A/N: Hello Everyone! :) This is the seventh story in my Thor/OC series, the Heroic Hymns, Courage. The first, third, and fifth story (Humility, Strategy, and Strength) are listed under the THOR section of this site while the second, fourth, and sixth story (War, Truth, and Cunning) are under the Avengers, like this one, as it follows the sequence of movies in the Thor series. This is not a Jane/Thor story nor a Thor/Sif one either, but a Thor/OC ;) This is going to be my attempt at working an OC into the Endgame movie but with a largely original twist.

So the previous story of this series ended on a pretty big twist that disrupts the events of this movie. However, this story will still have certain elements and scenes from the Endgame movie, just adapted to follow the end of Cunning (I'd really suggest reading that before this one to understand the changes to the Endgame plot). This story will be about 10 chapters long, updated 3x a week (usually M/W/F) :)

I also want to say that I'm so sorry this took so long to get posted. I usually aim to get a story up either right after a show/movie has ended/premiered, or within a week or two after. Sadly life decided it hated me and kept knocking me down each time I tried to get back to posting regularly and only just decided to lay off about a year ago. So now I'm back, and we've finally made it to Athena and Thor with Endgame :)

To give a short description of my OC, Athena: She is a tall woman and pale. She has brown hair in this story, though she has often displayed blonde hair as a way to blend in with the Asgardians. She usually would have gray eyes but, after the events of Cunning, they are red in this story. She tends to wear her hair half up, half down, but with a bun in the top half. Her bun has a small stick in it that Thor gave her that is really a very delicate dagger. She tends to wear brown leather armor, a breastplate from her brother, with a coin necklace under it (though she left the necklace behind at the end of Cunning). She has a charm bracelet made by her siblings that she doesn't wear often. For a reference, I picture the OC, Athena, to look something like Rosamund Pike :)

I hope you enjoy! :)

~8~ is a scene break

Disclaimer...I don't own Thor or things from the movie/comic, just my OC and some original aspects...otherwise we'd have a movie like Thor but featuring the Olympians :)

~8~

Crumbling

It was a gloriously warm and bright day on Olympus, the inhabitants enjoying the sun and calm winds. In general it was a normal day, Olympus was rarely gloomy or dark, hardly cold or subject to rain, unless Zeus was in a foul mood. Often it was filled with light during the day, and stars during the night, as was intended. For the Olympians did all they could to keep themselves entrenched in the light, figuratively and literally.

Despite how peaceful things were, one inhabitant in particular could find no peace.

"'Pollo, you are giving me a headache," a beautiful woman with dark hair and pale skin called to the golden skinned, golden hared man pacing back and forth across the grass. She was lying in the shade of a tree, trying to find peace, but her twin brother would not be stilled. And when he was agitated, it was hard for her not to be too.

"I cannot help it, Artemis," he called back to her, "There is something…something on the edge of my senses I cannot quite…" he trailed off, frustrated by his own lack of sight in this regard. He could feel something bubbling, something growing in the edge of his mind, like there was something he should know, but he just could not seem to grasp it.

Artemis sighed, pushing herself up and moving over to his side, taking his hand, "Perhaps a trip to Morpheus?" she offered.

Often times there were things her brother noticed or sensed, but his conscious mind could not make the connection. Morpheus, god of dreams, would usually be a help, allowing Apollo to venture into his own subconscious to see out what he should know.

"It's nothing like that," he told her, "It's more…a feeling of dread, as though something is about to go very wrong but I cannot see what."

Artemis grew quiet at that, her face scrunching in concern, a deep frown growing on her face, because her brother was too focused on what he should see to realize why he might be having trouble seeing it, "Athena," she murmured.

Apollo stiffened, the feeling spiking in him, and he realized his twin was right. The only time he had trouble seeing or making those connections was when it involved their sister, Athena,. Her being so far away and him not having her near him in so long, it made her grow farther and farther away in his visions. He could see the family, the inhabitants of Olympus, clearly and quickly, but Athena's visions always took longer, more work to see.

He had been like this the day Athena had been wounded on Asgard, but it had been a brief spike of anxiety, coupled with an excitement that he later learned was that he would be able to see and save his sister once more. It had covered up the darker feelings and left him just thinking that something good would happen. He had not seen her wound coming for he had only felt that excitement.

