Thank you all for tuning again for another hour of no music on Fanfiction! If this was a radio show, we'd all be dancing to some of the dumbest crap on Earth cause everyone's a freak and we all love it. Anywho, I've made up my mind. This story hates me with a blinding passion that burns brighter than a supernova to the power of infinity. Geek speak! Obviously, I'm hyper. Enjoy! And Review! I LOVE REVIEWS!
Univerce
Welcome to Midgard!
"Any questions?" the girl hums, skipping along ahead of the group of Asgardians.
A certain warrior, hell-bent on learning a certain fact, opens his mouth.
"None," Sif pipes up, elbowing Fandral in the side before he could say anything. "Actually, one. Where on Earth is that cat of yours?"
As if on cue, a loud cry echoes down the hall, an extremely oversized cat leaping at one of their shoulders. It just so happens that it was Loki's, sending the man stumbling forward, twisting with the extra weight on one side and falling to the ground. Ahead of him, the youngest of the group in the hall giggles quietly, striding over to crouch next to the feline. With a smile on her face, she strokes the cats head, eyes turning towards the man glaring at the offending animal now sat on his chest.
"Sorry 'bout her. She loves it when new people come around lately. I think she's lonely, but there isn't another cat out there like her."
"Is it healthy for them to get that large?" Thor hums, leaning over them. "She seems a fair bit bigger than the last time we saw her, too. How much has she grown since you returned?"
"No clue," the girl shrugs, pulling the cat away from her spot and shooing her towards Hogun. "But she definitely grew. An idiot vet sent me to a specialist that fainted at the mere sight of my baby girl. Coward couldn't even face me after he woke up and I left Aolani in a carrier. Which no longer fits her, by the way."
Crouched next to Aolani, and stroking her serenely, Hogun gives a soft chuckle.
"What do you feed that thing?" Fandral breathes, poking lightly at the animal with his toe. "Are there some sort of enablers in it?"
Lyra sends him a glare, quickly pulling out one of the rods on her thighs and swiping at his foot. Save Fandral, everyone there stares at Aolani as the cat snickers with a sort of grin on her face.
"I didn't know cats could smile," Volstagg muses, poking the cat himself with his shoes.
Only to receive the same treatment from the cat's master.
"Hey! That hurt!"
"Leave her alone!"
"Now, now," Thor pleads calmly. "Please, we need to get my brother to his room. Then you can harass the cat all you want.
"His room," Lyra repeats slowly, staring at them all with a blank expression.
At this moment, several people slam their faces into their hands. It just so happens that all of them are on the other side of a live security feed of the hallway. Standing behind a console in the lab, Tony Stark and his lab partner, along with the other members of the Avengers, Percival and Pepper, are watching said security feed. Save Percival, they're groaning quietly to himself, Stark quietly mumbling about how bad of an idea it all is, that he really should have handled it all himself. Percival instead stares at the screen for a moment, watching the 'scatterbrained' girl laugh off her joke of ignorance and lead the group onward.
Something just seems off…
Now before a glass pane, my fingers tap at the see-through material, pulling up one of Stark's many holographic monitors. It's really just a password screen in hopes of keeping any unauthorized personnel and visitors from the section. So far, the group has seen everything from their own rooms to the kitchen to the bathroom.
"Lyra?" Thor calls from behind me. "Isn't thi-"
"This is Loki's room."
Having said that, my hand pushes against the flat expanse of the door, right where the knob would be, and the system scans my prints. That done, a flash of a green light to the side of the door gives the go ahead, the door itself sliding out of the way. Just from the outside of the room, one can see the generic color scheme, green, black and yellow. After having gone through the description Thor gave SHIELD from the Chitauri crisis, it just made sense to have the room decorated like that. He's going to be here for a while, after all.
"It's been outfitted with almost everything he should need, save a kitchen. For that, I'll be coming to get him for meals. Breakfast and lunch, like I've said before are at everyone's discretion and we all meet in the dining room for dinner."
