Shadowed Past: Visions of Affliction
Chapter 11: The Weight of the World on Our Shoulders
Since this is the first part of the ending chapter, here's a summary of what's happened recently in the story just to clarify:
They got a lead on Bucky. Piper and Alex found all of Howard Stark's journal pages and all of the case files, including the one about Seidr. Howard logged some interesting facts in his journal, mainly those about his affair with Alex's mother (Lucy). Lucy had worked with Howard first, and that was how she got her powers. She left Howard to make the robots with Dexter, who went after Alex in the first installment because of her special abilities. Tony and Alex found out that they indeed are related.
Alex's symptoms are getting worse. Her visions are still going on, replaying everything that happened during the Ultron era. Her last vision was about the team coming together to fight Ultron (the scene where the Vision was created). At Sam's house, Alex had a hallucination that she was coughing up blood, and her visions about the stones, and the purple man on his large throne (who Thor identified as Thanos). Her physical health continues to get worse as well. Later she brought the information about Seidr to Thor, who went back to Asgard to get help.
Meanwhile in Asgard, Thor thinks he's receiving help from his father. Loki is behind the wheel on that one, with the real Odin trapped in a secret dungeon. Odin confesses the Seidr curse to Loki: "It all began with Howard Stark. He told me it was for the greater good. It was really only for his own selfish desires. We made a deal. He used Seidr and I got payed in rare currency for it. He changed the destiny of a woman named Lucy Cooper, so that they would conceive a daughter named Alex who would someday meet his creation of Captain America and they would fall in love and have a child to combine the two superhuman genes and create an ultimate gene. After the business had been taken care of, Howard tried to steal the legendary Seidr crystal for himself. The crystal is what wields the power of the only remaining Seidr known all throughout the galaxy. In the midst of the fight to try and get the crystal back from him, the crystal was smashed into to shards. He escaped with a single shard. The power was lost. As revenge to ruin his plan, I cast a curse on the daughter the moment she was conceived. The curse haunts the victim with horrible visions until they lose their mind, become very ill, fall into a coma and die. It's old Norse."
On the side, Piper was having some interest in Sam Wilson, until she was in the same room as Bucky Barnes that is. She didn't exchange hardly any words with Bucky, but she felt a strong connection with him. A connection that she couldn't quite put her finger on.
At the end of the previous chapter: Alex, Piper, and Thor just left for Asgard.
People were leaving the city left and right, but we still weren't moving fast enough.
Wanda was using her telekinesis, Steve was directing traffic, Pietro was running around like a mad man. I was helping with escorting people, having to use force fields every now and then to stop cars from running over pedestrians.
Many people got out, but not enough.
The next thing I knew, Ultron's robots were crawling out of every crevice.
We all ran to the church. We couldn't let the city go up in the air.
The fight waged on, and it was horrid. Each robot I beheaded gave me chills. Their glowing red eyes looked exactly like those of Ultron. They went straight to your bones and didn't stop there. One of them attacked me from behind, giving the one in front the chance to shove me against one of the concrete walls. I shrieked, feeling my throat begin to constrict under the force of cold metal hands. Red glowing eyes stared into mine, and Ultron's voice came through the speaker of the robot. "You're making a mistake. You could've joined me."
"Never." I choked out.
"Such a shame. Such power put to waste, and for what? Lives? Please. Humans are nothing. You are nothing."
Anger coursed through my veins, and I felt energy begin to build in my fists. My vision began to blur as the cold hands around my throat got even tighter, my lungs burning. I used my last breath to it's advantage.
"Hasta la vista, bub." The energy in my hands exploded and both robots and many of those in the perimeter around me were perished. I stood, panting heavily, ready for the next wave.
All of a sudden, the ground began to shake, and I looked over to see a single robot that had activated the switch. We all froze. We were headed to the sky.
Hundreds of people were still in the city, but it was too late.
The next thing we knew, the city was thousands of feet in the air and climbing.
Every minute seemed to make the chances of survival smaller and smaller. Tony got the idea to blow up the rising piece of Earth, that way the impact wouldn't destroy the planet. But Steve wouldn't have it. Every life mattered to him.
"We're not leaving this rock with one civilian on it." Steve said.