"Perhaps you should check in with Iris," Artemis began, only for her very words to be rendered meaningless when a bright rainbow flashed across the sky, Iris delivering a message…to the main temple where Zeus kept his time.

Not even a moment later, the sky darkened and lightning flashed.

"Come," Apollo reached out to grab her hand, the two of them taking off for the temple, for it was as good as a warning that Zeus was going to call court as anything.

~8~

Zeus. Was. Fuming.

Truly none of those gathered in the temple could recall the man ever being quite this angry before, and they had lived very long lives.

Worse, though, was the fact that the man was also, very clearly, afraid.

And that truly gave pause to those around him, that something could frighten their king, their leader, their father.

Ares was instantly on edge as he stood near the door of the temple, as though to keep guard, and in a way he was. He was the soldier among them all, it was his duty to guard them, he was the one everyone would look to in case of an attack, and he could only recall the wars they fought in the past for how his father was acting now, the anger, the rage, the lingering fear. It made sense to him that there would be an attack coming, that Iris had seen something and flown to warn them all. Without Athena here, it would be his duty alone to be the strategist, to create the defenses instead of merely fight in them.

"Ares," Apollo called as he and Artemis came running in, "What has happened?"

"What is going on?" Artemis asked, looking around, her bow on her back as though she, too, had thought an attack was imminent.

"It is Athena," a voice said before Ares could even speak, and they looked over to see Aphrodite approaching, Hephaestus at her side, the man covered in soot and sweat, gripping his hammer in hand, as though he had raced straight from his forge.

"What?" Ares frowned, his head snapping to her so quickly his neck let out a small cracking noise.

"I can feel it," Aphrodite placed a hand over her heart, more able to feel what those around her felt than any other Olympian. If she said Zeus was feeling this way for Athena, then Athena was involved, "A father's love for his child," she murmured, "She is the only child not here."

"But what has happened?" Artemis frowned.

Apollo was quiet, that feeling of dread stronger than ever.

"Silence!" Zeus boomed, his voice sounding so loudly and so suddenly over them all that all the chatter which had begun around them was cut down.

The Olympians turned to face their king, standing on top of a small dais, Hera beside him, looking as frigid and angry as he was, and just as worried.

Zeus was breathing hard, taking deep breaths, underscoring how much he was affected by something. He turned his back on them, moving to his throne, reaching out with his left hand to grip the back of it for support. Before he was able to straighten and turn back to them, "Iris, our messenger, has brought me disturbing news," he looked around at them, "From Earth," he said, before adding, "About Athena."

"Is she alright?" Hermes called out, for the only thing everyone could picture was that she had been harmed, that she had been killed.

For why else would he look so angry and so afraid? He would be angry that his child had died, and he would be fearful that there were ways the humans had now found to kill them when they had not before.

But there was one thing they were missing, that was very clear to Aphrodite, "He is not in mourning," she murmured to herself.

"Has she died?" Hercules called out, clutching Megara close to him, too far away to hear Aphrodite.

"It would be better if she had," Zeus said, and the chill that fell over them all was instant, for never before had they ever heard the man wish his beloved, cherished child to be dead.

"What has happened?" Dionysus called out.

"Please," Persephone pleaded, clutching her mother, Demeter's, hand, "Tell us."

Zeus took a deep breath, "Athena has been lost to the Darkness," he told them.

"What?!" Ares spat out, demand in his voice, sounding more incredulous and angry.

Zeus's expression was grim, "Those of Earth contacted Iris, to inform us she…" his voice cracked and he had to look away for a moment, gathering himself. It had not been a secret to anyone there that Athena was his beloved, the only child of his first wife. And while he had many children by different women, usually only one child by one, not many of them had been his wife. Athena had. And none but her had been by his first wife, "She has become corrupt, and has fallen back into the dark ways."

"Fully?" Artemis called out.

"Her skin is gray, her eyes red, and she has taken a weapon of great power with her."

"With her?" Ares repeated, "Where did she go!?"

"They know not," Zeus stated, "The weapon grants her enormous abilities, she could be anywhere. They could not stop her."

And now, now they understood the anger and fear. He was still angry with those involved with Athena, that they had not been able to stop her, that they had not been able to protect her, nor had they reached out to them faster to prevent this. And the fear because…not only was she his daughter and now she was spiraling down a very dark path he may not be able to save her from, but there was now the threat she would turn on them, come for them, infect them as well.