"Lyra," Thor glares – yes, glares – at me. "What lies behind the other door?"
His question has me laughing weakly, stepping over to the other white expanse in the hall. With my prints scanned, it slides away to show… my own room… Completely redecorated, as well, with a dresser sat against one wall opposite the bed shoved into the corner. Aolani's bed is sat on top of the dresser, just like it should be, with a soft set of pillows on the ground next to the edge her bed is sat next to. Stuck in the other corner opposite the dresser is a reading chair, the spot where all my writing gets done. Which is sadly little, lately. A few pictures decorate a nightstand next to my bed. But that's it. There's actually very little in my room, and would be even less if my uncle hadn't stopped me.
Thor pales a bit at the sight, the others gaping as Aolani cheers happily on the ground and speeds into the room, leaping for her bed and sending it sliding off the side. Again…
"Dammit, Aolani! I said not to do that!" Even if the pillows are there!
As the cat leaps up onto her feet, surprisingly unhurt, my gaze turns back to just barely catch the only person I hadn't checked. Loki looks surprised for a moment, the expression quickly vanishing as his eyes land on me staring back at him. As a grin flits onto my face, Thor's protest begins, easily blocked out as my ninja cat bounds out of the room and the door closes shut behind her. Standing there, my eyes land on Thor as he spouts off reason after reason – excuses – that me staying here is a problem. Honestly, though, the doors themselves would make Loki leaving his room impossible as is. He can't use magic, after all.
"Are you done?" I sigh fondly.
"Wha- Lyra! This is not a joke!"
"I know that." And yet laugh while saying it.
"Lyra!"
"Calm down! There's no danger here, Thor," I try calmly with a soft smile. "The doors have some of the most advanced locks. And with the scanners, you have to have authorized access and finger prints. All five finger prints on a hand, and all at once just to be sure. The only people able to enter this section of the hallway as of this morning when the glass pane was put in are myself and Stark. And that's just because Stark set the passcode. That'll be changing soon."
He frowns deeply, clearly not liking this at all, but closes his opening mouth when Hogun sets a hand on his shoulder. One look from the quiet swordsman calms the Asgardian prince down enough to seemingly think. As Thor looks back and forth between the two rooms, the silent man turns to me next.
"You are sure?" he asks quietly, shocking me.
"Uh," I breathe, staring at him. "What? Oh, right! Yes, I'm absolutely sure. If anything, this is the safest area in the tower."
With that, Hogun nods and steps back, joining his brothers in arms and Lady Sif, who are apparently having their own quiet debate. Loki is the only one absent, having strode into his 'cell' to look around. It's a bit of a surprise to look into the area and find him seemingly approving of the place. Maybe he expected less for his new space, considering all he had in his cell back in his own home. There's a still a few things missing, of course, but Shakespeare and Edgar Allen Poe will just have to wait until later. Because my stomach is telling me-
"Lyra, Miss Potts has requested I inform you that it's time for dinner."
"Yay! It's spaghetti night!"
And without another thought, I race past everyone else towards the dining room. They're all still close enough to bring Loki, so it should be fine to run off on my own just this once. Spaghetti night is my absolute favorite~.
So he's officially back now. Well, not back, but… yeah… It's been a rather quiet day, really. He didn't talk in the car, just stared out the window. More like glared, actually, but that's okay. In all honesty, I didn't expect him to be happy to be here on regular old Earth. Something does seem different about him, though. Maybe it's more to do with the fact that he's actually within arms' reach like this. There isn't a giant stretch of glass separating him from the rest of the world. Or maybe it has something to do with my other journals. I'm hilarious, huh? More likely that he saw them and tossed them into a dark corner, never to be seen again.
Wow, that was a rather pessimistic thought. Weird.
Moving on, it was rather funny, watching him fall with Aolani attached to his shoulder. I'm somewhat interested in how she got out of my room, but so long as she didn't run around and destroy things, it shouldn't be a problem. Stark would have a fit if he found out she ruined a couch of his. Being so big, though, and apparently a genius cat, she knows better than to use anything other than her scratching post. Which I should probably set up…
Well, she knows better than to use anything else, even when the post isn't available…
Hopefully…
I'm going to set up that post now.