"I didn't say we should leave." Natasha replied. Steve shot her a look. I observed how calm she seemed about the situation. "There's worse ways to go." She paused, looking out at the clouds surrounding us. "Where else am I going to get a view like this?"
A familiar voice then interrupted the silence. "I'm glad you like the view, Romanoff, because it's about to get better."
The helicarrier, Fury, Agent Hill, SHIELD.
We began loading the people onto the boats, maybe there was hope after all.
Everyone split up, making sure all of the people were loaded onto the boats. The team included.
Everything seemed set, and then Clint went to rescue the little boy.
Ultron was flying overhead in a quinjet, shooting everything in his path. Clint was holding the boy tightly, watching the rapidly flying bullets approaching quickly, ready to embrace his death as a hero.
And then something flew by him.
Everything was quiet.
I watched in pure horror from the boat.
His body stood unsteady for a moment, blood soaking through all of the wounds staining his shirt, and then he fell to the ground.
Pietro.
I swallowed my scream, sprinting over to Clint as fast as I could. Steve arrived only seconds after I did. My heart sank at the sight before me, but yet I could not cry. Out of the corner of my eye I saw the little boy coming to, and he looked at Pietro, confused. I quickly ran over to him and picked him up in my arms. I held his head close, not wanting him to be scarred by Pietro's motionless body.
Steve picked up Pietro, and Clint insisted I hand the boy to him. He saw that I was weak from the fight. So I did.
We got on the boat just in time.
The city fell, and it was broken into pieces just in time for the impact to not damage the Earth below.
I opened my eyes, and it took them a minute to adjust. We were in a large spherical room, the ceiling made from glass frames. I could see billions of stars and colorful bursts all around. There was a small golden perch like structure, a man in golden armor standing atop it.
"Thor, you did not mention such a quick return, let alone with guests."
"Heimdall, these two women are nothing more than my friends. Lady Alex has fallen very ill, and we are seeking help."
The guy with the name of Heimdall looked down at us, his golden eyes staring deep into mine before looking into Piper's.
"This is Alex, and her good friend Piper. Alex, Piper, this is Heimdall, guardian of the Bifrost, brother of Lady Sif."
"Sir," I muttered out, my voice weak. I attempted to do somewhat of a curtsy to show respect, but I quickly lost my balance. My head felt like it weighed a thousand pounds.
"She needs help. Now." Thor said, catching me. He quickly picked me up bridal style, and my head fell against his chest.
"I-I can walk, you don't have to-"
"You're in no shape. Let me help you." He muttered as he began walking, Piper right by his side.
Heimdall let us into Asgard, and wished us the best of luck and a safe recovery.
Just as my eyes caught a glimpse of the golden Asgardian kingdom in all it's glory, they fluttered shut.
Third Person POV
Sam paced back and forth by the door.
"You're anxious. Mind telling me why?" Bucky spoke up.
"I'm just waiting. That's all."
"Yeah, anxiously waiting."
Sam shot Bucky a look.
"It's nothing. Don't worry about it."
"You know, you guys are all for helping me and making me better, and I'm thankful. But keeping secrets from me isn't going to establish anything."
Sam sighed. "I'm just waiting for Steve. There, you happy?"
"Whatever." Bucky mumbled.
Sam shot him another look. The guy might have been though the unimaginable, but he was getting on Sam's nerves. Fast. Just then, Sam looked over at the door to see Steve standing there.
"I'm here."
Sam slid out of the way, motioning to Bucky. "He's all yours."
Steve walked over to Bucky, and sat on the floor next to him. "How do you feel?"
"That's a stupid question." Bucky chuckled.
"I should say, how do you feel about trusting us?"
"Fine, I guess. Bird man over here's been keeping quite a few secrets."
"Bird man?" Sam snapped, offended. Steve glared at Sam, telling him to shut up.
"That won't be happening anymore. Promise." Steve said.
The room until Bucky spoke up. "Hey Steve?"
"Yeah?"
"I'm with you until the end of the line."
"I'm with you until the end of the line too, pal."
First Person POV
I awoke to a massive room, the ceiling almost a million miles away. I was on what was possibly one of the softest beds I've ever laid on. Piper was by my side, reading a book.
"Piper?" I asked.
"Thank God, you're up. Do you feel any better?"
