Chapter 22 -
"I'll admit it, it's a pretty nice axe" Natasha said as she examined it. "I still can't believe you made it yourself".
"Well, not entirely by myself but thanks anyway," Harry smiled "the best part is that it works just like a wand. In my own world wands were used as focuses for magic, they brought our magic out, wandless magic wasn't something that just anybody could do. The magic travelled through our body and through the wand to create spells, even if someone had wandless capabilities they still wouldn't be able to do spells with the same strength as if they had a wand."
"Really?" She said with a small amount of disbelief, after all she had seen what Harry could do without a wand.
"Yes, really" Harry nodded "I'm different though, a special case, story of my life really. Anyway, this will be really fun. I can't wait to show the other Avengers when we get back to Earth."
"Bet you Stark will want to take a look at it, so will shield."
"Tough, they have to get their own axes." Harry replied. "Besides Fury knows it's better for both of us if he doesn't mess with my stuff. Because if he does then he suffers and I have to waste time setting up the pranks responsible for his suffering."
"True," Natasha replied "between pink eyepatches and threesomes on his desk, I think Fury knows by now not to piss you off."
"Don't worry, the next time he pisses me off I will just do it with you on his desk." Harry said as he smirked at her.
"Tempting." She said as she let out a small laugh. "By the way, do you actually know how to use an axe?"
"Yep," Harry nodded "I've been around for a while and I've been bored, I spent time learning how to use any and every weapon I could think of. I know how to use staffs, nun chucks, tonfas, swords, all sorts of throwing weapons, guns, knives, etcetera."
"One of the downsides of immortality I guess." Natasha frowned as she thought about it, she was in no hurry to die but she could imagine that being on your own for so long could take it's toll.
"It is an impressive axe" Sif said as she, Fandral and Volstagg talked with Thor, Harry and Natasha.
"Indeed" Volstagg nodded as he looked over it and compared it with his own. "I still prefer my own."
"Yeah, well you're axe is just an axe" Harry replied "mine is a magical weapon. Watch this" Harry tapped the axe head on the floor and a small layer of ice covered a meter radius around where he had tapped it.
"Yes, yes impressive" Fandral said "you can make a little bit of ice"
"This has been made using the casket of ancient winters," Thor replied "Harry is more than capable of freezing us all with his axe, so control is important."
"I still don't know why you didn't go with a sword" Sif sniffed, pretending to be offended by Harry's choice of weapons.
"Swords are overused at this point" Harry replied and an actual offended look came up on Sif's face. "By the way, I've been wondering about something"
"What's that?" Fandral asked.
"Why have there been so many new prisoner on Asgard lately?" Harry asked "I saw the numbers of prisoners that came in when I was temporary king."
"Because there are" Fandral shrugged.
"Asgard has been responsible for maintaining the peace for thousands of years." Thor answered Harry's question "We house any dangerous criminals that threaten the nine realms. Why do you ask?"
"I was just curious" Harry answered "when I saw the number of prisoners I had ordered the number of guards to be doubled"
"Why?" Sif asked "It is impossible to escape".
"Nonsense, you're just saying that because nobody ever has." Harry replied.
"Princess bride?" Natasha asked with a knowing look.
"That's why I love you" Harry smiled and kissed her on the lips.
"Midgardians, so strange" Fandral commented as he shook his head with amusement.
"True" Thor chuckled.
"But seriously" Harry said "it's possible, and with so many prisoners coming in it's better to be prepared just in case."
"You worry too much" Volstagg said.
"You should worry more." Harry shot back "This whole business with the Aether and the dark elves is a cause for concern."
"What do you mean?" Sif asked.
"I believe that we might end up meeting Malekith soon" Harry said, all humour left the faces of the Asgardians.
"But that's impossible" Volstagg said "they're dead."
"Say's who?" Harry replied "There are no records that state Malekith was killed. How do we know for sure? His army maybe, they're are plenty of records about that, but not a single one about him. In my experience you shouldn't trust that somebody is dead until you've seen the body."
"But they're dead, they have been for a very long time, what reason should we have to believe they're back?" Sif countered.
"I am not saying they are back, I am saying they could never have gone." Harry said, he then took a deep breath and gestured them to come closer. "Gather around children, Harry is going to tell a story. Once there was a boy, his family was attacked by the most dangerous and evil dark wizard of all time. If this wizard went after your family then your only hope was to convince him to spare you. He was so dangerous that people were scared to even speak his name. When he had invaded this boy's home, he killed the father just before the mother ran. He then caught up and killed the mother.
His favourite spell was the killing curse, a spell that does exactly what it says in the description, it kills people. It's been theorised that the curse either targets your brain or your soul. You're only hopes of survival are to not be hit or have some big and incredibly thick skin so it can't travel all the way into you."
