Chapter 3: The SHIELD
At Isabella's Diner, after receiving their order, Lyssa put small bites of buttered bread on Aria's highchair table for her to eat. Thor was sitting on the toddler's other side, sporting a brown jacket over his clothes and eating his food at an incredible speed, miraculously managing to not choke.
"How'd you get inside that cloud?" Jane asked curiously, looking at Thor.
"Also, how could you eat an entire box of Pop-Tarts and still be this hungry?" Darcy asked, eyeing the way Thor was practically inhaling his food.
Thor didn't reply, only continuing to eat his food at an incredible speed.
Aria, seeing the large man beside him inhale his food, tried to do the same. The toddler was no longer upset as she had been earlier, blessedly sidetracked from her sorrow-filled dreams.
"Aria, no!" Lyssa cried, seeing Aria about to put more bread in her already full mouth. She caught her wrist and gently pried the piece of food out of her hand. "One at a time, sweetie. You need to have one piece at a time." Aria pouted at her in response but slowed down, earning a relieved sigh from Lyssa. She turned to Darcy, still keeping an eye on Aria and began explaining, "Thor's an Asgardian. Even though he's in mortal form right now, he's still processing energy like an Asgardian, so he needs to eat a lot of food."
Thor nodded along with what Lyssa was saying as he washed his food down with coffee, downing half the mug's contents in one go. "This drink, I like it." Thor commented, holding the mug up.
"I know, it's great, right?" Darcy agreed.
Erik glanced at Lyssa with a raised eyebrow but before he could comment on the aristocrat's explanation or even how or why she believed in it, Thor slammed the coffee mug down on the ground with a cry of 'Another!'
The sound of breaking glass startled the few patrons in the Diner and drew Izzy's attention.
"Sorry, Izzy." Lyssa said, looking apologetically at the elder woman. "We had a little bit of an accident. I'll fix the mug and bring it back to you, promise."
"No problem." Izzy replied, smiling softly. She shot a mock reproachful look at Aria, clearly thinking the toddler had been the one to break the mug.
Lyssa hurriedly picked up the broken pieces of china and put them in a small bag handed to her by the waitress. It wasn't the first time the toddler broke things nor was it the first time Lyssa would fix the item before sending it back. "Why did you do that?" Lyssa asked, rising gracefully to her feet and looking at Thor with a frown on her fair face.
"It was delicious." Thor replied, shrugging lightly. "I want another."
"Well, you could have just said so." Jane snapped.
"I just did." Thor said defensively, not understanding why Jane was so upset.
"She meant that you ask politely." Lyssa explained gently, tucking the bag of broken china into her purse and looking at the golden-haired man. "While some people see the breaking of china as a sign of compliment, it is not always so."
"I see." Thor said softly, nodding. "I meant no disrespect, my Lady."
"I know." Lyssa said, smiling gently for a moment before becoming stern. "No more smashing, understood?"
"You have my word." Thor said, bowing his head slightly.
"Thank you." Lyssa said, smiling brightly at him.
"Yay! 'Mash!" Aria cried, clapping her hands and grabbing a fork that was near her.
"No Aria, no smashing!" Lyssa cried, quickly and gently prying the fork out of Aria's hand. Keeping a firm and gentle hold of Aria's hand, she chided gently, "Aria, we don't smash Ms. Izzy's things. That's not very nice."
"'Mash." Aria repeated, pouting up at her mother.
"I'll give you play-do when we get home." Lyssa promised, knowing that the toddler wanted to play. "You can teach Mr. Thor how you play while Mummy works with Aunt Jane, Aunt Darcy and Grandpa."
"Yay, pyay!" Aria cheered, clapping her hands happily and completely distracted from her earlier desire of smashing.
Thor watched as Lyssa gave a sigh of relief. His gaze roved over her dark red hair and flawless skin, the light tan evidence of her time spent outdoors. The woman's strange eyes, the color of moonlit silver, captivated him the most, more so than the crescent moon on her forehead – the orbs that were large and glittering with playfulness but hiding a shadow of deep-wrenching pain and sorrow. They were the same eyes that Anera had, from the color and shape down to the glittering playfulness and swirling emotions in their depths.