None of them wished to return to that state, none more so than Athena, and for her to fall…it meant they were in danger was well.

"They begged our help," Zeus continued, "To stop her."

"Then we must ready to arms!" Ares cried out, a handful of others answering his cry, knowing they had to act fast, if they could get to her before it took root more…

"No."

The silence was deafening, none expected that answer from Zeus, from the man who loved Athena so dearly that he bent and broke every rule for her.

"Father?" Apollo frowned, shaking his head, confused, so many were willing to join with the humans, to try and help their sister, their family, but…their king was refusing?

"No," Zeus repeated, his voice softer, broken and resigned as he shook his head, and they could see how much this was killing him to say, "As your king, I must put the wellbeing of our kingdom above all else. Above anyone…else," he swallowed hard, "We are not to set foot on Earth, we are not to take up weapons against each other," he reminded them of the oath they all had taken when they left Earth, "And we shall not."

"But father…" Ares tried to argue.

"Enough!" Zeus snapped, "I have made my decision!" he looked at them all, "Athena has brought this on herself," he added, "She must bear the consequences of this. I will NOT allow this to infect us again!"

With that, Zeus turned and stormed out of the room, Hera hurrying after him.

Ares clenched his grip on his sword, before catching Apollo's eye, nodding, and turning to stride out himself, ignoring the murmuring of the other Olympians. He could already hear them pitying Athena, lamenting about her fate, mourning her, when she was not yet dead and not yet lost, he refused to believe it.

Apollo squeezed Artemis' hand, and tried to let go to follow Ares, but she refused to release him, instead stepping past him and tugging him along with her as they went with their brother. A glance back showed that Aphrodite and Hephaestus had joined them.

"Ares…" Aphrodite began, trying to cool his temper, for his rash actions now might have consequences later, "You must think this through…"

"What is there to think about?" he snapped at her, striding quickly down the familiar path that would lead them to where Iris kept watch, "My sister is in danger, of an enemy she cannot fight alone, or have you forgotten how we were able to beat the darkness back last time?"

They had each other, they had fed off each other, the regret, the horror, they had helped each other pull themselves from it. Athena would have little chance of finding herself, freeing herself, if she was left alone. It was understandable that Zeus would need to make this hard decision for the sake of all they had built and done to keep themselves pure, but HE would not stand for it.

"She will need our help," Apollo agree, "We cannot leave her alone."

"She was the one who fought hardest for us," Artemis reminded, "We owe it to her to at least try and help her find her way back."

"We cannot do it alone," Hephaestus spoke.

"We shall not," Ares assured them, "The ones on Earth, they know what happened, they saw it. They can tell us how and why this occurred."

"And she cares for them," Aphrodite added, she had been able to feel Athena's care even while apart, even more so when she brought Thor to meet their family, "Any care she has for any of them will only help us."

"Agreed," Ares nodded, coming to stop at the edge of the path and looking up at Iris, "Iris!" he shouted up at her, drawing her attention down from where she was keeping watch through a shimmering window. He knew, with what Zeus had announced, she would be looking at either Athena or the ones on Earth that lost her. And he doubted Athena would make it easy to find her.

"Ares?" Iris glanced down, before floating closer to the ground, "I cannot open a portal for you," she told him, "Zeus has forbidden it."

"I care not," Ares told her, "Tell him I threatened you, tell him whatever you wish, but you will open the portal. We cannot leave them alone against Athena, she will decimate them, and you know how she will react when she is free."

Apollo flinched at the mention.

"You speak as though she will be free," Iris remarked.

"She WILL," Ares promised.

"She could corrupt you as well," Iris warned, looking between them.

"That is a risk we must take," Artemis agreed with Ares, "It is Athena."

"I will not fail in this war," Ares nearly growled, "I will get our sister back. But I cannot do that from here."

Iris bit her lip, looking between them, and back at the portal she'd made, she could still recall when she had been summoned by Thor so long ago when Athena had been injured, the care that man showed Athena, the love she saw between them when they had visited Olympus. She could not bear the thought of how Athena would break from this if it went too far. If there was a chance to relieve her of that…

She waved her hand, calling the window down to her and expanded it, "Hurry," she told them.

