Chapter 17: Tracking Spell:
Thanos' grip on the arm of his throne tightened. He could hear the crackling sound of the handle shattering between his fingers. Rising to his full height, the Mad Titan headed towards his personal vault, ignoring the Black Order flinching away from him.
The Other was dead, Nebula and Ronan were out of the game. So was Loki. Gamora had betrayed his trust. 'Such a shame!' The Little One had always been his favorite, by far the smartest of his Children.
'Was it really too much to ask for? Is it impossible to rely on anyone?'
Moving his impressive mass throughout his basement Thanos opened the casket, revealing the Infinity Gauntlet. With a satisfied smirk, he plunged his arm in it. It was a perfect fit.
"Fine. I'll do it myself."
Rolling his petite fragment of the Soul Stone between his fingers, the only Gem left in his possession, Thanos caressed the golden metal of the fake Gauntlet.
'I underestimated you, Allice. I will give you that, tiny Asgardian. But don't expect me to fall for the same trick twice.' Thanos thought, reflecting on his next move.
"Ebony, prepare Sanctuary II. We are going to pay a visit to the Dwarves."
Thanos clenched his fist, refusing to acknowledge failure. The move he was about to do was bold; almost a desperate one. But he wouldn't resort himself to ask for his Lady's help before trying everything in his power to avoid this situation.
With Nebula in his captivity, Thanos knew he wouldn't have to fear a confrontation with the old man. Odin wouldn't try to challenge him more; he was too cautious for that. Even if this meant the whole extinction of another Realm.
Mikan sat on her bed, as she tried to meditate. It had been the only way she found to free her mind of her tumultuous thoughts, to calm her anger down. For the second time, the SilverTongue had nearly gotten her. Even her Alices couldn't protect her from his lures and his charms. This made her feel angry, powerless and vulnerable. Realizing her anxiety was building, Mikan tried to calm her breathing. Taking in a long inhalation, she breathed slowly through her nose, filling her lungs. Then, she held her breath to the count of three. 'One, two, three.' Mikan exhaled slowly through her pursed lips, relaxing the muscles of her face, jaw, shoulders and stomach. The young woman kept doing this exercise until she completely overcame her stress.
The tension finally gone, Mikan's mind drifted once again to her disagreeable encounter with Loki in the greenhouse. When she thought about it more calmly, Mikan realized that, astonishingly, he truly believed he was doing her a favor. 'Loki sensed I wouldn't do it. He knew that it would go against my beliefs, but he did it anyway. He entered so easily in my mind! He had me entirely in his control.' She shivered. However, once again, he had underestimated her and she had only escaped thanks to his overconfidence. Mikan sighed. Maybe for once luck was on her side. That would be a first!
Given the impossibility to fall asleep and discovering she was famished, Mikan took a quick shower, changed her clothes and finally left her room to walk towards the dining room. Entering, she noticed an appetizing breakfast comprised of many of her favorite foods waiting for her on the table. Sometimes, food was the only remedy for all ills! Full and in better mood, Mikan was torn between returning back to her chambers or going to the library where facing Loki would be unavoidable. 'Hiding will lead you nowhere, Mikan.' Taking in a deep breath, Mikan headed to the enormous library. When she reached its noble double wooden carved door, she wavered for a second before pushing it open. She had made a good guess. Indeed, the Trickster was standing there.
Whether her presence went unnoticed or he refused to acknowledge it, Mikan couldn't decide. She stood for a moment at the door, observing him in silence. Finally, picking up a book at random, she made it to the center of the library and sat at the round table that encircled the Sakura Tree. It had been a bad decision; she couldn't even recognize the language the book was written in. Instead, she focused her attention on its illustrations, unsuccessfully attempting to decipher their meaning.
Meanwhile, Loki caressed the wooden shelf in front of him, his eyes not paying much attention to the books it was holding.
'If you truly think so, then I feel sorry for you.' No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't understand the mortal's choice. Who would trade a life of immortality, a life that would allow her to achieve feats she couldn't even dream of, for one that would lead her to an impending death? There was no rational explanation behind it. 'Sentiments then. She is no different than her peers. So pathetic!'
