Chapter 21: This hostage Earth

I got up at six-thirty in the morning, not really getting much sleep. The whole deal with Tony and the armor was still upsetting me, but I knew I couldn't let that bother me. Sure, I still felt betrayed, but I couldn't walk around being angry all the time. So instead of just moping around I made my way down to the kitchen, hoping to find a light breakfast before I went out for a run. It had been ages since I worked on my durability.

When I got into the kitchen, I found Hulk sitting by the table eating what seemed to be the remains of what was in the fridge. I stopped instantly and just looked at him, feeling astonished and somewhat relieved at the same time. Hulk noticed me and looked in my direction.

"You want some?" he asked, holding out a chicken thigh dripping with hot sauce.

"Y-you're back to... well, not normal. You know what I mean." I stuttered and sat down next to him, taking one of the uneaten chicken thighs and biting down. "When did that happen?"

"Just now." he said and bit off a large chunk of chicken. "Then I got hungry."

I smiled and patter him on the shoulder. "It's good to have you back, though. It was starting to get a little weird not having the floor rumble when you walked."

He gave me a glare from the corner of his eye, but smirked and patted me on the back in return. I felt the wind being knocked out of my chest and coughed. I realized as we sat there that throughout the entire time I had been with the Avengers, Hulk and I were the ones that had spent least time together. Also I barely knew anything about him, except that he likes chicken. I now knew what Bruce Banner really looked like, and a little more about him, but that was about it.

"Can I... ask you something?" I asked him hesitantly. He nodded and kept eating. "Did you know about the crimson regret armor Tony had?"

He stopped chewing and just looked at me from the corner of his eye. I smiled sadly and sighed.

"So you knew, huh? Why aren't I surprised?"

"I didn't know." he said, making me look at him with disbelief. "Didn't know that robot had power to take Hulk's power."

I shuddered at the memory of Ultron draining Hulk of his gamma energy. It was the first time someone had been able to do so much damage to the team, especially the Hulk.

"Then we have something in common." I said and leaned on my elbows against the table. "We both were kinda betrayed by the same team."

"They're just scared." Hulk said and continued to eat.

"Should they be?"

"Maybe." Hulk looked at me while chewing, and swallowed before talking again. "Not hard to understand why they're scared of me. Why they're scared of you, no clue."

"Maybe it's because of my eyes." I said and removed my shades. "I remembered it a couple of weeks ago. That's why I barely even take them off anymore."

"Remembered what?"

"I can steal people's sanity with a look in their eyes." I admitted bluntly, putting my shades back on quickly. "And after everything else I've been through lately, I would be scared of myself."

Hulk looked at me with an expressionless face. I was scared that he would freak out and slam me to the ground. He was right, it was easy to understand why people feared him. As we sat there for a moment in awkward silence, just staring at each other, he turned back to his chicken and continued to eat.

"Doesn't sound scary to me." he said.

I couldn't help but smile. I didn't know why, I should be offended, but I wasn't. I was actually somewhat relieved that he hadn't reacted differently. I gave him a pat on the shoulder, then stood up to get some water.

"I'm going out for a while." I told him as I prepped a water bottle to take with me. "But I'll be back in about an hour, or if anything happens."

"Sure. Whatever."

I got out and looked up at the sky as it slowly turned from dark blue to orange to light blue. The air was cool against my skin and everything felt as if nothing had even happened a while ago. No alien invasion, no maniac robot trying to wipe out humanity. It was just another day, just like any other for many people.

I headed for Central Park, and when I got there the sun was almost above the skyline. The path where I ran was still veiled in shadows, but slowly and steadily the entire park filled with light, and soon people. I could feel some turn their heads as I passed them, hoping it was because they recognized me and not because I had something on me, or lacked something. I guess this is what fame does to you, I thought and smiled as I passed yet another couple that turned to look at me.

I stopped instantly and started to jog backwards. The couple had stopped as well, and when I looked back I smiled brightly at them.

"Lyra!" Casey shouted and jumped at me, wrapping her arms around my neck and pulling me closer to her in a bear hug.