Ares didn't even pause to look at where they would be coming through, only stormed towards it, the others following him, till he passed through it and came to a stop only a few feet away from a group of humans that were now staring at him.

"What happened to Athena?" he demanded.

~8~

The Avengers hadn't been able to tell the Olympians much, they didn't even understand themselves what had happened or how. To them, one minute Athena was fine, then she had put on the Infinity Gauntlet, and she was a different person. It was the first some of their numbers were hearing about, in terms of the events that took place. Apparently some of their team had been on another planet, trying to stop an enemy called Thanos. When they failed and were able to recover the rest of their team, a magician among them had opened a portal to Earth, rejoining the humans moments before the Olympians arrived.

There were many things in that brief introduction and recount of what happened that could have been of interest or warrant further questions by the Olympians. However it had been the Infinity Gauntlet that they had gotten stuck on, curious about these 'stones' and what they did, the weapon it made the Gauntlet into. And why Athena had put it on in the first place.

"How could this happen?" Aphrodite breathed, shaking her head as she stood beside Hephaestus, her arm looped through his, "It does not make sense."

"Athena would not use such a weapon," Artemis agreed, "She is wise, she would not take that risk."

Ares scoffed, "She is wise only when she is in her right mind."

Hephaestus looked over at him, seeming to read more into his words than the others, "You cannot mean…"

Ares had to look away, the others of his family growing silent at the implication.

"Mean what?" Natasha frowned, looking between all the shifting Olympians, trying to figure out what the hell was going on. They had divulged everything they knew, but the Olympians had not done the same.

"She would only use the weapon if she had already been corrupted," Apollo explained, grim.

"Corrupted by why?" Bruce asked, "She was only near Thanos for a minute when he attacked her and Thor."

"And she only touched the Gauntlet after his arm was cut off," Sam added.

"It was not the Gauntlet," Ares stated, "Nor these Infinity Stones."

Tony let out a frustrated breath, having had just about enough of cryptic words and hidden messages after being stuck with Doctor Strange and that weird alien with the antennae, "You're going to need to be straight with us, what don't we know?" he demanded, "You're not telling us everything. And I think we deserve to know."

"You are mere mortals," Ares glared, "You do not tell us what you deserve from us."

"We're her team," Steve argued.

"We are her family," Artemis stood with her brother.

"I am her husband," Thor cut in, the first words he had spoken since this began, drawing all eyes over to him, "I would have been her husband," he corrected, having to look away a moment as that hit him in the gut.

He and Athena had been so close to being wed. They had returned to Asgard, intending for him to take up his place as king, for he finally felt ready to do so with Athena at his side. He had planned that they would wed soon after, that he could have her as his Queen, his partner, his wife. But then Hela, and then Thanos, and now this…

"She chose him," Aphrodite said after a moment, looking at her family, reminding them of Thor's importance to their sister, "Of all people, he deserves to know what has happened."

"He already knows," Apollo stated, looking at Thor with a knowing expression on his face, "He merely does not wish to admit."

Ares scoffed, "We do not have the time or freedom to deny this."

Thor swallowed hard, "She was corrupted by the darkness that infected you all," he stated, "From the Dark Days. That is what she has reverted to, who she was then."

"No," Ares shook his head, "Not then. Worse."

"What the hell are you all talking about?" Tony demanded.

"Hold on," Steve cut in, his mind racing, "The Dark Days?" he thought on those words, "Athena mentioned that," he looked over at Natasha and Sam, "Just after she brutalized one of Thanos' children," and back to the others, "She said it was a time where all of you became corrupt on the power you had over mortals. But she said you overcame that, got rid of it."

Ares scoffed, but it sounded both guilty and sorrowful and resigned, "We are never rid of it," he told them.

"We try," Aphrodite added, "We try to be better. Since those days, we…we took precautious, to ensure we'd never be tempted to return to that."

"What precautions?" Bruce asked, for if there was anything they did that they could use now against Athena to calm her down or bring her around, they could do it. They needed to utilize every advantage.

"Nothing like you are hoping," Apollo told him grimly, knowing the man was hoping for a weapon or some device, some physical object to stop her.

