Chapter 22: Mind Games and Revelations:
Christine couldn't help but feel responsible for the messy situation they were in. Two more hours had passed since Mikan's disappearance and there was still no signs of her nor of their friends. With Mikan's ability to conceal her spiritual presence, she had left no trail for them to retrace her to her current location. Still, this hadn't dissuaded the Ancient One, Stephen and Mordo from going out searching for her, even though they were left to play mind games as they desperately tried to guess where their friend could have vanished.
'I still can't believe that I acted so insensitively towards her. What the hell was I thinking?! She is obviously still very affected by what she witnessed yesterday. And she is going through so much lately…'
As she was nervously pacing back and forth, Christine heard the sound of shattering glass beneath her. Her heart missed a beat when she realized she had stepped on a photo frame. 'Oh, no! Please, don't be it!' she pried as she bent down to gather the broken frame. Christine carefully cleared it of the glass shards recovering it and was struck by remorse when she recognized Mikan's most treasured item, her sole attempt to reenact a reminiscence of this family she never quite had the chance to have. The photograph captured a happy family, Mikan smiling in its center was enveloped in her late parents loving, protective embrace. Christine bit her lower lip as she felt her heart sank.
Sighing, Christine wiped the tears she hadn't realized had flown down her cheeks and did the only thing she could think of to make herself useful that didn't require the use of superpowers. She started to clean up the incredible mess that was left of Mikan's room. It took much effort and three whole hours but she was satisfied by the result. Exhausted by the task, Christine ended up crashing on Mikan's comfortable bed. She fell into a deep torpor for she could not keep her eyes open any longer.
Jane tugged nervously at the folds of her blue Asgardian-styled dress as she silently observed Hotaru. The young inventor was holding her breath unwittingly, her hands were gripping at the railing of Thor's balcony so tightly her knuckles had turned white and her violet slanted eyes were wide open, completely captivated by Mikan's fight for her freedom which had captured her sole attention. Thor's balcony warranted them of a global view over the streets of the Golden City, which allowed them to spot and follow most of Mikan's moves easily. Watching her run across several streets while doing her best to dodge Thor's thunderstrokes, Hotaru tried to conciliate her lasting memories of her past childhood friend with the ever-moving figure that was currently giving Thor a hard time catching her. A feat that no ordinary Alice could ever dream to pretend to accomplish.
'Ordinary. This, I don't think Mikan ever was…' Hotaru bit her lower lip in contemplation. And, indeed, there she was, using the powers of her countless Alices and swiftly combining them with the Eldritch Magic she had learned to wield in Kamar-Taj to her advantages. 'This time Mikan will be the one to answer all of our questions: starting with why she didn't show her sorry ass to us ever since she was set free.' Hotaru inhaled a deep breath, clenched her hands into tight fists and willed herself to put her emotions aside so they wouldn't hinder her ability to analyze the situation impartially.
"The amount of Alices she is capable of using is unprecedented in all the history of our community..." Hotaru stated calmly, startling Jane who wasn't expecting her to speak up. "However, I don't know whether you noticed this or not, Jane, but Mikan doesn't seem very keen to use them. When she could easily dodge Thor's attacks by using the Teleportation or the Barrier Alices, she'd rather draw a portal instead. And this, even though it'll mean an incredible waste of time and energy. Same applies to her attacks: there again she is relying more on Magic than on her Alices. And, contrary to her faux attack in New York, she isn't using a myriad of Doppelgangers to confuse her opponents. This means that she is either too weakened to use them or using them comes at too high a price for her."
Jane's eyes widened in surprise at Hotaru's statement and quickly moved forward to lean over the railing, as if to take a better look. From their high position, she could observe the Warriors Three cornering Mikan into what looked like a blind alley. This time, instead of using her Teleportation Alice or drawing a portal, Loki's young ally opted for punching her way out. Surprisingly, she managed to steal Fandral's sword and quickly overpowered the three of them, without seemingly breaking a sweat!
"Do you think that she has been physically enhanced too?" wondered Jane in awe at the ease with which Mikan had defeated three renowned Asgardian soldiers.