"Casey!" I said and answered her hug a little awkwardly. "What are you doing here?"

"Phil and I were just out walkin'. We couldn't sleep so we decided to get some fresh air."

I looked over at Phil who waved at me nervously. I gave him a teasing smirk and then leaned closer to Casey.

"So that's how it is, huh?"

"What do ya – oh, no! No, I didn't mean it like that!" Casey shrieked, her face instantly turning into a bright red shade. I looked over her shoulder and saw Phil shift uncomfortably.

"Casey, relax." I laughed and wrapped an arm around her shoulder. "I was just kidding."

"So, Lyra." Phil said and walked up to his girlfriend. "Why don't you hang with us for a while? We were thinking of getting some breakfast at a new coffee shop just down the road."

"Oh, yer gonna love it! It's got those little pies ya love, whatcha call 'em... and the coffee is just heaven! And they have tea, too."

I laughed at Casey's eagerness. She could probably convince a stampede to have a tea party with that smile of hers. "Alright, you had me at breakfast. I'm starving."

"Don't they feed ya at the mansion?" Casey said and pinched my stomach. "Yer practically skin and bone, gal!"

"What? I'm not, I'm muscle too." I protested and looked down at my stomach. To my surprise it was practically flat, which it hadn't been before. "Besides, if I am just skin and bones then some cake will fill it out again."

Casey laughed, then grabbed me by my arm and lead us towards the end of the park.

"They did what?!"

I shushed Casey and looked around me. Luckily nobody had noticed her raising her voice. I decided that I should tell them about the Crimson Regret armor, and about Tony's behavior. Their reaction was not unexpected – they both got upset.

"That's not fair at all." Phil said and put his cup of coffee down. "I mean, you're all part of the team. I haven't known you as long as Casey, but I would easily trust you with my life if it ever comes to that."

"Thanks, Phil." I said and smiled sadly. "But that doesn't mean everyone feels the same way."

"But to use Crimson Regret." Casey muttered and balled her hands into fists. "If he knew that's yer weak spot, he shoulda made somethin' that's supposed to help ya instead of kill ya."

"I know." I said and took another sip of my green mint tea. "And I honestly don't know what to do. When I confronted Tony, he tried to blame it on me being dangerous."

"Anyone could be dangerous." Phil said. "Think about it – practically every villain you've met so far were normal people until they got powers. Every single human has the potential of killing someone, with or without superpowers or gadgets or whatever. It's what triggers them into taking that path that is the most dangerous thing. They are pretty damn lucky you haven't snapped yet and just killed them all. And judging by your personality, and the many aspects of your mind, I wouldn't worry about you doing so either."

I looked at him with wide eyes. He noticed and scratched the back of his head with a small blush on his cheeks.

"I'm a psychologist, so I know a thing or two about the human mind." he explained.

"Anyway, what do you think I should do?" I asked and put my own cup down. "I mean, I don't know how many of the team knew about that. Or that secret weapon I still don't know what it looks like. I just feel like there might actually be something wrong about me that makes them worry about whether or not they have to... kill me."

"I wouldn't worry too much." Casey said and smirked. "Tony built it, Tony makes sure as hell to destroy it. Otherwise I'll go straight up to 'im and slap him until he disassemble it himself."

I laughed at Casey and the determined look in her eyes. I knew for certain that she really would do that if she could.

"I'm serious, gal." she said and leaned forward. "Nobody messes with my friend and gets away with it. Well, not when it comes to super-villains or aliens, but regular bullies I can deal with."

"Thanks, Casey, but-"

A high pitched jingle suddenly played from somewhere, making me jump. It was a horrible ring tone. When nobody seemed to make any effort answering I realized that the sound came from my own pocket. Sticking my hand inside it, I felt the phone and sighed tiredly. It was a fairly new model, one that I had seen Tony's company make in one of the magazines he accidentally misplaced everywhere in the mansion. I didn't remember buying it recently, or someone giving it to me. When I looked at the display it showed an image of Tony, and his initials were on the caller ID. He must have bought it to me, I thought and pressed the answer button.

"Hello?"

