Surprisingly, after the Sokovia incident, things returned to normal for the Avengers. Sure, there were several intrusions from the United Nations, who questioned the effectiveness of the Avengers as a functioning hero group, but Fury had seen to it, at least for the moment. The rest of the time was spent on tending to the homeless civilians, recovering dead bodies and returning them to their families, cleaning up the rubble from the battle, and funerals for those who had lost their lives. Pietro's funeral was particularly a sombre affair, for despite only knowing him for a brief period of time, the Avengers saw that his sacrifice and efforts had not been in vain, and respected him as an honorary member of the group.
Ase did not move as they lowered Pietro's coffin into the ground. She stood beside Wanda, whose tears had dried out, leaving red marks below her dark eyes. Ase wondered if this was how she had looked like when she wept for Loki's and her mother's death.
"Your brother asked something of me before he left," Ase said after the crowd had begun to disperse, returning to their lives or attending another burial. Wanda flinched, but did not pull her eyes away from her brother's grave. "He asked me to protect you. He cared for you until the end."
A long pause, but not for her to think of her next words. She had known the moment they left the remains of Sokovia. "I can't protect you. At least not from here. I will be leaving soon."
Wanda finally turned around and looked at Ase into the eye. "I thought you belong with the Avengers? They seem to need you now more than ever."
Ase managed to form a smile. "They do. The fact that the Infinity Stones are added to the game… We must understand what we're dealing with. And that's what I'll be doing."
Wanda tilted her head and furrowed her brows. Her confusion was understandable. With the advanced technology Earth currently had, particularly the Avengers, wouldn't it be better for her to join forces with her comrades? But Ase knew that the Stones contained powers beyond what science could explain. Her mother had proven it and so had Loki. To understand the gems truly, she must seek supernatural experts, delve into the realm of magic further.
And if there was anyone who was suitable for such task, it would be her. The question was, where to start.
"I think Pietro got his last words wrong," Ase whispered. "It shouldn't be you who needs protection. You need to protect the others. You have powers beyond imagination, Maximoff. I suggest you hone it well."
Wanda stared at her hands and a faint red glow suffused into the air. "I don't understand why you call this power… a 'miracle' or sorts. It has destroyed people, instilled fear in them of me."
Ase reached for Wanda's palm and curled her tiny fingers together. "There are two sides of a sword. You need to decide which one you'll be." Wanda's bemusement grew as she wondered why this woman seemed as if she had lived decades of harsh life when she appeared merely in her twenties. Wanda tried to read off her mind, but like her previous attempts, hers was shielded by an unyielding force. Ase seemed to notice this and stepped back.
"Many people have done that before. Never worked," Ase remarked before she took her rucksack from the ground. "I need to go now. There is no time to waste. Please keep an eye on Vision for me. He might be on our side for now, but he's an intelligent being. And if there is someone who has a change of stopping him, it's you."
A gust of wind blew across the graveyard. For the first time since meeting her, Wanda noticed a necklace dangling from her neck—the colour of warm blood, emanating untold memories. "You haven't answered my previous question."
"You had many questions." Ase then slowly realised which of them was Wanda referring to. She pursed her lips and grasped her pendant, returning it back behind her shirt. "I love the Avengers, truly. But they have their own world, and I have mine. I am still searching for it."
As Ase's finger touched the cold necklace, she suddenly felt a spark of warmth. She widened her eyes, an inexplicable hope bursting in her. The journey she was about to take, she knew, would not be to waste. "Goodbye, Maximoff."
Just as Ase had quickly entered her life, she disappeared as well.
oOo
Ase sipped the last bit of her coffee as she made her way through the streets of New York. The city had been rebuilt, and people continued with their daily lives as if no alien had even had wrecked the city to pieces. A paper crane was held within her free hand, slightly dishevelled due to the battles raging outside her pocket, but still intact. She unfolded it gently and found a scribble of words, an address in a remote street of New York. She patiently strolled towards her destination, refusing to use any more of the threatening dimensional magic and displaying her powers to the public.
She found herself in front of an old building. One could easily mistake the building to be an abandoned office or an antique museum, but Ase knew better. She threw her coffee to the bin and approached the door. Taking a deep breath, she knocked the door twice, and waited.
The same man from Clint's farm opened the door. He did not look surprised.