"That's why you didn't use it on those leviathan things?" Natasha asked.
"Yes as I wasn't sure if it would've pierced the armour, I can block a killing curse with a slab of marble so if it can't pierce that then it can't pierce them. Also I've just decided this very moment on the name of my axe, 'Leviathan'." Harry grinned before his face went back to serious. "Anyway this dark wizard used the killing curse on the mother and the father, he then turned it on the boy. The boy was only about one year old at the time."
"Quick question, was this boy you?" Natasha interrupted.
"I wanted to do just a big reveal, " Harry glared at her "I wanted to set it up but you just had to ruin that. God damn it Natasha!" Harry angrily tossed his axe in a fit of rage and it ended up piercing a wall. Everyone looked at the axe then back at Harry who now possessed a calm face as he smiled at them "Now where was I?"
"Stop being so dramatic" Natasha said as she slapped him on the back of the head, of course it wouldn't hurt Harry too much even if she punched him but the point was made.
"You ruin my fun" Harry pouted.
"Yes but I also kiss you a lot" Natasha countered with a smirk.
"True" Harry conceded before turning back to the Asgardians. "Now as I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted, this boy who was indeed me, had the killing curse sent at him by the most powerful and evil wizard known to wizard kind and then a miracle happened."
"Hold on, but you're still alive" Volstagg pointed out.
"That's what the miracle was," Harry rolled his eyes "now stop interrupting. It was said to be impossible to survive this curse yet this boy..."
"You" Natasha whispered.
"Survived" Harry said, having heard Natasha but opting to just ignore her. "He was able to do so thanks to his mother performing a ritual where she had to sacrifice herself. She sacrificed herself which allowed me to do the impossible and survive the curse, but in doing so the curse rebounded and struck the dark wizard. Everyone believed that the wizard was dead but it turns out..."
"He wasn't?" Natasha finished for him.
"You're ruining this for me" Harry glowered at her before continuing. "Anyway, he became a sort of wraith like being and went around inhabiting other creatures, he returned when I was fourteen. His followers kidnapped me and used a ritual to get him a new body. I tried telling people but they refused to even believe it to be a possibility, they called me delusional and said I was crazy. I mean, I am crazy, but not the sort of crazy that they were implying.
They refused to consider the possibility because 'he was dead' and 'couldn't be back' despite there not being a body. A year later they found out I wasn't lying and he wasn't dead. But that was a year wasted on denial when it could have been spent preparing, do you get my point?" Harry asked everybody as he looked around. "I'm not saying that the dark elves are back and are going to attack Asgard, I'm saying it's a possibility."
"But surely Heimdall would have been able to see them?" Fandral frowned.
"Thor" Harry spoke as he turned to the god of thunder. "You came to Earth because Heimdall couldn't see Jane, correct?"
"Yes" Thor nodded.
"Then that means that Heimdall can't see everything" Natasha replied.
"Exactly," Harry nodded "it means that it's possible for things to be hidden from him. There are ways around everything if you give it enough thought. Also in a world with magic, anything's possible."
"Harry is right" Thor said as a thoughtful look appeared on his face. "When I was a boy my father would say 'a wise king does not seek out war but must always be ready for it'."
"You're father doesn't want to believe in it" Natasha pointed out "if he does then that means that his own father failed. Plus it means that the dark elves, feared beings, are alive and a threat to both himself and Asgard."
"I understand that." Thor said. "My father is a good man and a good king, he has been out of character recently. Meanwhile we should be vigilant and prepared until the convergence passes."
"Convergence?"
"It is an event that occurs approximately every five thousand years." Thor answered. "It is a moment where all nine realms are in perfect alignment. The nine realms orbit in a formation just like how Earth orbits around the sun. "
"Could that be what created the wormholes?" Harry asked. "It makes sense, surely the alignment will affect the realms in some way or form. Is the convergence coming soon?"
"Yes" Thor nodded. "When the realms align the borders between them become blurred, it's possible that Jane had found one of those points which is why Heimdall was able to see her. The blurs allow those 'wormholes' to appear, they are dimensional rifts and allow traveling between worlds to become possible. Jane had likely left Earth which meant she was somewhere Heimdall couldn't see her, she was fortunate the rift stayed open long enough. "
"Because if it didn't then she'd be stuck on a different world with no hope of getting back" Harry said. "That's not good for anyone."
"And once the convergence is over?" Natasha asked. "What happens then?"
"The connection becomes lost." Thor answered. "Everything goes back to normal, no wormholes and no rifts."
"The story books have said that Malekith was seen at the last convergence." Harry reminded them "Am I the only one who sees it? Malekith was seen during the last convergence, he was thought to be gone forever just like the Aether. Now the convergence is approaching and the Aether has been rediscovered."