"I feel fine, but we both know that won't last for long."
A wave of fear washed over me, and I reached up to feel my collar bone. The crystal, it was gone. I gasped audibly, causing Piper to look over at me.
"Hey, don't worry, I've got it." She said, pulling the chain out of her shirt.
"Why are you wearing it?"
"I think it's pretty clear that the thing is only making your fainting worse. It doesn't affect me. I'll keep it on, okay? It's not going anywhere. We can't get you help if you're unconscious."
"Where's Thor?"
"He said he was going to get his father-"
Thor burst in the room. He looked at me, and grinned slightly. "It's time."
We walked up to Odin rather slowly, who sitting with poise in his large golden throne. The room was massive, and each pillar seemed to be the size of a small building to me. I'd never seen anything built so large before in my entire life.
Something didn't feel right.
This didn't feel like the answer.
I felt something.
A power.
A force.
Evil.
"No." I gasped, locking my feet to the floor.
Thor stopped. "What's wrong?"
"Him." I said weakly.
"Alex," Thor said. "He is going to help you, there's no need to be afraid."
"It just doesn't feel right."
Thor looked up at Odin, who was grinning madly.
"Oh, I was afraid she'd say that."
"Father?" Thor questioned, staring at Odin intently.
Odin snickered. "My son, you've always been a thorn in my side."
Thor's brows furrowed as he kept his gaze. "What are you talking about?"
"You've always been better than me..." Odin began to glow, the light getting brighter and brighter until it faded away to reveal another figure. "Brother."
Piper gasped and took a step back, Thor doing the same.
"You were dead! We thought you were dead!" Thor shouted. I stared at Loki with hatred, but fear still coursed through me.
"They always loved you more than me! You were always their favorite, Daddy's little champ, Mommy's little helper, and what was I? That blasted smudge that was always in the way of things! I tried to prove to you all that I could be better, but what happens? You and your bloody friends take me down!"
"We worked together! You helped save Jane!"
"And I faked my death, again. I knew it was the only way I'd ever get my hands on power again."
"Why are you so worried about power? You have people that love you, that's all you need!"
Loki scoffed. "Who? Mother is gone. Father has always hated me."
"I love you. You're my brother." Thor replied.
"Love is for the weak."
"No, it is for the strong. I've learned that if you have even only one other who loves you, you don't need anything else. Nothing else matters in the end."
The room fell silent. Thor was right. Loki knew he was right, but certainly wouldn't admit to it anytime soon.
"Can you help her, or not?" Thor spoke up.
Loki looked at Thor in disbelief, before he broke out into laughter. "Yes, I can. She just needs to give me one little thing." He stood, and slowly walked towards us as he continued speaking. "Where's the crystal?"
Piper swallowed deeply, taking a step back. I immediately stepped back with her. Loki's eyes locked on ours, and he grinned.
"Ladies? May I?" He said, slowly stepping closer. We both continued to step backwards slowly. Thor jumped in front of us.
"You're not getting near either one of them."
"Why ever not? Thor you should know that it's rude to not greet a woman properly. I thought you were a gentlemen."
Thor gave him a look.
Loki looked into my eyes over Thor's shoulder. His eyes were green, a beautiful green at that. But I knew that behind those deceiving eyes laid the mind of a mad man. "Ah, the captain's wife. I knew I recognized that face. I didn't know that your name was Alex. It's nice to finally meet you."
"I don't believe I can say that same to you." I retorted.
He chuckled. "Why not?"
"I think we both know."
He then looked at Piper.
"Well aren't you just divine. What's your name, darling?" He paused. "Wait, don't tell me. It's, Piper Williamson?"
Piper gasped, stepping back. "How did you know that?"
"I'm a god. What else is new."
"Are you going to help me, or not?"
"Yes, we've already been through this! I just need the little shard and you'll be better in no time."
"How can we trust you?" Piper spoke up.
Loki began to laugh deviously before answering. "You can't."
Suddenly Loki appeared in every corner of the room. Piper gasped and tried to run for the door, but she was stopped by one of them. He picked her up by her throat. I quickly tried to stop him, but they had Thor and I under constraints in seconds.
The real Loki walked towards Piper, and ripped the necklace chain with the crystal off of her neck with ease.