"Lyra, we've got some great news!" Tony blurted out, almost deafening me. "Well, depends on what you think is great, but you know what I mean."

"Tony, seriously, keep your voice down." I groaned and stood up to walk out of the coffee shop, but was stopped by a really fat woman who blocked more than half of the path. "What news? What's so good that you have to blow my eardrums up?"

"I think you need to see it to understand."

"Yeah, right. I'll be back as soon as I can- damn it woman, move your ass so people can walk out of here, there's a line here!"

The woman turned around and stared at me, and I saw how tears were forming in here eyes. I looked behind me quickly and saw that there indeed was a line behind me, so thankfully I hadn't embarrassed myself more than that. The woman, however, got furious, and raised her hand with her sharp nails painted in a neon orange color. She slapped me right across the cheek, and I could feel how the bruise grew and my skin being scratched.

"You should be ashamed, you slutty broomstick!"

I didn't answer her. I didn't even try to hit her back. It wasn't worth taking that fight with her. I honestly felt like I deserved that slap for snapping at her like that. She seemed somewhat satisfied with that result and strutted out through the door, only to block the way for more people. I turned around again and began to move back to the table when I remembered the phone-call, and put the phone back to my ear.

"I'll be back in a minute." I said, and before he could answer I canceled the call. When I looked around me, I saw that practically everyone in the coffee shop were staring at me.

"What?" I yelled at them. "I'm having a bad day. Just like anyone would have! Mind your own fucking business."

People seemed shocked, but they did turn back to whatever they were doing, except for a few who still glared at me as I sat down in my seat.

"I'm... sorry." I said to Casey and Phil. "I need to go. It was nice seeing you guys again."

They both waved their hands after me as I hurried out from the coffee shop before I would go off again.

When I got down to the assembly room, changed into my uniform, everyone were already there except for Ant-Man. When I looked at Jan I could see sadness in her eyes, and instantly figured out that he wouldn't come. My cheek still stung from the woman's sharp fingernails, but I had found a large bandage to put over it. Unfortunately, it was far from invisible.

"What happened to you?" Hawkeye asked when he saw me.

"I don't wanna talk about it. What's going on here?" I asked T'Challa as I placed myself next to him.

"To put it simply, Iron Man and I had just discovered a way to transport Thor back to Asgard. However Captain America says there was a machine during his time with the same function, that worked."

"A dimensional gateway? Cool." I smirked. T'Challa gave me a surprised look, which I answered with feigned hurt. "What? I know technology too. I'm not stupid."

"So, Cap, why don't you fill us in?" Tony said.

"Bucky and I had infiltrated a Hydra base in Norway. Rumor was that the Red Skull had some kind of doomsday weapon there. But what we found was beyond anything we'd ever seen. The Skull had a machine similar to yours, and he was pulling monsters through it into our world. He was enslaving them, putting collars on the creatures. He was creating an army to take over the world. And if Bucky and I hadn't stopped him..."

Cap lowered his head. I guessed the memory of Bucky and his past life was a little too much for him still.

"But you did, Captain." Thor said reassuringly. "And from your tale, it would seem that this Red Skull did indeed open a portal to the Asgardian realms. The creatures you described... they are familiar to me."

"Hang on, I've got satellite images coming on on the Hydra base." Tony said and began typing away on the controls.

An image showed up on the holographic display, and a mountain area showed with an old fortification within it. I recognized the image from one of our missions, but the image itself was from a heat camera.

"Jarvis, trace the energy coming from that location." T'Challa said.

The images moved, and then showed another image of a mountain area, only with yellow lines and red dots blinking spread across it. The red dots were placed wherever two or more of the yellow lines met, and were spread across the globe.

"This spot..." Tony said. "This is what I was talking about. This is where two planes are overlapping. Like a dimensional fault line."

"Fancy." Wasp said.

"So what are we looking at?" Hawkeye asked.

"Lay-lines." T'Challa said. "Veins of magic that run through our world, connecting it to others." He stopped and looked at me with a smirk. "Or as Iron Man would say: pads of other-dimensional energy that reveal weak spots between the dimensions. In this case there are eight, not counting Earth."