Aolani purrs contently next to me, rubbing her head against my stomach as she lays partially on my lap. After an uncomfortable dinner, in which Thor and Volstagg happily gorged themselves on my spaghetti, the bastards, I brought Loki back to his room. He stared at me for an odd moment before simply walking into the room and letting the door slide shut. It was odd, and prompted the thought on his changes. Really didn't expect to put my own ideas and theories down, though. Maybe Asgard affected me more than I was willing to admit.
At least I caught it, though. How many people can say they caught themselves being assholes to their own self-esteems in their own heads?
Entry complete, for now, my eyes turn to the stupid cat post that Uncle had left in my room for me to do myself. He probably thought it would be a good distraction for me. Although the moment I open the box, my internal clock starts timing and the thing is fastened together in a few minutes. Screws in place, instructions unnecessary, my eyes glue themselves to the boring object, finding absolutely nothing important about it and the attempt at distraction a waste. Not that Uncle's effort is unappreciated, but really, this was just sad. It didn't even take up more than a couple minutes of my time, and hasn't really distracted me at all. My head is still running away with me around thoughts of Asgard, Loki, Thor, the Avengers, this tower, the city, everything. And now it won't quite down.
So much for a distraction.
Heaving a sigh, my attention turns to my laptop sitting on the chair in the corner. Just behind the chair is the foldable table that most people would use for eating TV dinners while watching a movie. Personally, never saw the need for them, but it recently became useful at such times like these. After another sigh, this one a bit less of nuisance, I climb up to my feet and let Aolani have her fun with the scratching post. It won't last long, but it'll keep her busy. Seating myself in the chair, my eyes land on the journal siting on my bed.
Probably should have grabbed that. Too lazy to get up, though, I practically glare at it, feeling the strain in my gut, and drag it over to me. Through the air. It's slow, painstaking, and a real hit to the pride at still being inefficient with it, but practice makes perfect. No way in hell the demigod across the hall took only a couple tries to aster his first few spells. And I've got a handicap! Hello, first tried at an age probably well past the Asgardian's starting point.
Or not… Maybe… How old do they have to be?
After another few minutes, the book drops into my lap, my body sagging as the magic releases with a slight breeze running through the room. Satisfied, at least for the moment, my eyes land on the notebook, raising an eyebrow at the opened page.
I wish I knew exactly what happened, why it happened, what everyone thought.
"I honestly wish things could be changed…"
Pushing the thought away, I get to work copying down my latest entries into my laptop, enjoying the monotony of the task. It'll at least keep me busy, and maybe give me the motivation to do some work on my writings. It's been forever since I've worked on them. Since starting magic in Asgard, really… Wow… That is a really long time now, isn't it? At least two weeks. Or was it three? How long have I been home, again? Holy crap, I'm losing track of time…
Mom was right. Time flies when you don't pay attention to it. Which reminds me, when was the last time I visited them? It used to be a weekly thing before going to Asgard, wasn't it? Well, biweekly during the summer, monthly otherwise, but still.
"Probably save it for later. His royal trickiness just got here, after all."
Thought aside, my fingers glide across the keys, typing up the few entries made since finding out about this second chance. I find it rather funny, really, that the bastards on Asgard have embodied in congregation my mother's own words. Everyone deserves a second chance, after all. Might as well give me one, too, right?
"Wakey wakey, kid!"
A high pitched scream echoed through the room. On a camera feed, a young woman had bolted up from her bed, panic clear in her actions as she snapped from one area to another in search of the voice. Standing in front of this feed, a microphone in hand, Agent Percival watches on in amusement.
"Up and at 'em, kiddo. We've got stuff to do today!"
"Burn in hell, damn it! It's Saturday!"
"Don't care! Up! And bring the cranky demigod with you."