"I wish I'd known about this little beauty years ago. The universe would've already been mine." Loki chuckled.
"You're better than this!" Thor shouted. "Brother, look at me. You don't have to do this."
"But I want to."
Loki proceeded to break the thin chain from around Piper's neck with one yank. He wrapped the chain in between his pale fingers as he raised it closer to his eyes for a better look.
"Such a beautiful little gem. Very powerful too. It's a shame that it's been useless for all of these years."
"Let her go!" I shouted. Piper's face was turning bright red and she was gasping harder for air every second.
Piper was dropped to the floor and began coughing and gasping for air immediately.
I felt something hot in my hands, and I haven't even realized that I'd made tight fists that were building up fields in my grasp. I opened up my hands behind me, blowing away the one particular Loki that had me contained.
That's when the fight started. I began throwing fields every chance I got. I helped Thor get free, and he summoned the Mjölnir in seconds. I kicked, punched, scratched, did anything and everything to keep them back before blowing them away with a field.
Suddenly I heard a blood curdling scream from behind me. "Alex, look out!"
I spun around to see a glowing red object flying through the air directly towards me. Suddenly, Piper was the only thing in my sight. The object imploded, it's glow illuminating even brighter. Piper's skin quickly became fried instantly, and she fell to the ground. Red was coursing through her veins and she become motionless. Her skin appeared similar to that of charcoal.
I felt a huge hole form in my chest, as if my heart had just been ripped out. I looked up at Loki, who was looking down at what he'd just done.
My muscles became so tense they began to ache, tears pooled in glowing red eyes, and my skin illuminated. I wanted to yell at him, scream until my lungs gave out. Tell him how much I hated him, how much I wanted to rip his heart out. But everything came out as one big scream as I unleashed my anger upon him. A bright red force field exploded from my body, leaving cracks in the pillars and knocking Thor and Loki over.
My fields were normally the color of violet.
I tried to run after Loki, but he vanished. Along with the crystal.
I felt my body cool, my muscles ease, and I fell to my knees at Piper's side. Tears streamed down my face, and heavy sobs racked my body. I could still make out her face, but I couldn't keep my eyes on her. It all hurt too much.
"Piper," I whimpered. "It's gonna be okay." I ran my fingers along her arm, and it felt like I was running my fingers down the side of a tree. Crusty, hard, rough...burnt. "You're gonna be okay, everything's gonna be okay." I sobbed.
Thor came up behind me and put a hand on my shoulder.
"Alex, we need to go. He's going to get the other crystals and-"
"No! We can't just leave her here!" I screamed, my eyes flaming bright through the tears.
He sighed softly, getting down on his knees next to me.
"She's not gone, tell me she's not gone!" I looked up at Thor, who now had tears in his own eyes.
"I'm sorry, she's gone." He muttered, pulling me into an embrace. My body lungs began to spasm for air as I continued to sob. "That was aether that he threw at her. There's no way she could've survived."
"She saved me." I chocked out. "This is all my fault."
"Alex,"
"No! This is all my fault!" I screamed.
The room fell silent besides the sobs erupting from my throat. My lungs continued to pulse, my breaths short and panicked.
"Go."
"What?" Thor muttered.
"You have to go stop him. Go, now." I chocked out.
"I can't leave-"
"I'll catch up! Stop him before he changes everything!"
Thor quickly planted a kiss to my palm before running off.
After about ten minutes, my breathing had finally calmed. I wiped a few final tears from my eyes before I looked down at Piper again. The pain was indescribable. My head ached, like a bullet had been plunged into my brain. My chest felt empty. The room seemed to be spinning and I didn't want to do anything besides curl up in a ball and go to sleep and pretend none of it had actually happened. But I knew I had to face the truth. It had happened. It was over, Piper was dead.
I felt a few more tears brim my eyes, when I noticed something. The glowing red fluid outlining Piper's body slowly disappeared into her burnt skin. My brows furrowed in confusion, as I leaned in a little closer to observe. I watched the skin on her arm as it began to fade back to a normal color, and then looked up to see the rest of her skin doing the same.
"Piper?" I whispered.
Her eyes shot open and she gasped for air.
"Piper!" I cried, helping her sit up before wrapping her in a hug. "What happened?! You were dead!"
"No I wasn't, I was dreaming."