"One for each realm." Thor said. "It is said the nine realm are interconnected by Yggdrasil, the tree of life."

"Big tree." Hulk said.

"Call it whatever you want. This is how we're going to get you home." Tony said and glared at them. I knew they were making fun about him trying to find an explanation for magic.

"Question." I said and raised my hand. "Which one of those leads to his home? There are eight other realms, so how do we know he won't end up in... the giant land or something?"

"Jotunheim." Thor corrected.

"Gesundheit." I said. "Or any other place that's not his home, and what if he gets stuck there?"

"Aye, it would be very unfortunate." Thor said. "Is there a way to find which one to take?"

Tony thought for a few seconds. "Well I could run a diagnostics test-"

"Alert! Dimensional energy flare is in progress." Jarvis interrupted.

"Something's affecting the energy at each of the locations! Except one that's in an active volcano." Tony said after looking at the control panel.

Thor's expression changed, and he looked deadly serious. He turned away from the table and headed for the door, his steps angry.

"Thor, wait." Cap said.

"Nay. If the threat we face is Asgardian I will not allow it to put Midgard in jeopardy again."

"Well, we mortals certainly appreciate that. But you're on a team, remember? Seven locations, seven avengers. Whatever is going on, we deal with it together." Tony said.

"Ahem, you mean eight, right? What about me?" I asked looking at Tony.

"Don't worry, I didn't forget about you." Tony answered, looking a little guilty. "But I think it would be best if you stayed on patrol duty here. We don't know if someone might attack the mansion while we're gone."

I wanted to argue against it, that I could go to the volcano and check it out. I wanted to slam my fist against his teeth and knock them all out, but I didn't. I just shrugged and forced myself to smile at him.

"Fine. Whatever."

"You're not mad, are you?" he asked, genuinely worried.

"No, I'm not mad." I lied. "You're right, we don't know if someone might pop in on a random visit while you're gone. But I can handle it, no worries."

Tony looked into my eyes, but I just shoved him on the shoulder to make him go. They all headed out, Thor patting my shoulder before running off. As there were just Hawkeye and I left in the room, he walked up to me with a small smirk on his face. I gave him a puzzled look.

"You look like you're about to say something." I said, cocking my hip out. "So spit it out."

"Nah, it's nothing important really." he said, waving his hand. "We can take it later when I get back."

"Yeah. Have fun." I said, my voice dripping with sarcasm.

"You really are mad, aren't you?"

"I hate sitting around doing nothing but wait." I admitted and looked away from him. "What I hate more is being stabbed in the back. I still haven't gotten over that Tony built that Crimson Regret armor. I mean why would he even think about it to begin with?"

"Lyra." Hawkeye said and put his hands on my arms, trying to calm me down. "How about this: you, me, talk about it over dinner?"

I widened my eyes at him, feeling my heart pound in my chest. "A-are you asking me out?"

"Only if you say yes. Otherwise, it's just dinner."

"W-"

"Hawkeye, hurry up!" we heard Tony yell through the earpieces and jumped apart. Hawkeye gave me a small smile, then hurried towards the door.

"Think about it until I get back, okay?" he shouted, then he was gone.

I stood there, feeling as if I had been struck by lightning. Hawkeye had asked me out. Sort of. I was somewhere between fainting and jumping out of joy when I remembered where I was. So instead I took a deep breath, and walked up to the lounge area. I heard Tony start talking over the communicators.

"Stay in radio contact. If you find anything, call it in. Avengers, assem- well, actually, disassemble!"

I smirked and plopped down on the couch. I could hear the others as they left the mansion, from the Quinjets going over my head and Hawkeye's hovering motorcycle to Iron Man launching from the roof.

"Well then, Jarvis. What am I supposed to do now?"

"May I suggest you read a novel?" he asked. "I do believe you have spent enough time in the gym for today, ms Lewis."

"Sorry, Jarvis, but I'm gonna have to refuse that offer." I said and headed towards the gym. "I don't really like reading books."

"Perhaps you would be more interested to know that members of the Organization has been spotted by Central Park?"

