Chapter 7: Reflections & Collections

~§~ Lady Sif ~§~

Sif waved the others on, choosing to remain in the Bifrost chamber, a rare opportunity to visit with her brother. She fretted while she waited for everyone to leave. They were a noisy group.

"I can be found in the library," Darcy tossed over her shoulder as she left.

"I really don't see why they did not take me," Kyrath's whiny voice chimed in.

"You don't? You have made a mess in Cartherion," Micarian began.

"I did NOT! They did! Our father and Hadriath. I had nothing to do with it; I just did what they said to do, so there!" Kyrath's voice was getting quieter as they moved further away.

Sif watched them silently, wondering how Kyrath could be related to Katirya. "You cannot see anything?" She finally spoke.

"He is hidden, well hidden," Heimdall replied. "Whoever has him, knows the tricks to hide, just like Loki and Katirya can do. You wear your heart on your sleeve, little one."

Sif grimaced. Heimdall was the only one she would allow to call her 'little one', considering he stood at least a head taller than she. "Do I?"

"To all who know you, except perhaps the one you most desire," his deep rumbling voice soothed her fears somewhat.

Sif sighed heavily.

"It would be best would be better to move on, to forget about him when he returns." Heimdall's advice was given quietly.

"When he returns," Sif's voice sounded slightly hopeful. "At least you are optimistic. Your words are exactly what Kiri told me to do."

"Thor's focus is still on the mortal. It might be for many years, it might be he will need to mourn. We do not know her fate as of yet. Perhaps the Queen can help her, perhaps not. Her powers have grown in her short time here."

"Katirya, what do you think of her? I will admit that I did not like her at first." Sif's admission was rare. She typically did not express her feelings for people. She had thought at first that Katirya might also be a rival for Thor's affection. It was bad enough she had to deal with Jane Foster.

"The Queen reminds me of Queen Frigga in many ways. She is genuinely in love with Loki. That is good." Heimdall pronounced his opinion of the match. "She has grown up while she has been here. Her intentions were not so noble at first, but now, she will protect all. She will set aside her ambitions for what is best. I see that in her."

Sif considered his opinion of their new queen. "I agree. She might be more powerful than him, but she seems to be so completely in love…" she sighed softly.

Heimdall laughed, "You will find someone, someday. Perhaps it might be Thor; perhaps it will be someone else. But do not dwell on it."

"You are correct, brother. I do need to move on. The festival gave me an opportunity to start. I shall continue as she suggested. Kiri told me I ought not to always dress like a warrior," she glanced down at her garments, "but I do not think now is a time to change."

"No, there is much trouble brewing. We must be prepared," Heimdall's gaze shifted out towards the stars.

Sif looked out at the universe spread out before them. "It is so beautiful."

"Indeed."

•∂• Darcy •∂•

As they headed towards the city, Darcy thought about why she had come to Asgard. Why hadn't she remained on Earth with Ian and Erik? Jane had become a close friend, and she was worried for her, but what could she do here that she couldn't do back there? Then it hit her – the library!

"Hey, guys?" She asked the group, "I'm going to, like, head to the library, see if I can find something out about that last stone. And maybe try to figure out if there is a way to get the Aether out of Jane; maybe that will, like, help her get her mind back. Can any of you tell me more about Thanos?"

"I probably have the most recent knowledge of him, since he visits Cartherion often. Plus he is, after all, my uncle." Micarian said with a grimace. The thought of having that as an uncle wasn't precisely his ideal of a relative.

"Count us in too!" Sean said, indicating that he, along with his brother, would join her. "We can help with the research, and tell you what we know."

"That sounds like an excellent plan." Fandral chimed in. "Why don't we all go there? Not much else we can do until Loki and Katirya return."

"I'll go order dinner to be brought up to us." Volstagg added.

"Do you ever think of anything other than food?" Hogun teased his friend.

"Yes," Volstagg frowned, "but we do need to keep up our strength!"

"Fine, order dinner then," Hogun grinned at Volstagg. "We will see you in the library. Onwards!"

When they reached the library, greeting Edda enthusiastically.

"This is getting to be a common occurrence, to have so many of you visiting. I rather like it," Edda exclaimed as they entered. "What are you in need of today?"

"We need to find out more about the Aether, and see if we can figure out where that last stone might be," Darcy quickly explained.

Edda went to her desk and pulled out the book that Darcy had used to find the previous Stone. "There is still this one," she handed it to the woman. "I also did some searching while you were gone and found a few more," she pointed over to a table that held a pile of other books. "Those might be of help."

"Awesome!" Darcy pounced on the book, then glanced at the table. "Wow! That is a lot of books. Good thing you all came along," she grinned at the rest of the group. "Let's get started. We're looking for any clue to the last Stone; it's a Time Stone. I don't know if it has a name, but at least we know what we are looking for. Oh, and don't forget to look for anything related to the Aether. We have to find a way to save Jane."

"And Thor," Hogun added.

"Thor and Jane?" Edda asked, surprise tingeing her voice. "What happened to them?"

"Thanos happened to Jane," Darcy responded despondently. "And then he used her to capture Thor. We don't get why Thor hasn't escaped or anything. Something is really, really weird about that."