"What do you mean? I saw you! You were exposed to aether, you weren't breathing!"
"I just remember being hit with something, and then I felt really warm, and then, I saw these stones. There were six of them. And, a really big purple guy."
"You saw him too?"
All of a sudden, a deep rumbling crept it's way through the room. It magnified until the entire room was shaking.
"What's happening?!" Piper shouted, clinging to my side.
"I don't know!"
Suddenly, a wave of light washed over the entire room, including Piper and I. After it was gone, everything looked different. The rumbling ceased, and there wasn't a sound to be heard.
"Why is it so dark outside?" Piper asked.
We exchanged looks of concern before getting up and walking over to the nearest window.
The galaxy bound skies were hidden by grey clouds, and every Asgardian was walking with their head down. Some were chained by leads to fences and poles, others were walking freely but handcuffs still clung to their wrists.
"I think Loki used the crystal."
"Did he get away?" Piper asked.
"Yes! After he killed you! He reassembled the crystal, and now he rules Asgard. He changed his own destiny."
"How are we going to get out of here? He's got guards posted everywhere." Piper froze. "Wait, where's Thor?"
"He went go stop Lok-" I suddenly felt pain return to my head, and I began to feel lightheaded again. "Ow, oh no not again." I panted.
"What's wrong?"
"The curse isn't getting any better." I muttered, holding my head in my hands.
"Here, let me help." Piper said.
"What?" I asked. I looked up to see her putting my hand on my forehead. "Piper what are you-"
Suddenly her hand became warm. A comforting warm. A small glow illuminated from her palm and then all of my pain was gone. I no longer felt lightheaded or dizzy.
"Did you just heal me?"
"I didn't get rid of the curse, but I did something."
"Piper, do you have powers now?"
"No, why would I have powers?" She shrugged.
"How did you do that then?!" I cried excitedly.
"I don't know! We'll figure that out later! Right now we need to find Thor."
"Wait," Piper froze. She closed her eyes and focused on something. "He's that way." She said, pointing west.
"How do you know that?" I asked.
"I can see him, in my mind. He's in a dungeon..." She trailed off, closing her eyes again. "Odin's there too! Like, the real one!"
I stared at her, my mouth agape. Without words, Piper darted over to the throne and got down in the floor in front of it. She started knocking on the floor. On her third knock there was a hollow echo directly below the throne.
"Yes! The way to the dungeon's down here." Piper said, trying to push the throne out of the way.
"Hold on," I said. I tried pushing the throne with my superhuman strength alone, but it wasn't enough. Piper tried pushing too. It wouldn't budge. Piper's hand slipped over mine and suddenly, her strength tripled and the throne slid out of the way.
"Did you just-"
Piper faded into thin air. She had my invisibility. "This is so cool!" She cried, reappearing.
"Yeah, and weird." I replied. "You have power manipulation, and healing...and you saw Thor and Odin?"
"We'll figure all of this out later. Let's go." She said, starting her way down the ladder.
We both held small fields in our hands to give us some light as we made out way down the tunnels. The dim violet light coming from our hands was rather relaxing for such a stressing situation. Piper led the way, using her fancy new powers to find Thor and Odin.
"Are you sure there's no booby traps or anything?" I muttered, my voice echoing down the dark halls.
"Lady Alex? Is that you?!" Thor's voice boomed. We ran down the tunnel until we found the dungeon gates, Thor and the real Odin chained up behind them.
"Piper! You're alive!" Thor cried.
"It's a long story."
"Finally, I've been down here forever." Odin sighed, relieved.
"Just close your eyes, boys." I called, stepping back and aiming a field at the lock. The gate fell with a loud clatter from the contact of metal on asphalt.
"Where's Loki?" Thor asked as we began undoing their chains and handcuffs.
"No idea, but he got a hold of the crystal. He rules Asgard now."
Odin exhaled painfully. "Oh joy. We'll never get the Seidr crystal back, it's one of the most powerful forms of magic in existence. We try to take it back, and can just change destiny so that we were never born. I'm surprised he hasn't done that already."
"Don't jinx us, father."
"Never say never, your majesty. We'll fix this. I'll fix this. It was all my fault." I spoke up.
"No, it was mine. I fell for his tricks and brought you here in the first place." Thor said. He wrapped Piper in a tight hug as soon as his hands were free.