Darcy and Erik exchanged looks, both hiding small smirks at the way Thor was watching Lyssa. It was utterly obvious that the man was attracted to the Welsh-British aristocrat and rapidly working his way towards smitten and besotted. However, the realization also brought on waves of protectiveness towards Lyssa and Aria. They knew that Lyssa was fully capable of looking after herself; they may not know much about her past, but they did know enough to be certain of her self-defense capabilities as well as her fierce protectiveness towards her daughter. However, that didn't erase all the times they had been witness to her tears and gut-wrenching cries of agony and sorrow for those she had lost.
Jane also noticed the way Thor was watching Lyssa and felt a pang of jealousy before firmly pushing it to the side. She had no reason to be jealous over the man being attracted to Lyssa. And who could blame him? The Welshwoman was gorgeous, intelligent and a very nice person; her soft and gentle personality drew people to her like moths to a flame, though predictably, Lyssa was completely unaware of it. Lyssa's limitless ability to love and show compassion was rivaled only by her fierce determination and protectiveness towards her daughter and her friends.
"The usual, please, Izzy." A man's voice said, drawing the small group out of their thoughts as a pair of newly arrived patrons placed their orders.
"You missed all the excitement out at the crater." The second man remarked, sitting down at the counter.
"They're saying some kind of satellite landed out in the desert." The first man said, sitting down as well.
At the men's words, Jane, Lyssa and Erik exchanged looks, glancing over at the recent arrivals and listening to what they were saying. Thor returned to his meal, Aria following suit, though mercifully neither inhaled the food much to Lyssa's relief.
"Yeah." The second man agreed, chuckling lightly. "We were having a good time with it until the Feds showed up."
"Excuse me." Jane called, drawing the men's attention to them. "Did you say there was a satellite crash?"
"Yeah." The second man replied, nodding.
"Oh, my God, this is going on Facebook." Darcy said with a giggle, watching Thor and Aria eat. She pulled out her phone and held it up to Thor, she said, "Smile."
Thor smiled as told and Darcy snapped a photo.
"'Mile. 'Mile." Aria cheered, clapping delightedly.
"Yeah, baby, smile." Darcy said, turning her camera on the toddler and snapping several photos of her as well.
"May I ask, what did the satellite look like?" Lyssa asked curiously, keeping half an ear on Thor and Aria while focusing most of her attention on the recent arrivals and the news they brought with them.
"Well, I don't know anything about satellites, but it was heavy." The man replied, turning in his chair so he could look at them. Thor stopped eating and tuned in to the conversation, absently stopping Aria from putting more food into her already full mouth. "I mean, nobody could lift it." Thor smiled softly and rose to his feet, crossing the distance towards the man. "They said it was radioactive. I had my hands all over it."
"Which way?" Thor asked, putting a heavy hand on the man's shoulder and getting his attention.
"Oh, uh… 50 miles west of here." The man replied, stammering slightly. Thor nodded and turned around, striding out of the diner. "Well, I wouldn't waste my time! Looked like the whole army was coming when we left!"
Lyssa and Jane exchanged looks and shot to their feet, grabbing their coats while the redhead lifted Aria out of her highchair and bundled her up once more in her jacket before loosely wrapping her blanket around her. Grabbing their purses, the two women ran out of the Diner behind Thor, Darcy and Erik following suit while exchanging exasperated looks.
Outside, Jane and Lyssa caught up to Thor as he walked across the road behind the Diner, several drivers narrowly avoiding hitting the man.
"Where are you going?" Jane asked, running up to him.
"50 miles west of here." Thor replied, not stopping his stride.
"Why?" Lyssa asked, keeping a firm grip on Aria at her hip.
"To get what belongs to me." Thor replied as the two women fell into step beside him.
"Oh, so you own a satellite now?" Jane asked, half sarcastic.
"I don't think it's a satellite." Lyssa said thoughtfully as Darcy and Erik caught up to them.
"Lady Lyssa is correct." Thor said, nodding. He shot Lyssa a curious look, wondering once again how she seemed to know so much about the Realms. "It's not what they say it is."
"Well, whatever it is, the government seems to think it's theirs." Jane pointed out.
"To be fair, they do that a lot." Lyssa chirped, absently prying her hair out of Aria's hands. "No Aria, Mummy's hair is not for pulling." She turned to Thor, looking up at the large man curiously. "Do you intend to simply walk in and take your property?"