The agent snickers quietly to herself, enjoying the way the girl groans and moans on her bed, now completely aware of what had happened. Giving it a moment Percival watches the girl climb from her bed on all fours, not bothering to shift to her feet as she places her hands on the floor of her room like a cat. A very familiar cat, no less, as Aolani trots over to her from the cat post, mewling at the woman now crawling across the floor. With one more snicker, the agent shuts the screen down and turns toward the kitchen.
She had been hoping she could do what she wanted yesterday, but that clearly wasn't going to happen with Fury's surprise news. Apparently Doctor Selvig, the man who had been in charge of the Tesseract project in what seemed like a distant memory, noticed the anomaly. That was how they knew when to pick Thor up – they apparently didn't feel like waiting until the precise day. Percival had that strange feeling, though, and had somehow known and told everyone to be ready for it a few days early. Everyone was happy that she had done so and were now able to sleep in on this Saturday.
Well, everyone except Lyra herself, apparently
"What should we have for breakfast," the grown woman hums, striding into the kitchen. "Waffles? Too long to make… Do we have those strudel things?"
Loki was just as unhappy as myself this morning at having to wake up. He apparently is used to doing whatever the hell he pleases in his cell back on Asgard, and therefore felt no reason to really listen at first. Until, of course, I flipped his mattress and made him get up. Thankfully, my annoyance and frustration this morning made using my magic of sorts easier, the bed resetting before the demigod's very eyes. But to further my aggravation, he just raised an eyebrow at me, as if he expected it and wanted to know what the hell he was supposed to do after. That had me rolling my eyes and yanking on his ear.
Bet he never had that done to him before.
His ear between my nails, I drag him along behind me, his voice echoing in my ear with every curse he sends my way. Hey, if she's going to wake me up rudely at this ungodly hours, he's not getting out of it, either. Besides, if he didn't wake up now, he wouldn't get breakfast, period. Loki is officially subject to my unusual eating habits – not eating much at all.
And people wonder why my waist is so thin.
"Alright, you annoying banshee," I snap out once in the kitchen, letting the demigod go. "What the hell do you want?"
Percival just looks up from the book in her hand with a smirk, lifting a plate in front of her. "Toaster Strudel? They're strawberry."
My glare says everything for me, although she just chuckles.
"There's chocolate milk."
"I forgive you~!"
"Fools," Loki grumbles, sitting himself down at the far end of the table.
Agent Percival apparently saw this coming, a plate of the yummy strudels sitting all the way down there in front of his spot. Lucky for him since I was debating dragging him back down here to actually eat something instead of letting him brood. Oh well. He can grumble over there for all I care. It's morning, and mornings are evil enough that adding him to it won't do much.
"Know what we're doing yet?" Percival snickers, watching me stuff an entire strudel in my mouth.
"Hiding Thor's Poptarts?"
"No. That's tomorrow."
We stoically ignore the snort from the end of the table.
"So what's today, then? Torment Lyra's Sleep Day?"
"Nope… It's the other Saturday."
The twitch of my hand is accidental, sadly denting the strudel in my hand. Eyes feeling wider than normal, my gaze locks with the agent as she raises and eyebrow. But that can't possibly be right. She has to have gotten it wrong. I absently take a bite out of my second breakfast pastry. We just went to visit them a few days ago, didn't we? It was just before Uncle and I went on that vacation, after all. Or was it? How long ago was that vacation, anyway?
"It's been two weeks, kiddo."
"Well shit," I mutter, frowning at the empty plate in front of me. "Has it really? I could have sworn the vacation was last weekend."
"It was. But you specifically told me that you wanted to visit every other weekend. Whatever you did with your uncle has no effect on our arrangement," the agent chuckles. "Besides, are you really going to pass on this?"
I look up at her, appalled at the thought. "Of course not! Visiting is always fun!"
"How on Earth is it fun?" she sighs back at me.
"Very carefully."