"It was nobody's fault. We need to work together and fix this before things get worse." Piper said, pulling back.
"Piper, how are you alive?" Thor asked.
"I didn't die..."
"You came into contact with raw aether, you should be dead."
"I only thought it was a legend..." Odin began.
"What?" I asked.
"I believe that your friend here has obtained the aether she was exposed to. Aether manipulation has been in folklore for eons, but I've never seen it in person." Odin said, walking up to Piper, intrigued. "May I?" He asked, motioning to her hand. Piper held out her palm, and he held it between both of his hands. "You've definitely got aether in you. But it's not hostile. You've obtained it to use for your own choices."
"What can I do?"
"Aether is the celestial element, you can do nearly anything. Cosmological force manipulation, alchemy, animancy, pure creation, destruction, divination, healing, necromancy, telekinesis, power manipulation...the list is endless." Odin rambled, amazed.
"I don't know what half of that means." Piper chuckled.
"I'll explain later. There are more pressing issues at hand."
"How are we going to get out of here? There are guards everywhere and technically only two of the four of us can turn invisible." I said.
"I've got an idea." Piper answered. We all leaned in anticipating her answer. "It's going to sound a little crazy, but you'll just have to trust me."
We split up. Thor, Piper and I went one way and Odin went the other. His stealth and battle skills weren't the strongest, but he knew his fair share of fighting in a war.
"Lady Piper, are you sure this is going to work?" Thor asked as we approached a palace window.
"We don't have anything else." Piper retorted.
I looked out of the window and watched for Odin. The poor old fart had become our live bait.
"Shh, I see him." I watched as Odin walked out of the entrance to the palace, his hands in the air showing that he meant surrender. All of the guards rushed towards him, making sure he was under constraint.
"Hurry!" Piper urged, pushing Thor closest to the window. He held Mjölnir in one hand, and held Piper and I as close to his body as he could with his free arm.
"Hold on tight!" We went flying out of the castle window, past all of the city and directly over the Bifrost. We landed harshly on the what used to be the colorful bridge, now dull and unappealing. We to the edge of the Bifrost, only to see Heimdall ready to fight. Sirens were blaring in the distance.
"Where do you think you're going?"
"Heimdall, please! This is all a mistake! Loki has gone mad with power!" Thor exclaimed.
"Loki is the rightful king of Asgard, and you are the oaf that always tries to take his place." Heimdall said, charging at us.
We each dodged Heimdall in a different direction. He swung at me next, and blew him over with one of my fields.
Thor tackled him next. I was watching in fear from the sidelines, until Piper grabbed my hand. "Come on! We've got to go!"
"We can't just leave him here!"
"Go!" Thor yelled. "I'll catch up!"
Before I could say anything else, Piper threw me into the brightly glowing portal. She jumped in right after.
We landed in the same place we left from. The field that should've been right next to the base.
Except the base was missing. "Steve?" I breathed, my heart sinking. "Steve!" I screamed, my voice echoing across the bare stretch of land. It was useless. He, just like everyone else, was gone.
The sky was a dark grey. Everything was dimly lit. All of the trees were dead, their naked branches still reaching for the sky like hands reaching for hope.
"Alex?" Piper called, the fear thick in her voice.
I spun around to see her pointing towards the sky.
I followed her line of sight with my eyes. They were met with bright lights reflecting onto the thick, dark clouds where the stratosphere met the Earth.
"Those look pretty far off, at least a three day walk."
"Do you think it's the city?" Piper asked.
"I don't know. Can you see anything?"
Piper held her hands to her head, her eyebrows furrowing. "It's all distorted...I can't make anything out."
"Loki's probably got restraints on your powers...he technically gave them to you after all." I paused. "I've got a bad feeling about those lights. But, right now, they're the only thing we can head towards."
"Alex, can we do this?"
I exhaled deeply, my eyes not moving off of the lights. I didn't know what to say. The team was missing, if they were even alive in this universe Loki had created. I could feel myself growing weaker from the curse. Luckily Piper had some powers, but we still weren't completely sure of what she could do. A breeze started up, brushing through my hair and drifting across my face. I remembered that I still had to answer Piper.
"We have to. Nobody else can."