"The paper," Mordo demanded. Ase handed him the crinkled sheet and observed as he blew it. A strange marking glowed from the plain paper, before the sheet itself burnt into ashes.
"Neat trick," Ase remarked with a scoff. Mordo glared at her and opened the door wide.
"It's not a trick," he said as she stepped in. The door behind her closed with a thunk, shutting herself entirely from the busy streets of New York. Ase held her breath as she swallowed the entirely new world before her. Inside, the building appeared larger than its exterior, with strange paintings and symbols marking the walls. They were all magical, she supposed, but she identified none of them from Rhea's books. Mordo beckoned her to follow him and she did, although her eyes were constantly elsewhere. They passed several sorcerers along the way, and they noticed that she was different than their normal visitors.
"The Ancient One has been waiting for you," Mordo explained. "But not here. The item you are seeking for is stored in Kamar Taj."
"Kamar Taj?" Ase asked. Mordo stepped through a door located in the centre of the sanctum. His presence disappeared entirely and Ase realised the underlying mechanisms of the door. She paced through it and was greeted with snowflake falling on her skin. The scenery shifted, from the dull-coloured walls to more traditional, wooden panels. She sensed the air being colder than in New York, though she was unaffected by it.
"Welcome to Kamar Taj," a voice spoke. Ase turned on her heels and saw a lady standing in front of her. She looked like a monastic, with a golden robe flowing behind her back. Ase sensed a powerful energy residing in her, though something bugged her about her energy—there was an immense strength emanating from her body, the one that all the sorcerers like her had, but something eerie and menacing hid behind the magnificent façade.
"You must be the Ancient One," Ase said.
"I'm impressed," the Ancient One replied. "It appears that your powers well meet my expectations."
"You've been observing me. Then you must have known what I am here for."
The Ancient One raised her brows and smiled. "Quite direct, aren't we? Patience, child. Let us talk over tea."
Ase did not protest as she was ushered into a small patio facing the training ground. Several sorcerers were training with their peers, their hands constantly conjuring magic circle from the air. Ase watched as another conjured a weapon, a sword, made purely from magical energy. She had never seen such spells in Asgard.
"Interesting, isn't it?" the Ancient One said. "The same yet different. That is magic."
"In Asgard we do not need to create such magic circles before casting a spell," Ase remarked, her curiosity becoming the better of her. She did not touch the tea. The Ancient One did not offer any explanation. Ase's eyes darted across the training grounds and suddenly lit up.
"Is it because of our different physical makeup?" she deduced. The Ancient One smiled and put down her cup of tea.
"You are very inquisitive indeed. You would make a great apprentice," she commented. "You are correct. Casting spells is very physically demanding to the body. Humans have a far weaker body from Asgardians and we cannot withstand so much energy channelled into our body all at once. That's why we channel our energies in steps, in magic circles, before we unleash them."
This talk was not for nothing. The Ancient One had long been observing this woman, from the day she emerged from that island and started her vigilante work here and there. So much potential laid untapped within her, but she guessed that without proper master there would be no proper apprentice. She would be delighted to teach her, but she saw that her path was different. The ways of the Mystic Arts would not suit her well, with her being in constant fight and all, and currently she had more important matters to take care of.
"You come here for the knowledge of the Stones," the Ancient One spoke. "And no mere individual can withhold such a knowledge, but I see that you are worthy, and I will grant you your wish."
Ase had only noticed that she was wearing a pendant, the size of a teacup plate. The Ancient One twirled her hands near the pendant and it magically opened, like an eyelid glaring back at her, revealing an emerald gem which glinted faintly under the winter sun.
"This is the Time Stone, one of the six Infinity Stones scattered across the universe. It has the powers to see the past, the present, and the future…" The Ancient One hesitated. "And to alter time itself."
She saw Ase mentally taking note of what she had said. With the goal in her mind, surrendering her the secrets of the Stone would not harm them. "There are six other stones and you know this. The Mind Stone, now on that strange creature's head, gives its wielder the ability to see, hear, and control one's mind." Ase vividly recalled the time when Clint was brainwashed by Loki. "The Space Stone, stored inside the Tesseract, governs the laws of space. The Reality Stone, in the form of the Aether, bends the laws of nature and reality, distorting shapes and physical states, and is even capable of illusions. The Soul Stone, nowhere to be found, has the control of all living beings."