Loki sits in his room, curiously trying out a rather weak spell to check on his restraints. So far, the best he's managed is a rather pathetic levitation spell for about two seconds. Then he felt the jolt in his wrists that broke his concentration. It seemed to be rather random, varying between a couple seconds and a whole minute of magic use before jolting him. But his little tests weren't going unnoticed, or so he assumes. He figures the girl is keeping an eye on his usage and making sure he doesn't try anything potentially harmful to her, the other fools or the planet. If only he weren't restrained, he would love to show her the many ways he learned to torment people while in the abyss of space.
His spell is once again broken by an unexpected jolt along his arm, making him flinch. The ice spike he had been forming drops into his hand, rather useless in its incomplete state. He had been trying to harden it enough to use against the door, to see if he could manage it without being interrupted. But it seemed the bracers he had been forced into were not to let up. Escaping here is apparently not an option for him, no matter how appealing.
With a groan, he falls back on his bed, glaring at the ceiling above him. Instead of furthering his agitation by thinking on the bracers, he shifts his mind to something a little more productive. Like the conversation this morning. The two women had sat there like old friends when the topic of 'the other Saturday' came up. Clearly this visit was a routine they practice regularly. But what has him intrigued is the way they avoided actually talking about who or what they were visiting. If it were his so-called 'brother,' he would have immediately put it down as another trip to the training grounds.
But this wasn't the ignorant Thor. This was the annoying Lyra. She was nowhere near as pathetically dull as his adoptive 'brother' and could by no means be compared to any of the women on Asgard. That girl has sat herself on a spectrum of secrets and intelligence, and Loki became determined from the first journal to destroy her theories. Without mercy.
Sadly, that would take some time.
"I'm back!"
The moment that voice hits his ears, he groans quietly. His door slides out of the way to reveal the very girl he'd been brooding over. With a glare tossed her way, he returns back to his pointless staring at the ceiling.
"Guess what, Loki!"
He really does hate her right now.
"Lady Percival!" Thor grins from the couch, his friends surrounding him. "Come join us!"
"Not right now, Thor," she chuckles quietly. "I was actually going to go take a nap."
The demigod cocks his head to the side, clearly confused. "Why? You only just returned and we have yet eat lunch. You never take a nap until after eating."
A small smile crosses the woman's face, both happy and sad at the same time. Sat next to Thor, Sif quirks an eyebrow at the expression, feeling rather certain she'd seen it somewhere else before. Where, she isn't entirely sure, but she's definitely seen it. Fandral and Volstagg both encourage her to join the group as well, the womanizer asking for a story about her childhood. The Asgardian prince had been telling them all about his teammates on Earth and what he knew of them, the one he knew most extensively being Agent Percival. She had been there when he was banished and fell to Earth, meeting Jane. Why she was there, he still had yet to learn, but none of them worried much on it.
"A story?"
"Yes!" Thor beams. "You once told me about a family visit to something called a 'Ranch Resort.' Would you tell us that one?"
Sif just barely catches the brief flicker of pain in the woman's eyes. Today clearly wasn't a day for that. Knowing this, the female warrior forces herself to think quickly. Only to freeze when her mouth finally opens.
"Some other time. Maybe tomorrow or one of the other Saturdays."
Thor seems to freeze up at her words as well, eyes widening for a split second before he nods quietly. One she vanishes, a soft smile on her face, he turns back to the others with a frown spread across his lips. Yes, Sif thought, this clearly wasn't a good day to ask her for one of those stories, no matter how interesting they sounded.
"Sorry, but I'm afraid she left me a bit confused," Fandral hums with a thoughtful look. "What's this 'other Saturday' business."
"It's nothing important," Thor sighs, sitting back in his seat. "Just something she and Lady Lyra do now every other Saturday. They decided it when she first came to the tower. I believe that they stole one of brother Stark's cars and went somewhere…"
"Where, exactly?" Volstagg manages past a mouth of Poptarts – another Asgardian addicted thanks to Thor.
