The Hunters and the Prey - Chapter Thirty-Two
Author: Milady Dragon
Daisy sighed, leaning back a little to give her back a rest. She and her friends were back in the Archive, still going through the papers she'd volunteered them to go through, and while she was learning a lot of interesting things about history and magical theory, there still wasn't a damned thing about that cursed arm.
What made it difficult was that she was the only one with the magical, language translating, spectacles. Some of the documents could be read normally, but others…at least she could sometimes pass off the spectacles to someone else when her eyes became tired. It made it a little easier on her to be able to have someone else do the reading when she needed them to, although sometimes they'd get a bit distracted by the subject matter of what they were translating.
Not that she'd been any different, really.
Lincoln had gone a little crazy over a healing scroll he'd found, asking the Head Archivist – who was the same one who hadn't thought it was such a good idea for students to have free reign in the Archives despite their accreditation – to make a copy for him to study later on. Daisy knew he was hoping to get a paper out of it; it was on surgical spells, something that her boyfriend was very interested in.
Jemma had also found things she wanted to keep, as had Leo. Trip, in his own, laid-back, way, had become excited over a series of maps of the world as it had been three thousand years ago. Wanda had practically clutched the book of nursery rhymes to her bosom, and Pietro a journal of some sort of Hero of a revolution that no one even remembered about but had taken place in what was now Sokovia.
And, yes, Daisy had coveted the still brightly illustrated treatise on dragons, and had asked for her own copy of that as well. It had been like being on a treasure hunt…only, they still hadn't found the treasure they were actually seeking.
She really was worried about Sir James. Sure, he didn't feel the passing of time in his Zero Cabinet, but Daisy did and, while it had only been a day since the man had voluntarily gone back into that magical box, it was a day longer than Daisy really wanted to go by. She felt an almost driving need to do something, and she knew she was working as quickly as she could, but she still wanted to get him out of that thing as soon as she could.
Even with the seven of them, and the fact that there really weren't as many scrolls and books as they'd all thought there would be, it was still taking time. When they couldn't read whatever document they were looking at, they had to rely on pictures where there were any, until Daisy – or whoever had the spectacles on at the time – could confirm or deny if it was useful. Plus, some of the writing was so faded as it be almost illegible, since the papers were so old.
While Daisy was glad she'd volunteered – and brought her friends with her – she'd been hoping for more success than what they were having.
She hoped her Dad was having better luck. She knew that he was going to meet with Ianto and Grand Master Stephen today, to discuss what to do about Hydra within the Void ranks. She really wanted to get into that, as well, but the young Wizard knew they'd never allow it. Honestly, there wasn't a lot that she could offer three Grand Masters…and she still got a thrill of fierce pride knowing that her very own father was one of those Grand Masters. Phillip Coulson, Grand Master of Voids…yep, that had a wonderful ring to it. Daisy had always known her Dad was special, and this just proved it.
He might have been a bad guy before he'd found her, but he'd changed. And now all his hard work was paying off.
Well, maybe he'd been a bit of a hermit before all this Hydra stuff had happened, but Daisy was aware of just how much he'd changed. Even Uncle Nick said so, and he'd known her Dad since they'd been kids. And now, Dad had Clint as well, and Daisy couldn't be happier to have a possible second Dad in her life.
Damn. So much had changed in such a short time. It was fantastic.
"What was that one?" Jemma asked, motioning toward the scroll Daisy had been using the spectacles to translate.
"Nothing, just agricultural records." She blew out a loud breath, rubbing her nose while dislodging the magical lenses.
Jemma rested her hands on her hips, frustration fairly screaming in her stance. "Bugger. I'm sorry, I thought I'd translated that one word correctly."
"It was close." The young Wizard rested her gloved finger on the word Jemma had thought she'd recognized. "Instead of 'curse', it means 'pestilence'."
"Not exactly the same, though." Her friend fiddled with the end of her ponytail. "I guess Old Elvish is a bit different than the current language."
"Languages change over time," Trip said. He was perusing one of the shelves that held scrolls, his own gloved hands pulling one at random from the group. "It's a pretty interesting subject of study, really."
"Didn't Master Jasper write a monograph on it?" Lincoln asked, frowning slightly at the rather large book he was flipping through. "And…I think I've just found ancient pornography…"
That had everyone flocking to stare over his shoulder, Daisy included. Her eyes widened as she read the words that were being translated by the spectacles. "Um…yeah, I think you did." She could feel her face heat up as she blushed in sheer embarrassment.