"Obviously." Hotaru agreed with a small frown. "However, I think that her situation is much more complicated than that. We have already established that the amount of Alices Stones within her body is insanely impressive but, more importantly, to any given person it should mostly be deadly. Alices Stones, when used too profusely by their owner or when present in too much quantity within one's body, are known to put a great strain on said owner/body. To be able to host as many Alices Stones as there must be in her possession, Mikan's body must necessarily have been prepared and enhanced to withstand the enormous strain these Stones are certainly constantly loading on it."
"Do you think that it might impact her lifespan?" Jane voiced her question aloud. Right away, she felt like kicking herself for putting Hotaru in the difficult position of having to consider the possibility of losing her loved one, and this before even having experienced any semblance of a real reunification with her. However, even though she had paled slightly, Hotaru's features remained carefully impassive as she gave an answer to Jane's legitimate question.
"There would be nothing too surprising about it being actually true. After all, Alices have died for much less." Hotaru sighed heavily before pursuing. "Like I have already told you, Jane, Mikan's powers must be coming at too high a price for her to use them thoughtlessly. Especially when she already knows that she's going to be captured anyway. Mikan is just wasting everybody's time, including her own, by refusing to give in right away. She's either too foolish to realize that she has no chance and nowhere to escape or she is trying to gain time, for some reasons beyond our comprehension, by distracting Thor & Co with this mere cat and mouse game."
'Or maybe she knows exactly what she is doing and she is playing us like complete fools…' Hotaru sighed inwardly as she noticed another petite silhouette hiding in a small, deserted alley. Careful not to raise Jane's suspicions, Hotaru discreetly pulled a miniatured tracking device out of her sleeve and dropped it off the railing. Pretending to check some information on her phone, Hotaru proceeded to activate and adjust the device's settings so she wouldn't lose her once childhood friend's tracks. 'Enough is enough, Mikan... I won't let you run away from me this time.'
Amongst the sheer confusion and the pure chaos spreading across the Asgardian city, Mikan stood still, discreetly lurked in the shadows of a now deserted street. Panting and shivering, her chest rose heavily with every breath she made. She rested the weight of her slim fever-stricken body against a wall as she weakly reached for support. Hair sliding over her shoulders to hang in front of her face, eyes closed, the young woman gathered what she could of her composure and took a brief minute to steady her breath while waiting patiently for her way to be clear again.
Mikan had managed the impressive feat of concealing both her spiritual energy and her magical trail. Retracing her Doppelganger back to her would now be impossible. As long as she avoided using any of her Alices or Magic again. 'Which will probably narrow my chances to survive in the Asgardian forest somewhere next to inexistent.' Mikan sighed heavily. 'Sweet!' Of course, it was without mentioning the furious outburst of energy she had previously unleashed in Heimdall's Observatory which had almost drained her of any she had left. 'So clever of you, Mikan! Never been one to think before leaping into action, aren't you?'
Sucking on the inside of her cheek, Mikan rubbed at the headache forming on the front of her skull. She was already exhausted and the slim control left she had over Alices was now wavering. Swiping her messy brown hair away from her face, Mikan gritted her teeth at the sight offering itself before her. She cursed under her breath when she spotted alarming black marks that had already begun to spread all over her white, pale, translucent skin. 'As if I was in need of this right now!' Pressing her lips tightly together, Mikan tried to keep her hands steady. They were shaking, the blackened marks covering them burning and stretching out almost to the point of the unbearable. She's had it worse before. And though she kept telling herself that, it didn't help the feeling of dread rushing through her body at the realization of how close it was to fail her again. 'No. Not again. Please, not now!' she thought as she desperately tried to swallow down her rising panic. Mikan took in a deep inspiration and proceeded to mentally erase the screams of protest her exhausted body made at every step she took, as if trying to numb the pain into a plight of inexistence by the sole power of her deflating imagination. 'You wish!'