Artemis reached out to her brother, hearing another tone in his voice that was one she was likely the only one who could identify, guilt. His skill was prophecy, was seeing the terrible events coming so they could avoid it, but he hadn't seen this. He saw his family clearer, but he saw those who were closest to him physically. Athena had been far from them for too long, he saw more visions of them than of her, which was why he had been so frantic to reach out to her when a vision did occur that involved her. It faded with time, though, the longer she was away, the less frequent, the less clear.

He felt so guilty that he hadn't seen this, that he hadn't been able to prevent it. He felt like he had failed. But she knew the nuances of his sight, often it was a large event that penetrated his sight when it came to Athena, something so large and great that he could not help but see it.

This…this seemed like it had been slowly building, that Athena had been fighting this for a while before she just couldn't any longer. There was no way that these humans could have missed it if Athena had been instantly changed. And if they could see it, Apollo would see it. If it was slow...he may not see that.

"We removed ourselves from Earth," Artemis told them, "We were forbidden to ever set foot on this land again."

"Father forbid it now," Hephaestus added, "There are more of us, more who could help, but…they would not risk his wrath."

"What wrath?" Aphrodite muttered, "Athena is his favored child, he would not dare chastise us for aiding her."

It was clear to them all in the fact that they had even made it to Earth without Zeus appearing and stopping them, for he could. He had the ability. Iris reported right to him, no one came to or went from Olympus without his knowledge. No one spoke to anyone on another realm without him knowing. He was very aware of what they had done, what they were risking, and he allowed it, likely in the hopes of saving Athena from herself.

"Athena was the only one allowed away from Olympus," Apollo continued, "To your world," he looked at Thor, "To Asgard."

"Every year we attend to the Dark Temple," Artemis picked up, "Where we keep murals and reminders of what we'd become, a reminder of what we must never become again."

"We relinquished any and all weapons made during the Dark Days," Hephaestus added, "Our…our darker natures made us stronger, the weapons I crafted then were…" he shook his head, "They had to be destroyed, they were too tempting."

The Avengers fell silent as the realization of what it all meant dawned on them.

All the precautions the Olympians took to prevent this happening again, Athena had broken in some way, shape, or form. She had left Olympus, and ended up on Earth. Even if she had not intended to do so, had only gone upon the request of Odin. She had not been back to her home more than once since she left, she could not attend the Temple, she could not be reminded as often as her family about what they had been like then. And her weapon…they had all thought it a miracle, an advantage to them, that she still had something so powerful to use against Thanos.

They had no idea she was never supposed to touch it, that it shouldn't even exist.

If they had known...they couldn't even say if they would have seen it as a red flag. That she had stashed away a weapon her family thought she'd destroyed, hidden it with the intention to use it again one day. A weapon doused in that dark energy, back in her hands again. WOULD they have seen it as a danger to her? A threat? A temptation? Or was the threat of Thanos so great they would have risked her very soul to stop him?

"She had one," Steve told the Olympians, "A sword, from those days. She hid it. And retrieved it to help us fight Thanos."

Ares closed his eyes, he should have guessed as much. They had said she'd gone to retrieve a sword to fight this enemy of theirs, that she had blessed it at a temple dedicated to their family so as to counteract these Infinity Stones. They had NOT said it was one of those weapons from the Dark Days. Though he doubted they even made the connection till just now. He himself had, once upon a time, debated leaving his own sword on Earth, hiding it, for a weapon like that was not often crafted with such power. But he had always been a fighter, one who lived in the moment, and that moment told him to destroy it.

Athena had always been the strategist, thinking ahead, thinking it an advantage to use at a later date.

The others might be surprised she had hidden it, but he was not.

"So she was corrupt by the power of her sword?" Vision spoke, following the logic.

Ares shook his head, opening his eyes, "It would have been happening for a long while. She would never have retrieved the sword, nor used the Gauntlet if not for that."

Wanda, who had been clutching Vision, frowned, "She used it to save Vision," she insisted, "She sacrificed herself to return him to me."

Ares' look was hard, "Had Athena been in her right mind she would have known it best to leave the red man for dead than risk use of the Gauntlet."

"My brother speaks truly," Apollo cut in, seeing a few of the Avengers growing irate at the way Ares seemed to be saying Athena should have let this 'Vision' die, "Athena did not use the Gauntlet to save your love and fall to the darkness as a result. She used the saving of your love as an excuse to take up the Gauntlet, knowing she would fall to the darkness if she did. She could not fight the temptation off at that point."

