A/N Here's another chapter. The next couple if chapters won't come as fast as these. I was already done with four, and a half when I posted chapter one. Now I'm working on six. So five'll be up tomorrow. Hopefully.
DISCLAIMER: Sadly I do not own anything from Marvel...
Chapter four.
Today I'll have to give my answer. Tony told me Coulson's coming along with someone he calls a grumpy pirate. I have no idea what I have to think of that, but it's Tony so you never know. Right now I'm tuning my violin in the common room. I could've been doing that on my own floor, but tony's been whining that he wants to hear me play. Of course word spreads fast in this tower, and soon tony managed to get Bruce and Steve on his side. Well Bruce and Steve aren't whining like Tony does, but they do want to hear me play. Just to get Tony off of my back I agreed to one song. Because of the rain yesterday, it has to be completely tuned again. Tony's waiting impatiently on one of the couches. All of the others just wait. Appearantly someone told them I would be playing. Everyone's here, even pepper, except Loki. He's probably reading somewhere. Seriously the guy reads a lot.
"How long is this going to take songbird?" Tony asks.
"Songbird?" I ask.
"Yeah, birdbrain's already taken." He points to clint. "And you're going to play a song. So songbird." I shrug, it's pretty logical if you say it like that.
"Almost..." I strike a few strings. "Done. So any requests?" Clint raises his hand.
"Just play a song so I can get the hell out of here." He says.
"No one's keeping you here." I say back. All he does is point to Natasha. She just shrugs.
"What someone has to keep him out of the vents." She says.
"That was one time Nat. One time!" Clint mutters.
"And all of the other times. Like on the Helicarrier, various times. And that time in Russia. Oh and I'll forget Budapest this time. ANd how many times did I have to drag you out of them here in the tower?" Natasha sums up.
"Okay, my choice it is." I eventually say after a short awkward silence. I stand up and start one of my favorite songs, Spontanious me. Like I said before, when I start playing I don't really notice anything around me. I only notice the two new men in the room once I'm done and one of them calls out.
"That's nice. Already getting comfortable I see." I turn around and immediatly see why Tony called the man a grumpy pirate. A man in a black trenchcoat and an eyepatch is standing next to Coulson.
"Oh, erhm. Hi?" I ask/say with an awkward wave. Well, wave… The best wave you can give with a violin in one hand and the bow in the other.
"I am director Fury, I take it you're Roselia Coulisses?" He asks. I nod.
"The one and only. I presume you're here to hear my answer if I'll stay or not?" Now Fury nods. "That's easy, I think I'll stay. I've been hiding in the forest long enough now." I say with a small smile.
"That's settled then. Arrange an interview tomorrow. It's time we introduce you to the world." Fury orders. Coulson gets his phone and starts tapping it. I still don't really know how to use one of those
"How does an interview work?" I immediatly ask. I hear Tony burst into laughter behind me.
"Oh this is going to be great!" He says. "Don't worry, I'll explain it to her."
"Good. Now Roselia, good luck with them." Fury says and he turns around to leave.
"Thanks? I think." I call after him. Well that was creepy. When he's gone I turn around.
"Okay I totally see how you picture him as a pirate." I tell Tony.
"See I told you. That'll be 20 bucks." Next to Tony Bruce sighs and gets his wallet.
"Seriously you two made a bet if I'd see Fury as a pirate?" I ask the two men. They both nod. "Okay. Anyway, how does an interview work? I've read something about it somewhere, but I knid of forgot." I ask again.
"How are you going to explain an interview to a girl who doesn't even know how to use a phone." mutters Tony. "Oh I know. It's like 20 questions. A journalist asks you questions and you answer them. Easy enough."
"So all I have to do I answer some questions?" I ask.
"Yup. Pretty much, and later it'll probably come on TV so the rest of the world can see too." Tony answers.
"The whole world?" I ask. I nearly drop my violin, but manage to catch it just in time.
"Hey, relax. It's not like you've never spoken in front of a crowd before. Everyone does that at least once." Tony assures me. I keep quiet and look at my feet.
"700 years of isolation. I was alone most of the time. So no I haven't." I shyly say.
"Oh, well you're fucked." That made Tony earn a smack on his head from Pepper. "What?" He innocently says.
"Don't scare her." Pepper softly says. "Don't worry Rose, we'll help you through. It's not as difficult as Tony says. Everyone here'll be there to help you." I eventually nod. I'm still affraid I'll make a fool out of myself, but I'll just have to do it.