"Yes." Thor replied with a smile, glad that at least one of the mortals seemed to understand. He turned to Lyssa and looked at her curiously, noticing Jane, Darcy and Erik had stopped walking and were listening to them. "My Lady, how is it that you know so much of the Realms?"
"Let's just say that there's more to me than meets the eye." Lyssa said softly, a small smile on her face.
Thor nodded, seeing that the young woman clearly didn't want to elaborate and turned to Jane. He had noticed the dark-haired woman's interest in the Bifrost and decided to take a page out of Loki's book. "Lady Jane, if you or Lady Lyssa take me there now, I will tell you wish to know." He offered.
"Everything?" Jane asked interestedly.
"Yes." Thor promised. "All the answers you seek will be yours once I reclaim Mjølnir."
"Myeu-muh?" Darcy repeated in confusion, messing up the pronunciation. "What's Myeu-muh?"
"Myeu-muh." Aria repeated.
"Mjølnir." Lyssa corrected only to get a baffled look from the intern and a bright grin from Aria. She sighed and shook her head. "Never mind."
"Can I have a word Jane, Lyssa?" Erik asked, his tone brokering no argument as he stepped away. Lyssa and Jane exchanged looks and followed the older man to the side, Darcy joining them. "Girls, please don't do this."
"You saw what I saw last night." Jane said softly, looking up at her mentor/ father figure excitedly. "This is no coincidence. We have to find out what's in that crater."
"We already know what's in the crater." Lyssa reminded her, pulling a toy out of her purse and handing it to Aria, letting the little girl play with something other than her hair. "Mjølnir, Thor's hammer."
"Myeu-muh." Aria repeated with a grin.
"Girls, I'm not talking about the crater." Erik said quietly, shaking his head. "I'm talking about him." He nodded his head in Thor's general direction.
"But he's promising answers." Jane argued.
"He's delusional." Erik said softly. "Listen to what he's saying. He's talking about Mjølnir and Thor and Bifrost. It's the stories I grew up with as a child."
Lyssa realized that while she believed Thor and what he was saying about being the man from legend and myth, Erik clearly did not. If she were being honest with herself, while the realization hurt slightly, it didn't surprise her all that much; the older man was a scientist, taught to observe and draw conclusions from facts. He didn't have her ability to break the laws of physics on a daily basis in the form of magic and spellcasting.
"We're just going to drive him, that's it." Jane said, her tone almost pleading.
"He's dangerous, Jane, Lyssa." Erik said, his own tone just as pleading as Jane's was. "He's too big a risk to have around Aria."
Lyssa, who had been about to offer that she takes Thor on her own, seeing as she could protect herself and had magic, froze at the reminder of the risk that the possibility of being wrong posed to Aria, her beloved child. While she could protect herself and actively use her magic, Aria was still small and couldn't control her magic. She sighed and turned back to Thor, rejoining the taller man. "Thor, I'm sorry but we can't take you to the site." Lyssa said apologetically.
"I understand." Thor told her reassuringly. "You are a mother, first and foremost. Thus, your thoughts must first be of your child than of a stranger."
"Yes, it must." Lyssa agreed, looking down at Aria in her arms.
Aria looked up at them and smiled brightly showing off her small, razor-sharp teeth. Thor smiled back, his blue eyes softening at the innocence the little girl seemed to portray despite the nightmares that had plagued her only a short time earlier.
"This is where we say goodbye." Thor said.
"So it would seem." Lyssa said. Thor reached out and gently took her hand, pressing a kiss to her knuckles and causing her to laugh lightly. "It's been a while since anyone's done that."
"Jane Foster, Erik Selvig, Darcy, farewell." Thor said regally, turning to Erik, Darcy and Jane. He bowed slightly to them and Erik bowed back, his posture slightly clumsy as the two brunettes gave equally clumsy curtsies in response. He turned back to Lyssa, glancing at Aria hesitantly before asking, "Lady Lyssa, if you permit, may I grant a blessing upon your daughter?"
"You may." Lyssa said, nodding.
Thor smiled and gently placed his large hand on Aria's head, the toddler completely silent and watching with large eyes. "Brave child, may Odin bless you with all the knowledge and wisdom of the ages and may Frigga bestow love and happiness throughout your years." Thor said softly, his voice filled with warmth and strength as he gazed at the small child in the beautiful woman's arms with tenderness. He turned his gaze to Lyssa, taking note of her appearance and the strength that lay within the deceptively small woman. "My Lady, thank you for everything."