From her hidden spot, Mikan caught a slight glimpse of the magical dome drawn by Frigga within which her clone, Thor and his allies had been contained to restrain the collateral damage. It had been only by chance that she had avoided being trapped in it too. Though the magical barrier covered an area three blocks wide by twelve blocks long, most of it had been left in rubbles in the midst of Thor's unsuccessful attempts to apprehend her clone. The mighty god of Thunder was running out of patience and, as Mikan's Doppelganger kept dodging his attacks, the latter grew increasingly more destructive. Admittedly, the young Alice was quite surprised that Odin, whose back was turned on her, hadn't already put an end to his golden son's struggles against her clone. She somehow suspected him to be using this combat as an opportunity to personally assess her powers and evaluate how much of a real threat she was. And though Thor was facing a simple clone, it didn't fail to display the full range of her potential. Indeed, despite being hugely outnumbered, her Doppelganger proved itself to have an undeniable advantage as its immense variety of power allowed each of its moves to be unpredictable, even to Alices like Luca and Hotaru. However, Thor still had the upper hand and it was just a matter of time before this mere cat and mouse game would come to an end. Her clone was running out of tricks to display and energy to gain her time and the clock wasn't ticking in her favor anymore. She had to flee from the scene as quickly as possible.
Thankful for the diversion created by her clone, Mikan hid the sword and the two daggers she had handily retrieved from two unsuspecting guards beneath a stolen cape she now wore for sole disguise. Being armed lulled her into a false sense of security, even though she knew the real danger was yet to come. The Asgardian forest guarded countless dangerous creatures, some even feared by Asgardians themselves, and she was about to venture into it, weakened and deprived of the option of using her greatest source of protection: her Alices. Her throat tightened at the idea of possibly dying alone on her way to freedom. If she did, would there be someone to look out for her body? Would they hand it back to Kamar-Taj? Would Luca and Hotaru be reassured she was finally taken care of? Her heart sank at the thought. 'Would I even be missed?' Mikan wondered sadly. 'Yes, The Ancient One, Stephen, Mordo and Wong will probably be very sad if I die here. Though I doubt that Stephen would ever openly admit to it. I'd feel really bad for poor Christine too. She'll certainly blame it on herself. One more reason to get out of here alive!' she thought to herself. 'Oh! And Loki will certainly be pissed too, I suppose.' she suddenly frowned, 'If I am gone, then there will be no one left to translate Allice's books for him. I wonder if this wouldn't be a good thing after all…'
A loud explosion snapped Mikan out of her wandering thoughts, reminding her she had to get away while she still could. Her fingers curled around the hilt of the stolen sword she hid beneath her cape. With Thor and everyone else's attention still solely focused into apprehending her Doppelganger, the way was clear. Swallowing down her apprehension, she discreetly engaged herself into the woods of the Asgardian forest, completely unaware of the two sets of eyes watching her attentively.
It was the sounds of four distinct voices that woke Christine up. Still half-asleep and groggy, she quickly checked the time on her phone. The screen indicated 00:00, she had been asleep for more than five hours. Struck by surprise, Christine hurried out of the bed and burst into the Ancient One's chambers. Four heads turned in her direction. The Ancient One silently invited her to take a seat between herself and Loki. Christine met his icy gaze and the hairs on the back of her neck rose up. She refrained from shivering. Taking in a sharp breath the woman diligently obliged the Ancient One's instruction, regardless of her fear of the Asgardian.
"You still haven't found Mikan?" Christine asked timidly.
The awkward silence that invaded the room spoke for itself.
"Mikan is not on Earth anymore." Stephen sighed, unaware of the silent exchange in which Loki and the Ancient One were engaged. "All the clues we have lead us back to the same conclusion: we believe her to have been captured by Asgard."
All colors drained from her face, Christine suddenly felt sick as a strong sense of guilt and shame invaded her body. However, unwilling to be the source of any more concern and fully aware that such behavior wouldn't help resolve their problems, Christine promptly recomposed herself.
"Is there anything we can do to help her?" she finally asked.
"No." Loki responded sharply, with a semblance of annoyance in his voice.