The Ancient One's face darkened as she mentioned the last one. "Meaning?" Ase continued.
"Meaning… That the wielder has control over life and death itself," the Ancient One grimly explained. "Lastly, the Power Stone, the source of pure energy which can easily destroy civilisations." Her mood suddenly brightened up and she grinned. "We have a whole book about the Stones. You may borrow them, if you are willing to pay for membership fee."
Ase believed that this woman must have been so old, because her jokes were worse than Loki's shenanigans. "Does the book tell of how to destroy these stones?" Ase demanded solemnly. The Ancient One's smile faded and she was left to silence. This was a question she had asked herself in the past, one which she had no answer to.
"I believe there is," the Ancient One said. "But there has not been a plausible answer for that. Philosophically speaking, one can destroy oneself. That might apply to the Stones as well."
Ase rubbed her temples and closed her eyes to think. "If that is the case, then someone should have had destroyed the Stones a long time ago. Perhaps their powers do not allow them to destroy themselves?"
"Or the people wielding them," the Ancient One suggested softly.
"Like you?"
Afar, someone screamed in agony and Ase twitched. A sorcerer had gone down, and the rest were scrambling towards him. The Ancient One raised her brows as Ase unexpectedly rose from her seat and approached the commotion.
"Let me see," Ase told them, pushing herself through. Perhaps these people were sorcerers, but she was sure they were not healers—at least not those who spent their afternoons fighting in the open. The man's leg had a terrible gash across his thigh, with his bones slightly in awry positions. Ase mercilessly twisted the joints back together and that invited another scream from the man. Then she placed her palm on his wound and a faint glow breathed to her skin. The wound slowly closed up, and the sorcerers watched in awe as she performed the spell.
"I've never seen a spell like that before," the injured man remarked. "Who are you?"
"Now gentlemen," the Ancient One intervened. "I will introduce her to you later, but for now we need to resume our very interesting conversation."
The men merely stared as she was pulled by the Ancient One into the building. "I see that despite being an intelligent person, you are often reckless in your actions, my child," the Ancient One explained. "It doubts me whether I should entrust you with the knowledge of the Stones. But answering to your question, yes, the current wielders and the past wielders of the Stones have not destroyed them mainly because they are incredibly powerful and useful for the universe. If you wish to destroy them, you are depriving millions of their chance to achieve peace and prosperity."
Ase frowned. "It is the opposite, isn't it? Maybe thousands of years ago the Stones did not do any harm, but look what they have created today. Thousands had died in the Battle of New Yok, in Asgard, just for the sake of the Stones." Ase glared at the Time Stone, almost with a bloodlust, before continuing, "The Stones must be destroyed."
"And how are you going to accomplish that?" the Ancient One challenged, tilting her chin high. "How are you any different than any other wielder before?"
"Because unlike them, I actually have the will and guts to do it," Ase said. Her voice was lower now, swallowed in an ominous threat. She stepped closer to the Ancient One and glowered at her with her imposing figure. Mordo, who had been watching since the start of their conversation, shifted cautiously, ready to defend his master. "Aside from me, someone out there is searching for the Stones as well, and his intentions might not be for the greater good."
"And you are certain of this?" the Ancient One questioned.
"No," Ase admitted. "But I know you've felt it too. An premonition waiting to be revealed, ever since the Battle of New York. Loki wanted the Sceptre for a reason. He survived for a reason."
The Ancient One contemplated the possibility for a moment. She was tempted to use the Time Stone to peer into the unknown future, but she had done enough crimes to break another of Agamotto's rule. Her hands were bound by her duties and her code of honour. But she somehow knew, sensed something big was coming. A terrible catastrophe, not only for herself but for the others.
"There are stories written in the books," the Ancient One began again, her voice almost an echo. "That the Stones combined creates a weapon more powerful than one can imagine, an artefact which can grant any wish its wielder possess."
"You need to gather all the Infinity Stones, and use them to destroy one another."
Ase's mouth went agape as she heard this. She had considered this plan ridiculous, almost impossible, but the greatest expert had suggested it herself. Her mind immediately ran through the necessary steps to collect the stones. She knew where the several Stones were, though she still needed to pave her way through negotiations with their protectors—which wouldn't be easy, considering the eccentric behaviour each possessed. Then there was the task of finding the rest, which would be anywhere throughout the universe. The thought already made Ase's head ache, even more with the aftereffects of the latest battle—she had pushed herself too hard to the point of depriving her brain from the ability to think clearly for several days.
