Chapter 36: Return to Volterra
The Wakandan airplane flew through the dark night with the stars above providing more light than the dark expanse of the uninhabited Sahara below. Bella adjusted their course again and set the plane's autopilot on to take them the rest of the way to Italy. Bucky returned to his seat beside her after checking on their small army of a dozen shape-shifters who sat quietly in their human forms in the back of the plane.
"How are they holding up?" Bella asked.
"They are ok. The Eagles swear they could have flown there much more comfortably themselves. The Impalas are complaining that the ceiling is not high enough to accommodate their horns. The Lions and Leopard are happy enough for now, but they also finished off the last of my antelope jerky."
"What about the Mambas and the Crocodiles?"
"I gave them each a heated blanket and now they are asleep. Mouse swears she will never leave the ground again and that it's completely unnatural for one such as herself to have her feet off the ground. She may have lost her lunch once or twice during takeoff."
"Thanks for looking after them, babe. I'm glad you are here," she said, taking his hand in hers. He gave her hand a squeeze in response.
"I forgot to tell you," Bucky said, glancing at her with golden eyes, "with how messy the last few days have been I didn't remember till earlier. Before the mchawi turned me to stone, she said the words-you know, the words?"
"She knew them?"
"Every single Russian word."
"But it didn't work?" Bella asked.
Bucky's face broke into a grin that seemed to glow from his bones through his skin. "It didn't work."
"I'm glad," Bella responded. And she was-though more because she knew he needed to be convinced of his cure more than because she thought he had been a possible danger to them.
"I'm ok now," he said. "Even if, well, you know," he said and waved at his foreign body. "At least I know I won't return to what I was before. The Winter Soldier truly is gone."
"Well, let's figure out how to get rid of this White Witch. Then we can get the fully cured Bucky Barnes returned to the flesh."
"You got it, doll."
Another hour later found the large jet quietly descending onto a deserted green hillside in the Tuscan countryside. They cloaked the plane so it could not be seen against the ancient church and surrounding fields in which they landed. The Eagles exited the jet. Their dark chocolate skin, golden eyes, and tall Mohawk hair morphed into the bodies of brown and tan speckled eagles. They flapped their powerful wings and took to the air with a majestic grace.
They returned in an hour's time and alighted onto the grass besides the rest of the company. They lifted their crowns of feathers as they tilted their heads side-to-side.
"They said they could see very little happening in Volterra," Bucky said, reading their thoughts for the others to hear. "The city around the fortress is full of the usual happenings of human life, but within the fortress itself, they could not see much. The courtyards all seemed deserted and even from the windows, they could not see any signs of life. They suggest we send in Mouse."
The tiny, caramel-colored Mouse, already in her animal form, squeaked and ran towards the eagles. She curled herself into a little ball and the largest Eagle gently took hold of her in his claws. Mouse closed her eyes as the Eagles' wings pounded against the grass to carry them back to the air.
"Mouse is already feeling sick to her stomach," Bucky said as they watched the Eagles from the window. "She has decided to retire from military service after all this is done."
The Eagles alone returned after another hour.
"They left Mouse there to keep searching the fortress," Bucky said. "During the time she looked around, Mouse reported only a single occupant of the castle-a human woman."
"What!" Bella asked, surprised. Her surprise was mirrored in the expressions of the Watu wa Wanyama around her.
"The Eagles are saying it's time for us to move in. We will find cloaks hidden outside the city gates. You all should remain in your human forms and pretend to be Volturi," Bucky said.
"Twende," Leopard said. He moved towards the door of the jet and opened it for all the others.
The company made their way towards the city. As covertly as they could, they walked through the rolling hills and fields towards the city. They found the Eagles waiting for them outside the city wall where they perched on a tree. Below the tree lay a large pile of grey cloaks. Each of the company paused to shroud themselves in the garb of the Volturi guard before they proceeded further into the city.
The hoods of the cloaks shaded the slightly golden faces of the great cats, though their long incisors could not be fully hidden. The Impalas' horns had to be pushed through the cloak, making them appear as if they wore horned helmets.
"Here goes," Bella said, cloaking herself. She couldn't help her shudder as she saw Bucky, in Edward's body, covered in the grey cloak of the Volturi. He looked as they looked-as they would wish him to remain. He looked like one of them. She thought, not for the first time, how much she longed for the brilliant soul of her husband to be encased in the green eyes and warm flesh of his slightly scarred self. Bucky gave her a decidedly un-Edward-like wink and smirk and she felt herself relax.