Strangely, the prince of Asgard shifts, looking a bit uncomfortable with the topic. He clearly knows something about it, but feels hesitant to actually reveal whatever it is he knows. While the others stare at him expectantly, it occurs to the only female that both Percival and Lyra had been gone for a few hours and the man named Tony Stark had whined for a good hour. Something about brothers and parents and… loss. Having something in mind, Sif pipes up.
"Why not try something else? Instead of stories, why not find the training room and see how we fair here on Midgard?"
Director Fury stares down at the binder on his desk, looking through the pages with care. On every page is picture after picture of a growing girl, a man and a woman. Off to the sides of every picture is a caption of importance for that moment. Some had dates, some had events, some had names, but every one of them had something in common – a set of numbers. One picture early in the binder had 12r, 0r set next to it. Another a few pages later has 32r 39g, 0r. None of the numbers particularly bothered him, though. They meant little at the moment.
His fingers freeze mid page turn at the revealed pictures beyond before gently backtracking. That was one section of pictures he refuses to see. The pain of those events would never really leave him, not so long as he understood what it all meant. And seeing as he understands perfectly, he's likely to never look at the ever again.
Carefully, the director replaces the binder into a locked drawer of his desk alongside a number of similar binders. It's the only one left unlabeled.
I don't know why, but for some reason he's being extremely distant. At least he acknowledged my existence on Asgard, albeit in an annoyed fashion by demanding me to leave him alone. Maybe it has something to do with where we are. He probably just doesn't like the current world he's been trapped in. Of course, I wouldn't like it either if someone forced me to endure a person whose sole intent is to figure me out. That might also be his issue. What to do about that…
Moving on, Perch and I have come to an agreement. Every other Saturday is now dedicated to visiting our loved ones, no excuses. Hopefully that will make us both feel better about everything that's been happening lately. I can still remember the first time I saw the graves, and it was awful to just stand there in the overly stereotypical rainstorm without having anything to say. Now, with everything moving on, there's plenty to tell, and so little time to tell it in. heck, maybe we can get Loki to come with us sometime, assuming everyone will drop their anal suspicions and let me do my job. Then again, maybe dragging him out first thing when he gets here is a bad idea…
Note to self: Talk to Sif about it. Thor – no go for brotherly hatred. Warriors Three – biased. Really weird how Sif seems to be the only person that actually took a liking to me and what I'm doing. I should ask her about that, too, sometime.
Pulling back from the journal, I smile happily at the entry. It feels good to be writing things down again, albeit now censored ones that everyone gets to read. There are some more graphic entries that are kept for my own personal review in a second journal that my adorable Aolani guards. Genius struck me to hide it in her cat bed, and she purrs happily whenever she sees me putting it back. Odd note, she's grown again and now has a dog bed beside my bed instead, just in case she keeps growing.
Maybe another doctor's checkup.
Shoving the thought aside, my fingers drop the censored journal on the bed, crawling toward the end of it. Settling myself on my stomach, I focus on that little ball in my core and imagine pulling, along with a view of the Eiffel Tower. Within seconds, that odd little ball, now bigger and more stable, swirls to life in front of me, a beautiful vision of the tower lit up at night on display. A soft smile spreads across my face.
"Still got it, Aolani!" My cheer just barely catches her drifting attention as she lays out on her bed. "A little more practice and it might just work!"
Carefully, sine she's so close to sleep, my hands reach down and gently slip under her, ignoring the soft grumbling she gives. With gentle tugs, and moving it as slowly as possible, my hands return with my personal journal. Since she's so close to sleep, and seems to have been disturbed, one hand holds the notebook, my other reaching out on instinct to stroke her head softly. As she begins to purr, relaxing into the cushion, I pull back with a smile and crawl back to my headboard, snatching up the pencil again.
Magic is growing stronger. The little ball in my core hasn't changed, but every spell is stable, to me at least. This might be perfect, since it will get me away from the Bead System. As awesome as it is, it's starting become a pain to use. Tricks that I want to do with it aren't as flawless or easy as I imagine and it bugs me that human tech can't fix it. Maybe projectiles of energy would be a better idea. I should think on that more.