"You're welcome." Lyssa replied, smiling softly at him. "And thank you for your blessing."
"All right." Erik said, nodding at Thor. "Back to work. Come on, girls."
The older scientist turned and walked away, the three women following after him. Aria looked back over Lyssa's shoulder and waved at Thor, receiving a wave in return.
The small group turned the corner and stopped abruptly as a tow truck driver honked his horn at them. Noticing the items in the bed, Jane and Lyssa's eyes widened in shock.
"Hey! That's our stuff!" Jane cried as the truck drove off.
"Come on!" Lyssa called, running towards their residence. Jane quickly caught up with her, Darcy and Erik only a few steps behind as they reached the base and saw their equipment and research being piled into a large van by several men in black suits. Lyssa saw one of the men who seemed to be directing the rest. "Agent Coulson, what is going on here?" She asked coolly, drawing the man's attention to them.
"Lady Lyssa, I'm here on behalf of SHIELD." The man, Agent Coulson, said, moving towards them.
"Is that supposed to mean something to me?" Jane snapped, glaring at the man.
"Lyssa, you know this ass?" Darcy asked, gesturing to the agent.
"Language." Lyssa chided automatically, shifting Aria from one arm to the other, perching her once again on her hip. "Anyway, they're the Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division. An American extra-governmental military counter-terrorism and intelligence agency tasked with maintaining national and global security." At the redhead's explanation, all activity in the lab stopped as everyone stared at her. Noticing the looks, she rolled her eyes exasperatedly. "United Kingdom nobility, remember? I do know things that civilians don't."
"Whatever they are, they can't do this!" Jane shouted angrily, glaring at the agents that continued to load the van.
"Jane!" Erik hissed, running after the irate scientist. He knew exactly who the agents were, on a slightly more personal level than Lyssa's off-handed knowledge. "Jane, this is a lot more serious than you realize. Let it go."
"Let it go." Jane repeated in angry disbelief. She stepped around him and looked at the agents. "This is my life."
"As Lady Lyssa said, we are tasked with maintaining national and global security and to that end, we are investigating a security threat." Agent Coulson said, not at all fazed by the angry scientist. "We need to appropriate yours and Lady Lyssa's records and all your atmospheric data."
"I'm assuming 'appropriate' is SHIELD's way of saying 'steal'." Lyssa said dryly, glaring coolly at the agents that were flitting around her lab and gathering all the data and equipment.
Lyssa's seemingly calm exterior did not in any way mean that she wasn't just as angry as her friend. However, where Jane was visibly expressing her anger, Lyssa was far more accustomed to being subtle with her expressions when it was needed. One didn't grow up among Wizarding pureblood society without learning a few tricks, after all.
"Here." Agent Coulson said, pulling a slip out of his suit pocket and handing it to Lyssa, evidently seeing the redhead as the one less likely to break his hand. Though that was probably more due to the toddler in her arms than out of any real desire to not do him any harm; his first meeting with the woman left Agent Barton with a broken nose and himself with a healthy fear of redheads mixed with respect for the redhead in question. "This should more than compensate you for your trouble."
"This isn't a matter of purchasing replacements at Radio Shack or a Mini Metro." Lyssa snapped, taking the slip of paper and glaring up at the agent. "Most of this equipment was built by Jane and myself."
"Then I'm sure you and Ms. Foster can do it again." Agent Coulson said calmly, holding back the shiver at the ice-cold glare being aimed at him by the tiny redhead.
"And I'm sure we can sue you for violating our constitutional rights!" Jane snapped angrily.
Aria wriggled in Lyssa's arms and she put her down on the ground. The little girl wasted no time in kicking Coulson in the shin and sticking her tongue out at him. "You mean!" Aria declared, a fierce look on her tiny, cherubic face.
"Aria!" Lyssa cried, torn between shock and amusement.
Darcy burst out into a fit of giggles that she hurriedly tried to repress. Failing spectacularly, she clamped her hands over her mouth to muffle the sound.
"I'm sorry, Ms. Foster, Dr. Potter, but we're the good guys." Agent Coulson said with a pained look on his face, holding his abused shin.