"She told herself it was to save your love, so she had a reason to put the Gauntlet on and claim the power," Ares agreed, "It was a justification to her. The corruption had already been happening, if it had not she would never have touched the Gauntlet or her sword."

"How do you know she was falling to the darkness already?" Sam had to ask, "You make it sound like she was walking around an inch away from snapping. She seemed normal to me. A little more aggressive…but…" he glanced at Thor, the implication that she thought the man she loved had been killed was a believable excuse for her behavior. No one was the same when they were grieving.

"It would start with her skin," Aphrodite spoke, "It would begin to gray."

"I didn't see any gray splotches," Natasha argued.

"She would cover it up," Artemis defended, "Athena IS wise, she would know that her arm suddenly turning gray would bring up notice."

"Her arm?" Steve perked up at that, frowning deeply.

"It begins in different places for each of us," Aphrodite said, "My face."

"My leg," Artemis nodded.

"Athena and I always had it start in our hand," Ares added, "Our sword hands."

Hephaestus was looking at Steve, "You noticed something."

Steve looked over, nodding slowly, "She had wrappings around her palm and up her arm. Said it was a wound, that she was fine. I didn't think to ask. She survived an attack on her ship, it made sense she could have been hurt during it."

"She was covering it up," Apollo agreed, "So you would not notice or grow suspicious."

"Her eyes," Aphrodite continued, "Her eyes would begin to turn red. Small flashes at first, as though you blinked and merely thought you saw something, a trick of the light. But it would happen more frequently, lasting longer each time."

"I…" Sam frowned, "Just after she took out Thanos' kid, she looked at her sword and I thought…I thought her eyes were red, but she was fine when she looked up."

"And with me," Vision added, "I, too, saw her eyes flash red."

Ares swallowed and looked away.

"Aggression," Hephaestus spoke for his brother, knowing Ares would not want to admit it. Ares had always been the more aggressive of them all, he had worked very hard to contain it in the time since the Dark Days, fearful he might be slipping back into that mindset and never knowing if it was him or the corruption, "She would be harsher, crueler," he looked at Steve, "More brutal."

"Yeah," he swallowed hard, "She was."

Apollo nodded, "She was displaying the signs for some time, fighting it, until she found an excuse to give in without it being 'her fault.'"

"How could it have even happened?" Ares nearly snapped, clearly very affected by this knowledge that Athena had returned to such a state, "She was careful, she was always so careful, never allowing herself to…"

"To what?" Thor asked when Ares cut himself off, sensing that there was something Athena religiously did to prevent this happening that she had not recently. He didn't know what that was, he didn't know there was something she needed to do to prevent it or he would have ensured she did so.

"To be consumed by battle," Ares sighed, "She could never allow herself to fight, to be nothing but instinct, to trust herself not to lose herself in bloodshed. She always thought things out, every move, every strategy, she studied her opponents, because the more she used her mind the less she used her power."

Thor let out a sharp breath at that, not only because he knew now, the exact moment she had opened herself up to the darkness, but because…it had always been something he joked about with her, something he teased her for doing. He had always commented that she put too much thought into battle, that she studied her opponents too long, that sometimes she just had to go in and trust her skill instead. She would just smile and laugh or wave him off, tell him he could do with a bit of forethought in his own fighting.

She never said a word about why she chose to think, or how important it was to not fight on instinct for her.

"Asgard," he swallowed hard, turning to the Olympians, "It was destroyed," he told them, "We managed to evacuate, Athena aided in that, while I distracted the threat as long as I could. But there were…soldiers, soldiers of the dead…" he looked at Ares as the man bit out an ancient sounding curse.

"She fought them?" Ares demanded.

"Aye," Thor nodded, "She said she had experience."

"She did," Ares nodded, "During the Dark Days our Uncle would utilize his soldiers, dead men and women, to be his army. They cannot be strategized against, there is no rhyme or reason to their actions or attacks, they can only be handled by brute strength."

"It began then," Artemis determined.

"That was only, what, 3 days?" Sam looked at the other Avengers, "It happens that fast?" he turned to the Olympians, they made it seem like it took ages for them to reach the state they'd been in, they made it sound like Athena had truly fought it off as long as she could before it had warped her thoughts and led her to taking the Gauntlet.

"It shouldn't have," Hephaestus agreed, disturbed by the notion that it could happen so quickly as well.