"So interview tomorrow. After that we'll go to your place to pick up your stuff. Considering you'll be living here from now on." Bruce says.
"Oh that's going to be a small problem. You can't exactly get to my house in a car. And it's a 20 minute walk to my house from the road." I say.
"Why not teleport?" A voice behind me offers. I turn around and see Loki leaning against the wall. "You where running late for your class, so I thought I'd see what's taking so long."
"I kind of got held up." I explain. "And you know I can't teleport yet. I can't even teleport other things two feet away." He nods.
"But you can brother, why don't you help her move." Thor offers.
"Fine, but only if I can skip the next social thing the avengers must attend to." Loki says with a smirk. "I'm not everly fond of those."
"Fine, you can skip one. But not the interview tomorrow." Steve says. Loki nods and turns around.
"If you want to finish your lesson before dark, I suggest you follow me." He says over his shoulder. I close my eyes and mutter a spell. My violin dissappears and I run after him.
"So what are we going to do now?" I ask when we're in the library.
"Illusions. You're going to replicate this in an illusion." He says. He throws me an apple.
"I get no hints in how I'm going to do it?" I ask. Loki just shakes his head.
"Just remember what you already know." he says. I sigh and stare at the apple. How am I going to do this. What do I know. Magic is energy, energy you can run out of. I haven't passed out due to it yet, but I've come close to it a lot more than I'd like. Loki always says it's because I'm too stubborn to stop when my mind is telling me to. I turn the apple around a few times. Maybe it's like drawing one, but then in the air. I reach out to the magic inside of me and close my eyes. I make a handmovement and open my eyes. To my surprise there are two apples instead of one. I actually did it. I let out a small laugh and put the apple I'm holding next to the one just appeared on the table.
"I can't believe I actually did it." I mutter more to myself than to anyone else.
"Of course you did it. I told you to." Loki smirks at me. I roll my eyes and try to touch the apple. I expected to go through it like I did with the illusions Loki makes, instead there's a real apple there.
"Wait that's not right." I say. "Aren't supposed to go through it?" Loki frowns and picks up the apple.
"No, you are supposed to go through it. It should've disappeared the moment you lost focus. Actually making solid objects is a lot more advanced. Strange." He says. I can see a hint of mischief in his eyes, and he suddenly throws the apple towards the doors. At the exact moment the door opens and Thor stands in the way of the flying apple. It hits him straight in his head. He looks around him to see what hit him. I burst into laughter and surprizingly, Loki joins me. When Thor sees the apple and us laughing, he knows what happened.
"How did you know he was going to open the doors?" I ask Loki when I finally stop laughing.
"Easy, that oaf makes enough noise to wake an entire castle. He tried to push the door first, and I heard that." He explains. "Now what has brought you to the library? I suppose it's not because you actually want to read?" Thor lets out a booming laugh before answering.
"No, I have come to find you. We're about to start eating." He says. But I was just there minutes ago. I look up to the clock and see that two hours have passed. Loki must have seen my confused expression.
"Calling up illusions took some time. Quite logical considering it's your first time." He explains. I nod, sounds about right. I get up and follow Thor and Loki.
Today Steve cooked. I promised I would cook tomorrow. We're having lasagna. We all eat in silence, I clear the table and do the dishes together with Bruce. It's not that late, and the sky's clear, so I decide to go out to fly for a while. To clear my head a little. I head out to the balcony and look down to the streets.
"Deciding how far you'll fall if you jump?' A timid voice behind me says. Bruce walks up to the railing and stands besides me.
"Oh hi Bruce, and yes I actually was. I thought flying around a little would clear my head." I answer.
"Interview stress?" He asks with a knowing look.
"You have no idea. I even get anxious when I think about it." I admit.
"Yeah I don't like those too, the other guy doesn't either or so it seems." He tells me.
"What do you mean?" I ask curiously.
"He once destroyed one because he didn't really like the questions." He explains.
"I thought you have to be angry, to become the other guy." I ask.
"Yes, I was pretty angry. They pushed the wrong buttons. I still think they had a death wish. Since then I'm excused from all interviews and press conferences. I can go if I want to, but mostly I just skip them." He explains.
"Well that must be nice, to skip the interviews and stuff I mean. Not, turning into a green rage monster." I tell him.
"Yeah, I figured that out. Don't worry." Bruce smiles at me. "You'll do fine tomorrow." I nod and look back to the streets below.
"Do you mind if I..." I ask him.
"No not at all. Have fun flying around." He says. Then he turns around and walks back inside.