I stopped dead in my tracks and looked at the closest module where Jarvis could see us. "Why the heck didn't you tell me sooner?!"

"The police are already on the case, however some have been seen on another location."

I laughed and ran up to the module, and planted a kiss on top of it. "Jarvis, you just made my day a little brighter."

I ran out of the mansion and to where my bike was, mounting it and pressing the ignition while I put the helmet on, then turned the throttle and drove through the mansion gates. When I got out on the road I was almost run over by ambulances and police cars, all with their sirens on highest volume, and so I used them as an escort to my location. Cars moved out of our way and pedestrians stopped to look after us. When I finally arrived at Central Park I got off and put the helmet on the seat, looking around to get a hang on the situation. Police officers were lining up barricades around the many entrances to the park, ambulance staff were bringing several wounded officers and bystanders to treat them, and a firetruck was standing ready. Then I saw a familiar face by one of the ambulances and smiled.

"Hey!" I called out and ran up to Jane. "What's going on?"

"Amentia." Jane said and smiled slightly as she put a bandage on an older man. "Where are the others?"

"They're otherwise occupied." I said simply. "So, how much can you fill me in on the situation?"

"From what I gathered, there are a dozen or more members of the Organization in there, and a lot more wounded officers."

"Don't worry." I said and readied myself for a jump. "I'll get as many as I can out of there."

"Wait, there's-"

I didn't listen to her, and jumped into the air before running on a path of Dust over the police blockade. When I looked down I swallowed hard – there laid a large number of police officers all over the park. I could only hope they weren't dead. I lowered myself to the ground and walked around the area, careful not to make too much noise, and checked the officers for any life signs. Three were dead, unmoving, and the rest were either unconscious or unable to move. I grabbed two of them, struggling to keep them in my arms and was forced to swing one over my shoulder and

hold the other around the waist, before using the path again and get them back to the ambulances. I carried a couple more before I was starting to feel exhausted.

Finally I found the goons. They were hiding near the clearing in the middle of the park, where I remembered Hulk had taken us while he was under the Enchantress's control. I dropped the man I was trying to help, who groaned from his wounded shoulder, and made sure to stay hidden from their sight. I managed to get to the bridge they were hiding under, and hid myself on top of it but close enough for me to hear what they were saying.

"I've had enough." one of them said and groaned. "If we're here for one person, why don't we hunt her down already?"

"Because we need to do things according to plan, idiot. The Boss plans everything perfectly, so we can't disobey orders."

"But I'm sick of waiting."

"Just be patient."

"Forget it. I don't care about what he says, that chick isn't going to come so let's go find her already!"

"Come on, man. If Boss heard you he would kill you."

"Nah, that's highly unlikely." I said and drew their attention to me, as I leaned over the edge of the bridge. "Punish, yes, torture, maybe, but kill? He doesn't seem the type to kill because he's angry, he kills for pleasure."

They aimed their weapons at me and fired. My eyes tinted yellow for a second as I jumped down in front of them, and everything seemed to slow down. I looked to my side and saw the bullet that just barely missed me, and saw the red hue it had.

Could it really be...?

Just as I looked closer everything returned to normal speed, and the bullets kept coming. I created a shield out of Dust, however the bullets just pierced through it and one of them hit my thigh. I looked down at it and gasped in pain when I realized it was a shard of the Crimson Regret.

How did they get these? I thought and looked at them. I tried desperately to put up another shield, but the bullets kept going through it.

The men dressed in dark green kept firing, so I changed tactics. Instead of holding up a shield, I used the Dust that remained and charged them into a Dust-orb, launching small charges as I evaded their bullets the best I could. Once I felt like I had enough, I raised my hands up and aimed the massive orb of Dust at the center of their group, jumped high up in the air before throwing it there. It smashed against the ground with a loud slam and shattered into pieces that scattered out and hit each of them, knocking them out cold.

When I landed again I winced at the pain in my leg and fell down on my knees. I looked at the shard, widening my eyes at the strange red markings that appeared on my skin. They looked like they followed my veins, and it stung badly. What was most shocking was the fact that they had managed to form the Crimson Regret into bullets, and successfully used it as a real weapon.