Ares scoffed.

"What?" Artemis glared at him, at the implication that he, of all of them, the one closest to Athena, thought so little of her and her fortitude that she could fall so far so fast.

"Athena was the one who fought hardest of us all to turn back," Aphrodite, too, frowned at the man, "To cast off the Dark Days and ensure they never came again. She would not just…give in! Not even for him," she gestured at Thor, before turning to look at him, "Apologies."

Thor waved it off, if it was a choice between his life or Athena's soul...he would always pick Athena.

Ares just shook his head, "Aye, she did. But none of you know why," he looked at his family, "She fought so hard because even as WE returned to normal, she still bore the traces of the corruption."

"What?" Hephaestus breathed.

Ares looked at them all, everyone one of them but Apollo looking stunned at his admission, though he was sure Apollo had seen or sensed something of it even if he had never said.

"She struggled," Ares admitted, "The gray would not vanish. It took…" he let out a breath, "Too long. She would hide away in the libraries, when her eyes flashed red and would not abate. And her aggression…we would spar, whenever I could bear it. We all recovered, but she struggled still. It affected her more."

"Why her?" Bruce asked, wincing when the Olympians looked over at him, feeling like he'd just interrupted a family moment, "Sorry I, uh, I just meant, why was she the only one affected that much?"

"Because she would have won," Apollo said simply, silently confirming to Ares that he HAD known something of what was going on then, "During the Dark Days we all imagined we would be the victor in the war we knew would be waged against each other. With distance and time, it is clear it would have been Athena. Wisdom and war, they cannot be beaten."

"She is half Titan," Artemis added, considering that, "We are merely Olympians."

The way the other Olympians looked away at that told the Avengers that they agreed with Apollo, that they all knew, in some way, that Athena would have defeated each of them.

"I am the God of War," Ares spoke, "But Athena would have out maneuvered me. And if she could defeat ME, there was no chance any of the others stood on strength and strategy alone. And father?" he let out a sharp breath, almost like a laugh, "Father, even being the child of Titans, he would never defeat her. His favored one, his beloved daughter," he looked at the Avengers and they could see that, even as they spoke of how favored Athena had been by their father, NONE of them bore her any ill-will or resentment for it. She could not help who her parents were or how they treated her, and she had clearly proven her own care for her siblings during her time with them that they loved her dearly, "Athena would have won, and she knew it. Somewhere in her, she knew it, the corruption wouldn't let go because she still could. With us returned to ourselves and less powerful than she still was, she could have won. But she fought, she pushed it back. But she always struggled, she was always the one most vulnerable to its return," Ares glanced at his family, "Because it did," he told them, admitting something none of them had known, "Once or twice since then, even on Olympus, even years later. But she caught it, came to me, and we hid it," then back to the Avengers, "Give her temptation, anger, loss, instinct, and an excuse to gain power under the guise of saving the world?" he shook his head, "She would freefall into it, despite her best efforts. Tell herself she was fighting, convince herself she HAD to, to save others, anything to excuse what she knew was happening."

"She told me to make sure she got back to you," Steve looked at them, "That she return to Olympus, when this was over, no matter what happened, to do anything we had to to ensure it."

Ares nodded, "Another excuse," he confirmed, "Another way to prolong it. She should have come to us the moment it began. But she convinced herself she would 'when it was over.' That she had a duty and a mission to see through first. Another day, another hour, more time for it to spread."

"And now that she has the Gauntlet," Artemis murmured, leaving the rest unsaid, the weight of it heavy on all of them.

From what the Avengers had said about the power it possessed, Athena would be far worse than she had ever been during the Dark Days.

Which left just one question, Natasha being the only one pragmatic enough to turn to the Olympians and ask, "So how do we stop her?"

A/N: I know it was a bit of a filler, a bit slow compared to the events of the movie, but Cunning ended with Thor realizing they had to call down the Olympians and I couldn't see this story beginning without that moment, sort of like how Carol appeared and needed to be brought up to date on things before other events were put in motion.