I jump on the railing and let myself fall down back first. I turn around in the air and spread my wings. I fly up and go higher than I've ever been before. When it's too cold I fold back my wings and let myself fall to the ground again. I spin around and close my eyes. I love this feeling. I open them again and unfold my wings. I fly out over the ocean again. I'm just a little above the surface and I can see my own reflection in the water. My hair is everywhere, because I forgot to bind it. I reach down to toch the water. When my hand touches it ripples appear and leave a trail behind me. I grin and look ahead. I barely miss a small ship I didn't see untill now. I avoid it and fly a little higher. I make a wide circle and fly back to the tower. This time I don't land on the roof, but on the same spot I took off from. I carefully fold my wings behind me and walk inside. I sit down in the corner of the couch and fold my feet under me. I pick up my book I left on the table this morning. I didn't get very far because as soon as I started reading Tony came in whining. It's like living with a spoiled child sometimes.
"Oh good you're here." A voice I do not want to hear right now says.
"What do you want Stark?" I ask without looking up from my book.
"Ouch. You're on last name basis." Clint says. Oh so he's here too. I look up and see everyone there too.
"It's movie night." Tony announces.
"So." I say turning back to my book. "it's also monday." That earns a high five from clint.
"Ha, ha, smartass." Tony answers. I just grin. "As an official team member, you have to come to movie night."
"I'm not going to have a choice, do I?" I ask.
"Nope." I sigh and get up.
"Okay, but first I'm going to put my book back on my floor." I say.
When I get back the only place left is between Bruce and Loki. I sit down and fold my wings a little closer to me, so no one's bothered by them. I put my feet under me like I always do.
"So what's a movie night?" I ask.
"Seriously? You don't know what movie night is?" Clint asks. "Oh right, 700 years isolation. Movie night is watching a movie with friends on a… well night." I shrug. sounds logical.
"So… what movie?" I ask.
"Hunger games!" Tony and Clint immediatly shout. I cover my ears.
"Are they always like this?" I ask no one in particular.
"Unfortunately, yes." Loki answers besides me. Tony just grins and starts the film.
Halfway through it I get tired. I look to my left and see Bruce fast asleep, his glasses still in his hands. I smile to myself. I turn back to the movie and lay my head on Loki's shoulder.
"What are you doing?" He whisper-asks me.
"I'm tired and didn't want to wake Bruce up." I say, also whispering.
"Then go to sleep." Loki says back.
"I want to see the movie." I tell him. He only hums in response. I shake my head slightly and turn my attention back to the film. They're about to start the games. After a few minutes I feel an arm wrap around my shoulders. I look up and see Loki smiling at me. I give him a smile back and go back to watching the film, my head still on his shoulder. I can nearly keep my eyes open, but I want to know how the movie ends. However I can't help myself and soon enough I'm asleep.
What wakes me is surprise, surprize Tony. He's had more than enough to drink and fell over a chair. Not that the chair hadn't been there before. I wake up due to his yell. I jump up and fall off of the couch, hitting my head on the coffee table in the process. I let out a yell of pain and grab my head. I blink my eyes a couple of times then close them to get to dizziness away, too bad it doesn't work.
"Thanks a lot Tony." I manage to say. My words are a little twisted due to my head. I feel a hand on my shoulder and open my eyes to see it's Loki. He looks at me with worried eyes. I give him my best try at a smile.
"I'm fine." I tell him. As a sign that I really was okay, I get up and take a step. I shouldn't have done that. I can't stay on my legs and nearly fall back down if Loki hadn't caught me.
"Liar." He says. I roll my eyes at his comment. "Bruce can you see if something's wrong with her."
"Sure, put her on the couch. Rose follow this light for me." He says with a nod to the couch. I sit down and follow the light Bruce is holding in front of me.
"No signs of a concussion. I think she's fine, but-" He starts, but I cut him off.
"Told you I was fine." I say to Loki.
"But, you should take it easy a couple of days." I roll my eyes again, but still nod. I get up and take another step, if Loki hadn't stopped me I would've fallen back to the gound. Again.
"Okay that's it." He says. In one swift movement he picks me up, bridal style.
"No, don't. Put me down. I can walk you know." I protest.
"No you can't." Loki says back. "You fell trying, twice." I was about to protest again, but I shut my mouth before I say anyting.
"Smart move." He says. Without any other words Loki teleports to my room. He puts me down and our faces are only a few inches apart from each other. I look up into his eyes and notice how green they really are. After a while I blush and look away.
"Thank you." I tell him. He stands back up.