"So are we!" Jane cried desperately. "I'm on the verge of understanding something extraordinary. And everything I know about this phenomenon is either in this lab or in this book." She held up her journal in explanation as she continued passionately, "And you can't just take this away…" another agent strode up to Jane and tugged the book out of her grip, loading it into the van. "Hey!" Jane cried, reaching out and trying to grab the book back only for the agent to manhandle her away from the van.
"Jane! Easy!" Erik cried, reaching out and grabbing the brunette, pulling her away from the agent. "Easy." Shooting a glare at the agent, the older man gently tugged the young woman back towards the lab. "Jane…"
"Thank you for your cooperation." Agent Coulson said, nodding at the group of glaring and furious scientists; he wisely stayed out of reach of Aria's tiny yet dangerous limbs, the little girl glaring at him just as fiercely as the adults were.
Darcy put a comforting hand on Jane's arm while Lyssa picked Aria up and held her in her arms. The small group of friends watched the agents drive off, the desert dust rising in their wake.
(X)
A short time later, Lyssa, Erik, Jane and Darcy sat on the roof of the building, their legs dangling over the side. Aria sat between Jane and Lyssa, the redhead keeping a firm hold around the toddler's waist.
"Years of research, gone." Jane said mournfully.
"They even took my iPod." Darcy said sadly.
"Mean." Aria declared, her expression a cross between a glare and a pout as she crossed her arms over her chest. She had her blanket draped over her shoulders, holding the corners in place with her hands.
"Yes, my darling, they were quite rude with their behavior." Lyssa agreed, pressing a kiss to her head.
"What about the backups?" Erik asked.
"They took the backups as well." Lyssa replied, having already checked for them as soon as the agents had left. "And they took the backups of the backups. They were quite thorough. Honestly, I would be impressed if I weren't so frustrated and annoyed."
"I just downloaded, like, 30 songs onto there." Darcy moaned, tucking a lock of hair behind her ear.
"Could you please stop with your iPod?" Jane snapped, irritated. "Who are these people, Lyssa?"
"Truthfully, all I know is what their mandate is." Lyssa admitted, absently prying her hair out of Aria's grip. She held her wrist out to her, letting her play with her bracelet instead. "And that too is only because of my family's standing back in England. I've met a few of their agents over the years, but I haven't had extensive contact with them. And the few times we met, there were other things happening that didn't really leave time for in-depth conversations." Lyssa said sheepishly.
"I knew this scientist." Erik said quietly, drawing the women's attention to him. "The pioneer in Gamma Radiation. SHIELD showed up and, um, he wasn't heard from again."
"They're not going to do that to us." Jane said fiercely. "I'm gonna get everything back."
"I'm all for that plan, but how exactly do you intend to do so?" Lyssa asked, looking at her friend curiously. While she could be as impulsive as Jane was, if not more so when the situation demanded it, Lyssa was also far more capable of thinking ahead than the older woman was. Whether it was because of her upbringing among the United Kingdom's upper crust or if it was due to having custody of Aria, Erik didn't know, but in that moment, he just prayed that the young redhead would remain level headed in the face of Jane's impulsiveness.
"I'm not entirely sure." Jane admitted. "But I will."
"Jane, please." Erik pleaded softly. "Let me contact one of my colleagues. He's had some dealings with these people before. I'll email him and maybe he can help."
"Erik, they took your laptop as well." Lyssa said gently.
Erik looked at her in disbelief before letting out a groan.
"Sowwy, Gyanpa." Aria said softly, looking up at the older man sadly.
"Me too, kiddo, me too." Erik said, looking at Aria but aiming his words at Jane and Lyssa. "Lyssa, can I ask you something?"
"Absolutely, what is it?" Lyssa asked, looking curiously at her friend and mentor.
"Why do you believe what Thor said? About the Bifrost and Mjølnir?"
"Because I know it's true." Lyssa replied simply. Seeing the disbelieving and confused looks her friends were giving her, she continued, "I'm a witch, a real witch with magic."
"You're kidding." Jane said disbelievingly.
"Nope." Lyssa said, shaking her head and not at all fazed by the disbelief shown to her by her friends. "Let me show you."