Poor Thor though, Athena's gone, disappeared, who knows WHAT she's doing with the Gauntlet, no one has any idea what to do next or how to stop her and now they find out that the person they always saw as the most stable among them was really a bigger ticking time bomb than the Hulk was O.O

I feel like we needed that glimpse into Athena's history, from her family, to understand how she was at the very beginning of this series, and how far she's come (and how far she's fallen) since then. All the precautions her family took...she broke (or will break), even if some were unintentional. Little sprinkles that sort of come full circle back to what made Athena what she was, her habits, her quirks, her methods. The way she saw Thor, how she handled certain situations, how she held herself. SO much of it was built off of her disgust at who she'd turned into, her weaknesses of not being able to fight it back as fast as the others, her determination to NEVER let it happen again.

Sadly, her best wasn't enough :'(

I also thought it would shed some light on Athena's descent in the last story. I hoped many people would read it and go 'it's ok, Athena's ok, she'll be fine, she'll fix it' or 'she has time, she has a plan, when it's over she'll get help' and then you sort of realize...that's exactly what Athena was thinking the whole time, the excuse she was giving herself to either deny what was happening or that hint of corruption leading her to think she could handle it before it got out of control. Sort of paints it in a new light }:)

I thought it would be a little poignant, the glimpse into her that her family gives, because even with her team, even with THOR, there were things none of them knew about her that her family did. Signs they should have seen but failed to. Questions they should have asked but didn't. She kept part of herself from them, not just out of shame for what she'd been...but a strategic advantage as well. Even back then, her mind is always thinking ahead, never giving away too much of herself so that others can't use it against her.

And boy did she succeed O.O

This story will have a good portion being original, but with elements, scenes, moments, and some lines from the movie blended in. I hope you enjoy what's to come }:)

Just putting this here because I've promised my sister I would tell people about it, I made a page called ko-fi, where people can show support of a person by contributing a 'cup of coffee' to them. It's not a real cup of coffee, it's a donation that is roughly the cost of a cup of coffee, or about 3 dollars. The link is up on my profile or on my tumblr's LINKS page if anyone is interested. There's no obligation, requirement, or commitment, it just sort of feels to me like a little 'let's talk about your work over a cup of coffee' ;)

Some notes on reviews...(from the end of Cunning)...

Have to start by saying I'm so glad the ending of Cunning made an impact :D I was hoping to build up to it, but in a way where you genuinely think Athena will come out of it and be able to go home and heal/recover, but the rug just gets ripped out from under everyone and she can't :'( So I'm very glad that it was an interesting ending and I hope you'll all like this story as a follow-up :) I'm sorry it took so long to get it up, I hope the wait will have been worth it :)

That's perfectly understandable to not enjoy the ending, it was a very big twist and I can understand how the story and the movie differed from the Infinity Gauntlet comic books. The story was more following the events of the movie than the comic book storyline. I do hope you were able to find other stories you enjoy more, we should all read what we love after all :)

I have no idea WTH just happened either lol. Athena was having a very bad day in my head and it just fell apart :(

I can understand that, an AU ending to the movie means an AU take on Endgame and it's not everyone's cup of tea so I get that it wasn't your favorite way to end things ;) If I had my way, Athena would have just collapsed in tears with Thor like 'what's wrong?!' and needing to go home and him taking her and the two just living happily ever after on Olympus :) Sadly, Athena took it in a very different direction :( That was a main concern of mine, how would the next (this) story go when there was little information about it even out by the time I posted the last story. I had an entire original story planned, but I really wanted to incorporate as much of Endgame as I could so it took me a few viewings to have an idea of how to blend some aspects of it. I hope you find this story more enjoyable :)

I started Courage quite soon after Endgame came out, but then life got in the way and it fell to the side :( But it's up now, I hope you enjoy it! :)

Thank you for the translation! :) I'm always glad to know the actual translations than what some captions might say :) Never worry about ranting or rambling with me, my A/Ns end up being that half the time lol ;)

Oh I have a crossover planned where we get Athena, Kona, Olivia, and Bucky's OC to meet up one day ;) We'll probably have to wait till we get to Bucky's OC for it, but it's coming ;)

No worries at all, you're English was very good to me! I'm always super impressed with anyone who has any language as their second language. I'm barely managing to learn how to say 'the girl reads the book' in Italian lol so you are epic for knowing two :) And thank you so much for your kind words, I'm so glad you've enjoyed Athena so far, and I really hope you'll like this story too :)

Courage is out today ;) Lol. I am very sorry though that it took so long to get to. I hope you like it :)