"No problem. I'll see you tomorrow Roselia." Without another word he vanishes. I close my eyes and fall asleep. Noticing in the back of my mind, I'm still fully dressed. I'll deal with it tomorrow.
Fire, there's fire everywhere. The heat's unbearable. Evereywhere around me I see the red and orange of the flames. I watch in horror. There's nothing I can do except watch. Watch the awful spectacle before me. As an invisible ghost I have to look at my younger self. What I did, is unforgivable. And yet, I didn't have to pay the ultimate price. Normally an act like this would have been punushed with a death sentence. However, no father would ever want that for his child. The alternative was far more cruel. Banished for life. A life in solitude. Alone with the fear and the loneliness. And the guilt. Oh the guilt is the worst part of it. To live with myself, knowing what I have done.
I jerk awake and shake the dream away. More like nightmare. My own personal nightmare haunting me. I didn't have it in a while, but they never stay away very long. Sighing I get out of my bed, knowing I wouldn't be able to sleep again anyway. I carefully take a step and realize the dizzyness from earlier is completely gone. I need a drink. Probably the last thing I should do, but who cares anyway. I walk out of my room and look for anything to drink. Finding nothing I take the stairs to the common room. I'm pretty sure I saw a bar there earlier. I peek around the corner and surprizingly the bar isn't deserted. I step around the corner and sneak a little closer.
"Well you aren't exactly the last person I thought I'd find here, but why are you here?" I ask the man on at the bar. Tony turns around and smirks.
"Well hello to you too birdie." Tony slurs. He's defeneatly drunk. So I can tell him anything and he wouldn't remember any of it in the morning.
"Oh, I couldn't sleep." I casually say. "Have anything good to drink?" I ask. Tony nods and grabs a random bottle.
"Everything is good here birdy, especially the bar tender." He says while pointing at himself. He pours me a glass and I gulp it down, signalling him to pour me another one. He does so with a questioning look.
"I needed it." I explain.
"Oh, does it have to do with Loki?" He asks.
"No! Why would it have anything to do with Loki, we're friends. Like I am with the rest of the team." I defend myself.
"Oh don't hide it." Tony slurs. "I've seen you two look. You like him don't ya?"
"Yes as a friend. And I doubt he likes me like that." I say back with a roll of my eyes.
"Sure, make yourself believe that. Another drink?" He asks when my glass is empty again. I nod and he fills it.
"But if it isn't about Loki, then why do you need the drink? Scratch that drinks." I think for a moment. Should I tell him. Well he's not going to remember enything the next morning anyway, so why not. I finish my third glass an Tony pours a new one.
"Nightmare. It's more like a memory I keep going through. When I got banished from France." I say to him.
"Oh, well the people there stink anyway. Way to serious." I grimace at it.
"You can say that, and they've gotten less serious over the years. Imagine what it was like in the 13th century. I wasn't allowed to do anything. Well except sit still and be pretty as a princess should." I sigh. My glass is empty again. I know I'm drinking way to fast, but right now I don't really care.
"You're a princess?" Tony asks with one raised eyebrow. I nod and hold up my glass, signalling for another drink.
"I used to be. I kind of got disowned after I got banished. Not that I mind, it's a lot less stressful, and a lot more free." I admit with another sigh.
"You can say that." A voice behind me says. I turn around and see Thor leaning against the wall. "I opened my eyes in my exile. I felt free for once."
"How long have you been standing there?" I ask him.
"Since you told Tony about your nightmare." He responds, he walks to us and takes a seat.
"It's nothing to hide, everyone here has them. Some more than others. In the end, it isn't real. They're just dreams." He says to me.
"It wasn't a dream." I say soft enough so Thor barely hears me. "It was more of a memory." I admit. I empty my glass once again, and as usual Tony fills it again.
"You're drinking a lot." Tony states.
"I don't care. If anything it makes me sleep later. I doubt I can on my own." I say back
"Even then they're just dreams, they'll go away." Thor assures me.
"Well you haven't been having them for 700 years, now have you? You haven had to deal with the guilt of killing your own mother!" I shout at him while slamming my empty glass on the table. I quickly put my hand over my mouth when I realize what I have said. In a haste I get up and run away from them. Down te stairs and to my room. I lock the door and sit against the door. I fold my wings around me and hug my knees. How could I've been so stupid. I can't believe what I've done. One thing's for sure. Tomorrow is going to be a hell.
A/N So here's a little about her past. And she's right tomorrow is going to be like hell. I hope to update first thing when I wake up, because I have to work, and after that my friend's trowing a party due to her graduation.
Please review. It makes me happy!