"You are not alone, you know this," the Ancient One reminded. "Call your friends, your mentor. United you stand, even if it's just a sliver of hope."
Ase had wanted to leave her friends out of this, but it seemed inevitable. She grimly accepted the fact and rearranged her plans mentally. "In addition, you need to find a way how to store them together such that you can use them," the Ancient One added. "Each stone is stored in a vessel which protects its users from its devastating effects. You must create a vessel strong enough to hold all of them at once."
"I can figure that out, I think," Ase replied, slightly confidently. "I knew Asgard has decent blacksmiths. Maybe they can help."
"Ah, yes. Asgard," the Ancient One said. "Well, my child, if you manage to succeed in obtaining the other Stones, then I will follow your lead."
The Ancient One could virtually see the glowing hope within Ase's heart, as well as a fiery and dark determination. This woman certainly had gone through much in the course of several years. If she could accomplish this mission, she would be heralded as an unsung hero of their time.
"Thank you," Ase said, almost too sincerely for her own good. The Ancient One watched her leave, realising that she would disappoint her curious apprentices in the training ground. She dismissed Mordo almost immediately, her calm demeanour threatened by the rush of adrenaline from the exciting conversation. Then she lifted her hand, twitching her fingers just barely. The Eye of Amagotto opened widely, its green hue lighting up the dark halls. Then, she saw, and her heart sank.
"As always," she whispered as she shut off the Eye. "Our efforts will never bear the fruits we expected."
oOo
It took a while for the screen to turn on. Clint's face flashed on the screen, his face filled with worry.
"Where have you been? You've made us worried!" Clint started, stating the obvious. The other Avengers heard this and quickly rushed to the laptop.
"Listen carefully. We cannot waste any minute," Ase explained calmly. "We need to find the rest of the Infinity Stones. I think there is a way to destroy them. Everything is written in the email I've sent Stark." Tony immediately opened his phone and seemingly read her email. His eyes slowly widened and Steve joined him.
"I will be leaving Earth to find the rest as well and to investigate how we can use them all at once," Ase continued. "This time it will not just be Asgard. I might find myself in worlds I've never seen before."
"When are you coming back?" asked Natasha as she peered through the screens. "To be honest, we need you more than ever here. Ultron's insurgence has apparently inspired many others to rise from their hiding spots and rebel against the government. Your help can come in handy."
Ase smiled forlornly, and she looked beyond Natasha's shoulders to see Wanda standing. "I think you have enough people there. You will do just fine."
"Are you sure you want to go alone?" Steve inquired. "One of us can come with you. Just to make sure things are okay."
"Is anyone of you a sorcerer who can travel dimensions here?" Ase retorted back. She was met with expected silence. She knew that their apprehension for her was sincere—they were like a family to her, a family she must leave in order to protect. "I will inform you when I have returned, hopefully with good news. Keep the Stones save… I have a feeling that we're not the only ones searching for them."
"Good luck," Clint said. Ase nodded and turned off the connection. Sighing, she stuffed her phone into her rucksack—it would not be needed starting from now. She had laid out her plans carefully, with hopes that no significant disruption would occur along the way. Before she called the Avengers, she had called Elliot to seek for advice.
"Do not let your emotions and past take over you," was the only thing he had said to her. Ase pondered over it for a moment, admitting that recently her ability to think soundly had been compromised by her surge of emotions and feelings.
"Never again," she vowed, zipping her rucksack and walking towards the open field waiting for her. A new journey would begin, one which would start with her talking a sense out of a certain god waiting in Asgard.
A/N: Recently, I feel so blessed. The trailers for Mulan and Wonder Woman 1984 came out, and saying that I am excited is an understatement. I love both DC and Marvel, as well as Disney alike, and I pray that these two movies, plus Black Widow, truly succeed in meeting my expectations, because they represent many of my beliefs as a young girl. And now I am rambling, so forgive me (haha). Thank you for reading, your reviews have heartened me as I am recovering from a series of self-deprecating self-motivation. See you in the next chapter!