Finally noticing her presence, Loki turned on his heels to face Mikan. He hadn't heard her enter the room. She wasn't looking at him and her anger seemed to have cooled down. Loki wondered on how long she had been sitting there before deciding that it didn't matter.
"I thought you were still brooding in your room." he admitted as he closed the distance separating them in a few long strides.
Raising her head out of the book that had captivated all her attention, Mikan looked genuinely surprised when Loki took a seat beside her. Slowly computing his words, she shrugged her shoulders.
"I am not very good at playing hide-and-seek anyway." Mikan responded, her voice distant. The young woman searched in his eyes for any kind of remorse but failed at finding any. He seemed to be holding on to the belief she was only a stupid, pathetic mortal. Folding her hands on her chest, Mikan cocked her head to the side, smirking, self-satisfied. 'He might consider me an idiot, but right now he is reduced to having to request me for help.'
Locking their eyes for the umpteenth time in a stubborn staring contest, Mikan waited patiently for him to do her the honors. A pleasure Loki wasn't willing to offer.
"You are a challenge, Little One. I appreciate this in a woman." Loki finally observed with a charming smile.
"Flattery will lead you nowhere, Loki." Mikan responded. Still, unbeknownst to her, a small smile had flourished on her lips.
"You shouldn't bet on that." He replied, his voice smooth and seductive. Mikan's heart skipped a beat.
"Then, you're just being overconfident!"
"Am I when your heartbeat and flushing face are saying otherwise?" Loki asked too innocently.
Mikan choked, in loss of words and he chuckled at her, too self-satisfied to her own liking. Embarrassed, she huffed at him, too self-conscious of her childish behavior.
With one movement of his hands, Loki conjured a piece of parchment, an ink bottle, a quill, and the first book he wanted Mikan to translate: The History of the Nine Realms. In return, she used Space Distortion to reveal a pen and two notebooks, one empty, the other containing the translation of The personal Diary of Sir Nicholas Flamel. She handed her work over to Loki and he placed his book in front of her.
With a mutual accord, they got down to work silently, side by side, putting all disagreements aside as they joined their wits in this teamwork. Secretly enjoying each other's company.
His back and his head were hurting like hell. Where was he?
Harry slowly sat on the edge of the full-size bed he woke up in. It took him some time to recognize the sterile room he had been assigned in the Helicarrier a week ago and even more to realize he had no idea of how he had landed there. Harry went dead still. The last thing he remembered was paying a visit to Hermione to get more information about Kamar-Taj. He had no recollection of what had happened afterwards.
His eyes searched for the only ornament of the room, a small clock. It read 03:00 am. A horrible sentiment ran through his veins. What had happened in these thirteen hours of complete abyss?
Harry couldn't sit passively any longer. He had to find out what had happened to him, to make sure his teammates and Luna were safe. Making his way to the meeting room, Harry was thankful for the never dormant ship. When he stepped inside, he found Tony, Steve and Fury engaged in a conversation. Focusing his attention on Steve, who seemed to be not very preoccupied, Harry relaxed a little bit.
"The sleeping beauty has finally woken up!" Tony smirked, raising the nearly empty glass of strong whiskey he was holding.
"Shut up, Stark!" Three voices responded nearly in unison, earning them a chuckle.
The bajillionaire emptied his glass in one go before asking the one question Harry was incapable of answering to: "What happened to you in Kamar-Taj?"
"I don't remember anything." Harry sighed. "Are the others OK? How did the mission go? And where is Luna?"
"Wow! Slow it down, princess. One question at a time!"
Rolling his eyes at Tony, Harry turned at Steve for answers.
"We were tricked into the New York Sanctum. Two hours later, a portal made you appear unconscious in this room. As for your last question, no matter how much I tried to talk her out of it, Luna insisted to join the Hotaru, Jane, Luca and Thor to assist them in their missions on Asgard and Knowhere."