The others didn't need to read the actual words; the illustrations were enough to clue the others in on what the book was all about.
"Can…people actually do that?" Leo sounded bemused, even as the tips of his pointed ears pinked.
Lincoln was nodding absently. "Physically, the person would have to have excellent agility…but yeah, it could be done."
"You should all be ashamed of yourselves," Jemma chastised. She'd stepped back once she'd seen for herself what Lincoln had, and had her fists on her hips, her face red even as she was giving them her best 'Mom' expression. "We're here to help Sir James, not ogle…that." She waved a hand toward the book, then put that hand back on her hip.
"You're right," Trip said. He surreptitiously licked his lips, then moved back toward the section of the archive he'd been searching.
Wanda, who was blushing just as hard as Jemma was, stumbled back a little, bumping into her brother. Pietro grabbed her by the shoulders and pushed her out of the way but, after taking one more look at the open book in Lincoln's hands, he bustled Wanda back to their own area of the room.
Daisy shook her head and took her place at the desk once more. Anyone who was busily doing the translating was taking the stool at the desk, the better to spread things out on.
Lincoln practically slammed the book shut, making Leo jump…he'd still been looking over Daisy's boyfriend's arm, and was startled by both the sudden movement and the sound. He mumbled something Daisy couldn't catch then stumbled back to whatever he'd been doing, trying to hide the fact that he was just as affected as everyone else in the room was.
"Yeah," Trip spoke, clearing his throat a little and picking up the previous thread of conversation, "Master Jasper did write something about the Laws of Language Mutability. Even the most static of languages can change over time, like Elvish. Just because Elves live a long time doesn't mean their terms for stuff stay the same."
"Like 'curse' and 'pestilence'," Jemma said. "They're enough alike and yet mean different things." She grinned, her embarrassment over Lincoln's find forgotten in the rush of new knowledge. "I really do need to read that monograph, it sounds absolutely fascinating. I never would have considered that Elvish itself was like the human tongue in that respect, in that it also changes. I'd be very interested in the etymology involved."
While Daisy usually thought her friend's quest for information pretty adorable, she didn't this time. There was too much to do, and they were getting off track. Still, getting distracted by pornography wasn't something she'd anticipated. Surely they would have vetted that sort of thing?
The inventory had proved to be pretty useless. They'd noticed as soon as they'd started poking around yesterday. It was as if the room had been sorted, but then someone had come in behind whoever had done the initial work and randomly mixed things up. It was a pain in the ass, and had irritated Daisy the moment they'd noticed.
They'd informed the Master Archivist, who'd also been irritated by the news and then had said he'd get someone in to clean up… and, if they weren't busy with their own researches, could they start on that while they were in there? Then he'd quickly changed his mind about that, since they were merely Novices and students and such things should be left to trained Archivists.
Daisy would have been insulted if she hadn't been so busy holding in her laughter.
"Here," Pietro held out a scroll he'd been checking out, "I think this might be something."
Daisy accepted the scroll, opening it and using a couple of the paperweights to hold it open. She immediately saw why Pietro had wanted her to take a look; on it, in faded black and red ink, was the distinctive drawing of a metal arm.
The young Wizard immediately sat up straight. It did resemble the arm that Sir James was currently cursed with. The words on it where a series of loops and whorls that she realized was the Wizard writing, and it twisted under the magic of the spectacles until it resolved into something she could understand.
A geas to hold the arm to the person wielding it.
Enhanced strength.
UnBreakable.
The ability for the thing to Contaminate its host so it wouldn't be rejected.
Her heart thundering, Daisy knew that this was it. This was the original document for that cursed arm.
"Pietro, well done." She grinned up at him.
The youngster gave her a grin of his own, this was tinged with embarrassment and pride.
Everyone gathered around Daisy in order to get a look at what Pietro had discovered. "That's the arm?" Jemma asked excitedly.
"That's it," Daisy confirmed. "It's a little different, but I know it's what we're looking for." She released the tension holding the scroll flat, and it rolled itself back up with a quiet whisper of ancient parchment. "Let's get a copy and take it to my Dad and Ianto. They can figure it out."
She had faith that her Dad and the other Grand Masters could help Sir James. After all, they were the best of all the Wizards.
It would only be a matter of time, and Sir James would be free.
And then, they could tell Sir Steven Rogers that his best friend wasn't as dead as he'd been led to believe.
They might get a happy ending, which would be awesome.