"That...is worrying" Sif agreed once Harry's words had registered with her. Fandral and Volstagg had also realised it and now both possessed faces filled with worry.
"Until the convergence has passed we will remain vigilant." Thor said "Harry is right, it is far better to be prepared for a possible attack and not be attacked then to be caught by suprise."
"Alright Thor, first of all I'm always right." Harry said with a touch of humour in his voice but it died down before he continued. "The problem we have at the moment is that Odin does not believe it yet. He's been blinded by his fear and desire for all of this to be a false alarm."
"Aye" Thor nodded "if this turns out to be a real threat then not only does that make the family history false and ruins my grandfather's claims but it also means trouble for all of us."
"I must say I have enjoyed having you here" Frigga said as Harry and Natasha walked alongside her.
"The feeling is mutual." Harry smiled at her.
"I also wish to thank you for the way you've acted with my husband." Frigga added.
"I'm no expert but aren't people normally supposed to be upset when someone argues with their husband?" Natasha asked while raising an eyebrow.
"That is what I had expected." Harry added.
"Odin is a good man." Frigga smiled. "But he has long been unchallenged by anyone outside of his family. I, as his wife can argue against his decisions, Thor has rarely ever done so for good reasons before the time he was banished to Midgard. Loki...well Odin isn't in the mood to listen to him at the moment. Make no mistake, Odin is both a good man and a good king, but even he still has lessons that he need to learn. He's stubborn and has gotten used to not being questioned by anyone. Since coming here you have caused him to start thinking and considering his actions, he won't change quickly, far too stubborn for that, but I think he will soon."
"Let's hope" Harry said, he didn't know Odin well enough to know if he would change or not, but for now he would just trust Frigga. If she didn't know him the best then who did?
The three entered through some doors to find Thor talking with Jane, though it was clear that they were also doing something else judging by the hand holding and how close their faces were. Thor had a black cloak over him while Jane was wearing some blue Asgardian clothes.
"Your father said that..." Jane had said to Thor.
"My father doesn't know everything" Thor cut her off.
"Don't let him hear you say that." Frigga said, announcing their presence to the two. Thor and Jane turned to the three just as they walked up to them.
"Jane meet Frigga, queen of Asgard" Thor said, introducing Frigga to Jane. "and my mother." Jane's eyes widened and she quickly pulled her hands out of Thor's hands and turned to the queen of Asgard when she realised that she wasn't sure what to say.
"Um...hi" She eventually spoke.
"She's so adorable" Natasha whispered to Harry who grinned in agreement.
"Have you been enjoying your accommodations?" Frigga asked.
"Uh...well they've been great." Jane replied, trying to keep her nervousness out of her voice and absolutely failing at it. "Thank you a lot of...I mean thanks a lot for everything you've done."
"That is quite alright." Frigga smiled at her. "I've heard a great many things about you from my son."
"You told your mum about me?" Jane said to Thor.
"Of course he did," Harry said "I would've thought that it was obvious seeing as Odin also knows about you."
"Well...okay that's a good point." Jane admitted.
"Do not be so nervous child," Frigga said in a soothing voice "my only intentions are to talk to you and if you are willing then I'd like to get to know you."
"Yes of course, I know you wouldn't try and hurt me." Jane spoke quickly "It's just so awkward being on a new planet and then wearing new clothes and then meeting royalty and not knowing what to say and to have the king not like me and...then suddenly realise that I am babbling."
"Just a bit" Natasha said as Harry brought his thumb and index finger close together to emphasise and agree with Natasha's words.
"Yes, well I..." Jane found herself interrupted suddenly by the sound of an alarm.
"What is that?" Natasha asked as they all looked in the direction the sound was coming from.
"That's the prison" Frigga said.
"Loki" Thor said, wondering if this was happening because of Loki and wondering if Loki had escaped.
"Maybe" Harry said "but it could also be one of the prisoners that were brought in."
"Go" Frigga said to Thor.
"Nat, I'd take you with me.." Harry started.
"I get it" Natasha interrupted, she was one of the best and most skilled assassins on Earth but that did not translate into her being able to fight any and all aliens. Especially when they have been deemed strong enough to need Asgardians to be in charge of imprisoning them.
"I will look after both of them" Frigga promised Harry and Thor.
"Let's go" Harry said to Thor.
Harry and Thor ran and jumped out of the building just as Thor shed his cloak and Mjolnir flew into his hand, the two flew to the prison. Thor with his hammer and Harry with his axe.
A.N: Hi guys, sorry this chapter was short but the next one will be longer, promise. By the way, a few people asked when Wanda will be coming, the answer is when I get to age of Ultron. You have to wait until then. By the way, if anybody can recommend some Harry x Wanda stories then that would be appreciated.
Thanks for reading.