"That's a peculiar reaction." I heard someone say. "Usually you're just weakened for a while. That's new."

"Magenta?!"

I got up on my feet quickly and felt the pain sting through my leg and remembered the shard still pointing out from my thigh. Magenta, dressed in her usual dark pink attire and with her white hair still hanging over her eyes, walked up to me from behind a tree. However she didn't have her usual aura of strength and confidence around her – she almost looked scared.

"Unfriendly as always." she said.

"I haven't really had reasons to be friendly." I answered and gritted my teeth. "Polite, not a chance."

I raised my hand and charged for a Dust orb, but I could feel how my supply of it was running out. I only hoped it would be enough to take her out.

"Amentia, you have to listen to me." she pleaded, holding her arms up in surrender. "We don't have to fight right now. It's Mr. Day, he's completely lost it this time."

I rolled my eyes. "He's never been sane, Magenta. And I have never trusted you."

"But you'll have to if we're both going to survive this time." Magenta said and leaned forward. With a swift motion she pulled out the shard, making me hiss from the pain and press my hands against the wound. "This was his and Gold's doing, not mine."

"This?"

"The shard bullets, and the attack." she said, lowering her head. "It's not safe to stay here, he'll find us. Can we go somewhere else?"

I glared at her, then looked down at my still bleeding wound. I needed to take care of it before it got infected or worse. Then I remembered that the Masters of Evil, and practically everyone on Manhattan knew where the mansion was, and Magenta had already gotten past the security once to return some of my memory.

I groaned, feeling furious, before limping in the direction of the mansion. Magenta stood there for a while, seeming confused. I turned around and glared at her from above my shades.

"Are you coming or not?"

She hesitated, but then she followed. She tried once to support me, but I shoved her off and kept limping up to my motorbike. Jane ran up to us and gave Magenta a puzzled and dark look.

"You're going to ride your bike with that wound?" she said. It wasn't a question, but more of a statement.

"How else will I bring it home?" I asked, instantly regretting the harsh tone in my voice. "Look, Jane, there are fifteen goons in there by the bridge, and several wounded officers. Your guys should be clear to get inside by now."

Before she could protest further, I grabbed my helmet and gave it to Magenta. She reluctantly put it on, and Jane gave me a look of disapproval as I was intending on driving without a helmet. I just shrugged and started the engine, waiting for Magenta to hop on behind me. She carefully put her hands around my waist. I wondered slightly if that was how guys with motorbikes felt. Then I took off towards the mansion, my leg still bleeding.

"So, now that we're here and safe, you better explain what you want." I demanded with my arms crossed over my chest as we entered the lounge area of the mansion.

"It's gonna sound crazy, but... he found out more about our past." Magenta said as she looked around the room cautiously. "He found out about where the fairies come from, and about our species."

"You're right, it sounds crazy. Now you totally lost me."

"We're not entirely fairy, Lyra. You know that already."

"I know that I'm part human, but that's about it." I said in complete confusion. "But I didn't know that he... or that any of you were fairy too."

"There's so much you don't know because of the memory-loss. Mr. Day is Gold's, Cyan's and my father." Magenta said with a sad tone in her voice. "I know that it sounds crazy, but that is the truth. And our mother is the daughter of the devil, the Demoness."

I swallowed and tried to keep calm. "Totally crazy. But... what about me and June?"

"That's a bit more difficult to explain. If I were to begin explaining I guess I should start from the very beginning.

"You see, fairies originally came from the realms of Asgard. The legend tells that Odin wanted a tribe of powerful warriors, but in fear that they would be too powerful he created a weakness for them – the red gem. He was supposed to be the only one with access to it, so that he could control them in war against the frost giants and to run his errands between the nine realms.

"Anyway, the tribe first consisted of immortal creatures called drians. They looked human to the eye, however their eyes were said to have the color of magic so that you could tell them from humans and Gods. During the course of time the tribe was mixed with other species, mostly the 'original' fairies, and after a while the drians were more fairy than monster as before. They were forbidden to mix between species by Odin, who feared that the red gem would be ineffective against them.