Loki took in the somehow welcoming intense pain running through his right wrist. It helped quiet down that uneasy feeling of guilt and concern he experienced toward Mikan's precarious situation. He could only be held directly responsible for it for he had followed blindly the Ancient One's requests without questioning them. He then returned his attention back to the Sorcerer Supreme. 'I would like to believe this wasn't what you were planning to when you sent Strange to tell me to bring her back here!' he stated, still unsure on whether he had the right to express his anger on the unexpected turn the events had taken.
'It is.' confirmed the Ancient One. 'I am surprised to hear accusation in your voice. I thought you would have assumed my intentions out by yourself already.'
'Don't take that tone with me, old woman.' Loki retorted, annoyed by the Ancient One's mild condescension. 'How was I supposed to know you would be capable of such folly!'
'I always only had Mikan's best interest in mind. Don't act so surprised about it, you already knew I was capable of challenging her safety if it meant serving her the chances of living a better future.' the Ancient One pointed out. 'I do not remember you minding it back when I handed her to you and this situation is in all ways similar to it. What changed since then?'
'What has changed? I hadn't taken an oath on my life not to betray her trust back then! She was neither guarding the Orb nor in the possession of one of my journals and she meant nothing to me but a mere escape plan! Yet you knew I would never do anything to harm her and there lays all the difference.' Loki countered vehemently.
The Ancient One arched a surprised eyebrow, caught short by Loki's indirect confession of his growing affection for Mikan.
'Just as I know Thor will never allow any wrong to be done to her.'
At the mention of his brother's name, Loki's eyes narrowed into sharp crescents. He was now seething. The woman was truly starting to test his patience.
'What good do you expect out of it anyway? Tell me this instant what it is that Mikan could possibly gain by being held captive there when she stands no chance against them!'
'No, she does: Heimdall will help her. He knows better than to allow such an enormous mistake as letting Mikan be jailed. And, yes it will do her good. This will help her to finally figure out what happened to her in her unconscious years and how much in danger she still is.' retorted the Ancient One.
Loki frowned as a terrible flash of anger crossed his now darkened eyes. No longer concerned by the presence of Stephen, Mordo and Christine surrounding them, he expressed his indignation aloud:
"By the Norns! What is this nonsense supposed to mean? Hasn't it even crossed your mind that I should be warned of any danger that Mikan could be exposed to?"
Christine jolted, startled Loki's abrupt outburst. This was the loudest she had heard him speak yet. She placed a hand on her pounding heart, certain that the god of Lies and Mischief could hear its furious beats against her chest. Stephen reached for her free hand in a reassuring gesture, just as dismayed as she was by Loki's irrational fit of anger. However, he knew better that to judge the situation too hastily, therefore he discreetly made sign to Mordo to lower his drawn weapon.
"Master, what is he talking about?" Mordo wondered, caught off guard by Loki's unexpected behavior, shocked to witness him raise his voice at the Ancient One.
"What danger is Mikan exposed to?" Stephen asked as a gut-wrenching foreboding overwhelmed him.
The Ancient rose to her feet and walked to the door before swinging it open. "Mordo, would you mind walking our guest back to her home." the Sorcerer Supreme ordered.
"Are you truly going to leave me out of this?" Mordo asked, insulted by her request.
"The less known, the better." the Ancient One stated in a poised voice, completely unimpressed by Loki's anger and Mordo's offense. "Mordo, don't let your pride take over Mikan's safety."
"We'll leave now." Christine nodded, and grabbing Mordo's hand, she dragged him out of the room.
The Ancient One sighed as she closed her chamber doors behind them. Then, drawing a portal to the Mirror Dimension, she sealed it with enough spells to ensure the secrecy of their discussion. Somehow, the great lengths she was taking only made the two men's worries grew wider. They exchanged a look before following her into the Mirror Dimension.
"What danger is Mikan facing? Is it really that bad?" Loki reiterated calmly, cooled down by the Ancient One's grave look.
"Allice is still alive and he is closer to Mikan that any of you could ever think of."
A.N: Thank you for reading this chapter! Constructive criticism is always welcome, please leave a review!