"She did, didn't she?" Harry thought aloud, with a fond smile. "Is there any information on how it is going out there?" He asked curious, pointing at the starry sky.
"No. But don't worry, Harry. Luna will be safe with Thor." Steve tried to reassure the wizard.
"Oh, don't worry: Luna is a very capable woman. She is fiercer than she looks like." Harry chuckled, still remembering the single time he ever saw her truly get mad at someone, who unfortunately had happened to be none other than himself.
"Back to the main focus of your mission, Potter, is there any wizarding trick that could help restore your memories of the events?" Fury asked.
The first thought that crossed Harry's mind was to use a pensieve. However, since he had no recollection of the events, it wouldn't be of much help. Since Shacklebolt had asked him to preserve the secrecy of his missions within S.H.I.E.L.D, going to St. Mungo's would only happen as a last resort. He had no other solutions than to ask for Hermione's advices on the matter.
"I'll see what I can do." Harry replied before Disapparating in a loud pop.
Apparating inside Ron and Hermione's living room, Harry was thankful for the time difference as he found the happily married couple cuddled on a sofa. Neither of them was surprised by his unexpected apparition in their home. By now they had been too accustomed by the twins' or Molly's sudden but welcome intrusions for that.
"Good morning, Harry." Hermione smiled, raising her head from the book she was reading to face him fully.
Ron only nodded at him, a small smile playing on his lips, wondering where he and Luna had disappeared for a whole week without any warning.
"So, having a good time with Luna?" The ginger head taunted his friend, with a knowing smirk.
"Really, Ronald?" His wife sighed. Hermione tilted her head back to observe him from below. Ron's smile only widened and he gave her a sweet kiss before winking at Harry, who made a show of rolling his eyes at his childhood friends.
"Ron, there is nothing going on between us." Harry assured, slightly on the defensive.
"I won't buy any of this excursion bullshit Harry. Anyone can see there is more there than a close friendship between the two of you. Bloody hell, Harry you're even living together!" Ron cried out. "You're just in denial."
Harry refused to reply to him. After all, he couldn't even explain the strange relationship he shared with Luna. Shaking off his own doubts, Harry recalled the reason of his visit.
"Ron, Luna and I are working on a special mission Shacklebolt assigned us. Basically, we are assisting and infiltrating a special organization named S.H.I.E.L.D. Yesterday, I was assigned a mission which went rather badly. On top of that, my memories of the events were stolen!" Harry explained succinctly.
"And Luna, is she alright?" Hermione wondered, a little worried about their dreamy friend.
"To be honest, I have no idea. I hope she is. She followed Thor, two Alices and Jane on Asgard."
Hermione refrained herself from gasping, and couldn't help but feel a little envious of Luna. What a fantastic opportunity she had been given!
"I see… And, you don't even remember a single thing of what happened to you?" Ron asked, dumbfounded.
"No." Harry sighed. "I woke up with a bruised back and a headache. I have small scratches too. So, there must have been a confrontation. I don't want to go to St. Mungo's. I hoped you could help me find a solution." He admitted.
"Did you try to use a Reverse Spell? This could at least help you determine the most recent spells your wand cast." Ron proposed.
"Ron, that is a brilliant idea!" Hermione exclaimed with a beaming smile.
"Always the tone of surprise!" he smirked at her. She gently elbowed him on his sides. The couple stood up and reached Harry's side, and the Golden Trio Apparated in a meadow. It would lead to less complications this way.
Handing his wand to Hermione, Harry could only watch his friends take the control of the situation as they cast the several spells and charms needed to reveal the list of the last spells he used. It took some time but their efforts were rewarded.
"You used the Blasting Spell, the Reductor Curse, the Freezing Charm, Apparition, but this one doesn't really count, does it?" Ron stated before looking more interested at his final discovery. "Harry, you might be interested to know the last spell you cast before Apparition was a Tracking Spell."
A.N: Thank you for reading this chapter! Constructive criticism is always welcome, please leave a review!