"Your grandfather and Mr. Day were great warriors, both highly respected and suitable candidates to lead the tribe once the old leader had passed away. However they both broke Odin's rule – they fell in love with a demon, the Demoness. So when Odin was told they both had gone against his ban, he banished all of them to Earth.

"The Demoness was forced to become human, as well as Mr. Day and your grandfather. When they got together and left Mr. Day behind, he was so jealous and felt so betrayed that he killed your grandfather. However your father was born before that, so he decided to take his vengeance on him instead and kidnapped the woman he loved. She... was forced to give birth to two children. Then he realized that it wasn't what he wanted, so he tried to kill her, however your father saved her.

"That was when you and June were born. You were born with extraordinary gifts, however I don't know what they were. Mr. Day found that out as well, and decided that he couldn't let your family line keep growing and become more powerful than him and his line. So he made sure your father would sacrifice his life to save yours that night of the car crash, and tried repeatedly to kill you and June.

"I shouldn't really say much more, since it's part of your memories and those you will have to unveil on your own so you don't get too much of a shock. Do you follow?"

"I..." I began, but I was at a loss of words. Everything was spinning inside my head. My mother was also Gold and Magenta's mother? My family descended from Asgard? I put my hands on each side of my head to try and keep it all in one place, so that I could think, but it was all so confusing. Then something hit me.

"Who was Cyan's mother? You said she's Mr. Day's child, but you didn't say Ana was her mother."

Magenta paled, and looked away. Her expression sent a strange feeling through the pit of my stomach. My heart dropped in my chest when I realized what that look was.

"Was she... yours?" I asked, my voice barely louder than a whisper.

"Yes." Magenta whispered. I saw a tear run down her cheek. "She was just a child, and he did so many horrible things to her. To us. And now she's..."

I ignored all my senses telling me not to and sat down next to her, wrapping my arms around her. She stiffened at first, but then she put her arms around my waist and leaned against my shoulder. She cried. I had never seen her cry before. In fact, I had never seen her utter one emotion before. Once she had calmed down, she wiped the tears away and looked away from me.

"Sorry. I'm usually stronger than this..."

"You are strong." I told her, trying to catch her eyes. "You are much stronger than I am. You put up with him your entire life, and you had to go through so damn much. My pain is nothing compared to what you've gone through, Magenta. And I'm really sorry I didn't trust you before, or tried to help you."

Magenta gave me a weak smile, then wiped more tears away. "Gold and I have tried forming a plan of escape, so that we could come to you and maybe help you. But this is as far as we've come so far."

"Then it's a good thing you came here, where the Avengers can protect you." I said and looked around me. "Well, for now it's just me here, but I promise you that when everyone is here everything is going to be just fine."

Suddenly, out of nowhere, my head began to throb. It quickly evolved into a massive headache that felt like my whole head was going to burst, and I let out a cry of pain. Magenta doubled over and held her head in her hands as well, so I knew that whatever was happening to me was happening to her as well. After a few seconds, the headache faded into a soft throbbing in my temples.

"What the heck was that?" I asked her.

"M-massive magic outburst... it must be Mr. Day." she breathed out. "I-it's too late now."

"Magenta." I said and grabbed her shoulders. "Tell me what's going on. What just happened?"

Magenta breathed heavily and looked away. I narrowed my eyes and tried to meet hers, however she kept avoiding my gaze.

"Magenta!"

"He succeeded!" she cried out, tears running down her cheeks. "He and the Masters of Evil were planning to use ancient stones called the Norn stones to open a gateway to Asgard and the other realms. But that energy we just felt... that means something went wrong. The Avengers were supposed to locate and examine them, right?"

"Yeah, so? Magenta, tell me what happened?"

"The Norn stones must have been damaged or destroyed. They are very powerful and with the right amount of magic put to them, then anything could happen. That release of energy could only be from the stones, which means your friends..."

"What does it mean?" I was beginning to panic now.

"It means... that they were destroyed." she said looking into my eyes. "Both the stones, and your friends."