"Who are you?"
All seven of the team stood with their ICER's pointing towards the two gruesome looking creatures that were standing with their hands raised. Somehow they had managed to climb aboard the bus. Before anyone could say anything, Lady Sif appeared next to the two creatures.
"Do not worry, Son of Coul, they are not here to harm you."
"We are part of the Krigare, we have come for our daughter" said one of the creatures, stepping towards Skye, who stepped back. Unfortunately, because of its visage, Coulson saw this as menacing, and both were ICER'd on the spot. When they were placed in the locked med bay, Coulson led the team and Sif over to the living space and sat down.
"Sif, do you know about the Krigare?"
"Of course," said Sif, "they are a very famous people. Their story spans back centuries."
"Could you tell us, maybe?" Skye was a little overeager, but Sif didn't think anything of it, her being of Midgard.
"Well, first of all, the Krigare are warriors, not unlike the Beserkers, except without the weapons. For thousands of years they fought and were ruled by the Warrior King. He as the cruelest of them, said to forged out of fire and the very center of pain itself. He was twisted by the elders into becoming a fierce and harsh ruler, a monster, they called him"
Skye and the rest shifted uneasily. This didn't sound good at all.
"The story really stars around four hundred years ago, with the birth of a girl named Ayara. Now Ayara, unlike the rest of the Krigare, was born inherently good. At her birth, a prophecy was made that she would be the one to slay the Warrior King and end his terrible reign. Of course, no one believed this prophecy. Many had tried to stop the Warrior King and all failed over the years. However, because the Krigare are, in basic form, pure warriors, they did account for the one thing the Warrior King could not fight against."
Everyone was on the edge of their seats, wondering where this story would go and if it would shed some light on Skye's parents.
"But they did not count on love being a factor. They did not think that the Warrior King could fall in love. But he did, and the prophecy was fulfilled. Two hundred years ago, Ayara made the Warrior King fall in love, and she fell in love with him. The fighting stopped. For two hundred years they lived in peace. It is only recently their war has begun again."
"Why did they start fighting again?" asked Coulson
"Well, twenty five years ago, Ayara had a daughter, and named her Areya. However, when she was born, it is said one of the elders stole her from Ayara and the Warrior King, and brought her here to earth. Ayara and the Warrior King were devastated. They came here to earth, searching for her, but she was protected. Now Ayara, it turns out, was an empath, but a special kind. Instead of just feeling emotions, she could project her own on others. This is one of the ways that peace was brought to the Krigare. When she could not find her daughter, Ayara became angry. This anger was projected onto the Warrior King, and both dissolved into angry insanity. They ravaged many parts of this earth, searching for their daughter. They never found her. However, Ayara had broken her oath of prophecy, both of them were cursed."
"Cursed?" asked Skye in nothing more than a whisper, "Cursed how?"
"Well, cursed in many things. For one, their daughter. They would never be able to find her, nor would she ever know true family until she was an adult in the eyes of the elders. Further, they were turned into monsters, so that when they finally could reunite with their long lost daughter, she would be disgusted and never accept them as her true parents."
"Does the story say anything else about their daughter?"
"Yes. It is said that she remembers almost nothing of her true parentage, though she may have inherited Ayara's powers as an empath, but only a common one. It is also said that the same prophecy was made at both Ayara's and Areya's births, and that the prophecy would be true for all daughters of Ayara."
"But that doesn't make sense," Simmons said, "there are no "Warrior Kings" here, and if she only remembers a few memories, how does that work?"
"The warrior king doesn't have to be a king," explained Sif, "it is simply a man in need of saving, one who has always been exposed to pain. The love of Ayara and Areya can break through all darkness."
Skye downcast eyes turned towards the man sitting across from her, the man she had yet to forgive.
"And as for remembrance, sometimes the things are so small they seem insignificant."
"So what's the catch? How do we know who Areya is? How do they know if it's truly her?"
Sif turned to Skye, who was sitting with her knees pulled up to her chest, "Because of your name."
"My name?" Skye asked.
"You gave yourself that name, yes? Why?"
"I liked it. I don't know. It was cool and different. Why does it matter?"
"Because the name "Areya", the name your parents gave you, means "midnight sky" in Krigarean."
"I named myself…after myself."
Sif smiled.
"I must go now. I take it you can care for the Krigare in your med pod. They should be awake by now."
As soon as she left, Skye ran down to the med pod, but stopped short when she saw the two creatures inside. They were both sitting up on the single bed, talking quietly in a language she couldn't understand. They looked up when she approached. Skye wasn't really sure how to start this, she'd never really had parents and oh my god she had parents.
She unlocked the med pod and slowly opened the door.
"We don't mean any harm," said her father softly, "we just wanted to find you. We're not going to take you away. We see you have found a family. You have fulfilled the prophecy."
"I have?" her voice was small; she couldn't believe she was talking to her parents right now.
"Yes, you have. Our work is already done; we raise our children only until they fulfill their given prophecies. Some are simple, like a job, some are complicated, like yours and your mothers."
"Are you leaving?" she said, sadness in her voice.
"We must, my daughter, we have other things to do, to atone for," her mother approached and took her hands with her own, "but we will visit you, if you will let us."
Skye could only nod and smile. She led her parents back up through the bus, past her team, who followed them out to the cargo hold.
"Goodbye, my daughter," they spoke and embraced Skye, then walked off the bus and disappeared.
"Warrior king, huh," said Coulson, looking at Ward with a smirk. Ward looked at Skye apologetically. She sighed. There was no use fighting her feelings when they were bound by prophecy. She walked up to him, reaching out her hand. Tentatively, he took it.
"Come on Warrior King," she said with a smile as she dragged him up the stairs, "let's go play some battleship."