"Let's go storm the castle," Bucky said.
The Eagles remained in the air and flew on ahead. The company walked in through the stone arched gates and their grey robes dragged along the cobbled streets. The Volturi's stone fortress loomed ahead of them and yet Bella could not see a guard upon any of the rooftops.
"I hear a lot of people thinking about laundry and cooking dinner," Bucky whispered. "Lots of very human-sounding minds. I can't hear any thoughts that sound like those of a zimwi."
They cautiously entered the fortress thought the echo of their footsteps proved to be the only sound they could hear in the stone passageways.
"In the throne room," Bucky said. "I hear someone there."
Mouse met them at the door to the Volturi central chamber. She quirked her little head to one said, scratched herself with a pink foot, and swept towards the door. She gave them another look with her dark eyes and ran through the small opening between the massive doors.
Bucky and Leopard creaked opened the doors the rest of the way. As they did, the entire company looked in upon the enormous marble room. In the center of the white pillars stood three figures. Two stood unmoving in their chairs. Their uniformly grey bodies sat as statues staring unseeing upon the rest of the room.
At their feet, sitting on the marbles stairs, sat a third figure. This one moved and breathed and smelled of blood and life. A dark woman with a shorn head garbed in a deep blue and purple kitenge rose as they entered. She flashed them a brilliant grin.
"Nakia!" Bella shouted and ran towards her, hands outstretched. Nakia embraced her then turned and greeted the rest of the company in Kiswahili. She then pulled out a wooden box from a satchel she carried around her shoulder.
"Shika," she said and gave the box to Bella.
"What is this?" Bella asked.
"The magic rings," she said, her dark eyes somber and lacking any signs of mirth.
"How did you…why are you….Nakia, what is going on?" Bella asked, confusion evident on her face as she took the box.
"Come," Nakia said, gesturing for them all to follow her. "There is much to tell you. First, you should eat and drink. We are safe here tonight and the battle will not find us here."
Oooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
T'Challa could not take his morning meal. The nearly sleepless night left him feeling slightly woozy. He lay his head on the back of the large chair in his father's study where the early watches of the morning found him retreat. He closed his eyes for a moment and felt himself slip into a hazy sleep. His rest ended with a loud knock on the door and the entrance of his General.
"Habari ya asubuhi, mfalme wangu," she said with a salute.
"Mzuri sana," he replied. He yawned and rubbed his eyes with his hands. "It is early, General. Why have you come?"
"Our Volterra mission has successfully landed. They will communicate again once the Eagles have scouted out the fortress in Volterra."
"Asante," T'Challa responded. "You are ready to depart?"
"You know I would much rather stay and fight, my King," Okoye responded with a frown.
"Of course. That is the very reason I have chosen you for this mission. You must protect the heart of Wakanda. If Shuri is not kept safe, there will be no heir and Wakanda will fall into chaos during wartime. If you do not protect carry some of our store of the heart-shaped herb, there will be no protectors for Wakanda. I will be at peace knowing my sister and mother are under your protection and in case I join my ancestors, there will be another Black Panther to take my place."
"Yes, my King. May the spirit of the Black Panther be with you as you defend our people and our homeland," she said with another salute. She turned quickly and left the room to hide the tears that moistened her eyes.
T'Challa readied himself with his Panther Habit and joined his troops at the borderlands to wait. Today was a day he would have preferred to wait long. Unfortunately, he did not have long to wait. Already, the silent footsteps of grey-cloaked figures marched in formation between the trees and came forward to meet them at the border.
Oooooooooooooooooooooo
Notes:
To see pictures of our Eagles, look up the African Crowned Eagles. Mouse is an African Spiny Mouse. The Snakes are Black Mambas. I'm capitalizing their names because I've decided those are their names. I thought it would be too confusing to give them each a name so decided to simply name them what they are to help keep clear up confusion.
Translations:
Twende: let's go.
Shika: take
Zimwi/mazimwi: vampire(s)
Mchawi: sorceress
Habari ya asubuhi, mfalme wangu: good morning my king
Mzuri sana: very good.
Asante: thanks