Death.

His wife lost her life birthing a stillborn son, so this time it is his own doing when Yifan’s crestfallen feathery face greets his own.

“Please,” he begs, “no more.”

“You are young,” Yifan says, and his eyes are so sad that Yixing starts to cry. “Life has more to offer than this.”

“No,” Yixing sobs.

“Yes,” Yifan says, his wings drawing Yixing into a consoling hug. “I promise.”

When Yixing awakens to Han shaking him and begging him to open his eyes, he is furious to find that he is still alive.

So furious is he that he refuses to think of Yifan for several years.

𓆃

He is fifty-two when he lies at the bottom of a cliff with spikes of pain going through his skull. Someone shoved him; he never saw their face. He can hear the yells of his family from above, and he hopes the assailant is long gone so that his wife and his children will not meet the same fate.

“You are happy,” Yifan says softly. 

Yixing smiles. “I am. If this is the end, I have no regrets.”

A bird cannot smile, but Yifan’s voice is kind and loving as he says, “Not yet.”

“I will see you another time, then,” Yixing says.

“Yes.”

When he wakes up, his head still hurts and he struggles with his memories, but he recognises the worried faces of his family, and he has not forgotten Yifan, so everything will be all right.

He thinks of Yifan many times and tells his family the true tale of Phoenix Yi, but he does not see him again for several years.

𓆆

He is eighty-nine when he lies in bed surrounded by his loved ones and closes his eyes for the last time. 

“Is it time yet, Yifan?” Yixing asks the man who stands before him, and Yifan smiles and takes his hand between his own.

Yixing grins and says, “I'm home.”

“Welcome home,” Yifan says warmly.

𓆀

The myth goes like this:

There are two Phoenix: Phoenix Yifan and Phoenix Yixing, also known as Phoenix Yi. 

They are Mother Death’s faithful companions, and they show up during your last moments in this world to take away any pain or grief so that you may step into Her eternal garden with your soul at ease.

But Phoenix Yixing yearns to live.

So Phoenix Yifan, who never could deny his beloved anything, makes a deal with Father Life and Mother Death. They warn him that Phoenix Yixing’s life will be filled with hardship and sorrow, but Phoenix Yifan firmly believes Phoenix Yixing will overcome everything thrown his way and find joy in his desire to experience life. 

And when Phoenix Yixing finally returns to them, he’s happy, and content to stay by Phoenix Yifan’s side until the end of their immortality. 

And Phoenix Yifan, who has missed his other half so terribly, loves him no less than before.

This round's challenge: Myths and Legends, Halloween edition. Writers were to write a flash fic about/inspired by a myth or legend or make up their own. On top of that it was Yixing's birthday, so to celebrate it the fic had to include Yixing.

I perused Google for half an hour before deciding to write my own myth, and I knew I wanted a phoenix as the main element. The story wrote itself after that, lol.

Lastly, I urge you to go have a look at Tinysparks on Twitter! It is such a fun challenge!

Thanks for reading!