Hogun nodded. "It is odd, unless he is trying to protect Jane. That would be just like him."

Darcy perked up slightly at that thought, "It might be. We can hope. Until we find out, we need to try to learn as much as we can. So… " she picked up a book, "let's get started."

Everyone grabbed one of the books from the pile on the table. The only sound that could be heard for the next hour was the gentle slap of pages being turned. Volstagg returned while they were searching, and quietly joined in.

After an hour, Darcy set down her book with a sigh, and stretched her arms up. "Nothing, yet. Anyone having any luck?"

"No, nothing," Hogun answered, as the others simply shook their heads.

"I wish someone had just written down a list of where all the Stones were placed and hid it in a book somewhere. That would make is so much easier," Darcy remarked, looking at the stack of books they still had to go through.

A sudden boom in a back room startled them all.

"What was that?" Darcy jumped out of her seat. "It sounded like the room collapsed or something?"

Edda looked alarmed. "I don't know. The library is safe; at least I think it is."

Fandral rose and nodded for Hogun and Volstagg to join him. "We shall check it out."

They disappeared into the back.

"You had all better come back here and see this!" Fandral shouted.

The others dropped their books, racing back in the direction of Fandral's voice. Arriving in a room, they stopped, staring at the disaster in the room. The shelves were still standing along the walls, completely empty, but every book had been removed from the shelves, thrown into the center of the room in what appeared to be a haphazard fashion. Except for one book. One single book lay upon the only table in the room, sitting precisely in the center of it.

Darcy walked slowly towards the table, stepping carefully over the books on the floor. She reached out and picked up the lone book. It fell open naturally to a page, and a sheet of paper fluttered to the floor.

She bent over, and picked it up. Reading it, she looked up at the others. "I guess I should have asked for that list earlier. This is a list of all the Stones, and their locations."

"WHAT?" Everyone else shouted at once.

She held the paper out, walking towards them. "Read it. It lists all the Infinity Stones and where they were originally hidden. There are some notes behind a few, like it seems they were moved for one reason or another. Someone wrote this all out."

"Who did this though?" Fandral waved at the mess in the room. "Who threw all the books on the ground, leaving that one out? Who knew?"

"I thought Thor had said only his father knew. Maybe Frigga knew, but they both are dead, right?" Darcy spoke softly, recalling some of what Thor had told them when they had first started trying to find the missing Stones.

"Yes, they are both dead. So who else knows? There must be someone in the city still alive. We need to find them!" Hogun spoke up.

~ß~ Katirya ~ß~

"Ah, yes," Taneleer spoke as he entered the room, "here is the Aether. I showed it to your two warriors when they were here recently. They spoke about leaving one or more of the other Stones here as well. They would be safe. Are you sure you really want to take it?"

"Yes, father. I need it." Katirya spoke confidently. "I am certain I can control it as well as the others."

"As you wish," He nodded, then opened the contained the Aether was housed in.

Katirya walked over to it, reached in and gathered it up in her hands. The Aether formed a fluid ball in her hands, and she stared down, mesmerized by the Stone. Slowly she began to twist her hands, the Aether floating between her palms.

"I can feel the power of this Stone." She looked up at her father and her husband. "It is a very strong Stone. Thor was right in not leaving it with the Tesseract. The two Stones, in such proximity, would have been extremely dangerous."

"Are you saying I might have been tempted to try to use it?" Loki asked, knowing full well he had once wished he had been the one to receive the Aether rather than Jane.

"No, not you. Thanos. Having those two Stones together, along with the gauntlet…" Katirya didn't finish her sentence, allowing the two men to draw their own conclusions.

"True, we have seen what he has been doing with just the tiny bits that Jane retained." Loki commented as he stared at the Aether in Katirya's hands. "I can just imagine what he would do with all that!"

"Well, we shall just have to make sure we do not find out," Katirya quickly flicked one wrist, gathering the Aether into her right hand. Holding it up, she stared at it as she made a fist, squeezing the Aether. When she opened her fist up, a brilliant red gemstone rest upon her palm. "This seems a bit easier to carry."

"Interesting," Taneleer said, staring at the Aether Stone. "I did not know it could be changed in form so easily. I ought to have tried, but I was slightly distracted when it was brought here."

Katirya looked at her father, thinking it odd that he would not know how to do this. She had found it simple to manipulate. She had expected him to be more able to do tricks such as this. She dropped the Aether Stone into her pouch. "That is one more to add to our collection, though not quite as grand as yours, father. I believe with this much of the Aether, combined with the other Stones; we have a good chance to defeat Thanos. I just wish we could find that last Stone."

At the mention of his Collection, Taneleer smiled. "Would you like to see some of my favorites?"

Katirya looked to Loki to decide. She knew they needed to get back to Asgard, to see if anything had turned up concerning Thor, but she did want to get to know more about her real father.

Loki, sensing her mood, nodded. "We would be delighted. Heimdall knows where we are, so if he needs to contact us, we will know just as soon as if we were in Asgard."

Katirya smiled back at him. "Thor will be fine. We will get him back."

"Please, join me for dinner then." Taneleer led the way out of the room. "I will enjoy the company, and the opportunity to get to know my daughter."