She pulled her wand out from its disillusioned holster on her arm, a seemingly innocuous piece of wood. It was made with a blend of holly, cherry and rowan wood that created a rather beautiful marble pattern and was 13" in length. At its core, she had another blend, this time of unicorn tail hair, dragon heartstring and a phoenix tail feather. Her wand was one of a kind, specially made by Ollivander, the Wandmaker in Diagon Alley, Britain's Magical Shopping District, when she had all but destroyed at least half of his premade wands in her attempts to find one that chooses her; even in the rare times someone else got their hands on her wand, they were never able to use it, not even to create sparks which was one of the few things that could be done with a wand not your own. Similarly, she could never use anyone else's wand, though she had never learned that through trial and error, rather by the adamant warning given to her by the Wandmaker and a little common sense.
Lyssa waved it around them, causing the air to ripple slightly as her ward took effect.
"What was that?" Darcy asked curiously, seeing a faint ripple in the air.
"That was a privacy ward." Lyssa explained. "Basically, it'll make any unfriendly eyes see only what I want them to see; in this case, it would be me showing you a seemingly harmless piece of wood." She looked at her friends and smiled brightly. "Now, I will show you some real magic."
She got to her feet, carefully passing Aria over to Darcy to hold while tucking her wand away into the holster and took several steps back so she was away from the edge of the roof. With a bright smile at her friends, she changed forms, going from a human woman to a sleek bobcat.
"Oh, my God!" Erik, Jane and Darcy cried in shocked unison, all three shooting to their feet and staring at the bobcat that had been their friend a few seconds earlier.
The feline's fur was a dark red almost black with pitch black spots covering its body and its eyes were a beautiful moonlit silver, the same color as Lyssa's hair and eyes. On its forehead, between the eyebrows was a silvery gold crescent moon that stood out starkly against the dark fur.
"Luna!" Aria exclaimed delightedly, clapping her hands happily and reaching out to the feline.
Darcy tightened her hold on the wriggling girl, not moving her gaze from the feline that had once been her friend. The cat stretched lazily before it changed back into Lyssa, the young woman looking at them apprehensively, worried about their reactions.
"Wha-What was…" Erik stammered, staring at her in disbelief. "Lyssa, what was that?!"
"That was my Animagus form." Lyssa replied, taking Aria from Darcy and resuming her previous seat at the edge of the roof, setting the little girl down next to her. Slowly, Darcy, Erik and Jane sat back down as well, staring at her with open-mouthed shock. "One of them, at least. An Animagi is a witch or wizard who can turn into an animal at will, with neither a wand nor incantation. The animal is the one that most closely suits the witch or wizard in personality and behavior."
Lyssa was a rare kind of Animagus in that she could change into any animal she so desired, be it real or mythical so long as she knew what form to imagine when transforming. She was a Multimagus. However, she had one form that was her primary form, the one that suited her best and whose traits were adapted to her even while in human form – a bobcat. Lyssa was an attentive and loyal friend as well as a great listener. Because of this, others, be they strangers or friends, trusted her to keep their secrets. For the most part, she was usually a calm and collected person, but had a fearsome temper when it was provoked, often when her loved ones or innocent people were in danger.
"Why did Aria call you 'Luna'?" Jane asked curiously, moving passed the shock of what she had seen with quite remarkable ease.
"It's my nickname." Lyssa replied. "It comes from the moonlit silver color of my eyes as well as my crescent moon birthmark."
"Can everyone turn into animals?" Erik asked, the scientist in him eager to learn something new.
"No." Lyssa replied, shaking her head. "It takes a lot of power and skill to complete the transformation, the process an incredibly lengthy and dangerous one. It isn't just a matter of changing into any particular animal; in fact, it's the animal that chooses the human. And once you know what your animal is, you need to know everything about it: the exact color, the shape, the size, the weight, its' dietary needs and requirements, its' predatory nature if it has one, among at least a hundred other details."
"Wow." Darcy breathed, her eyes wide at the amount of work that went into the change.
"But, Lyssa, why didn't you tell us?" Jane asked, her tone filled with hurt at her best friend keeping something so big from her.
"Honestly, because I walked away from it all for good when James and Lily had been killed." Lyssa said quietly, her eyes filled with sorrow. "I had left after I graduated school because I wanted to be more than a typical pureblood witch who became nothing more than a trophy wife to some pompous Pureblood wizard. I wanted to live my life the way I wanted to, not as dictated to me by society, I wanted to learn and explore. But when my parents died…" The tears that welled in her eyes dripped down her face, only to be hurriedly wiped away. Aria, sensing her mother's distress, climbed into her lap and wrapped her arms around her. "When Mum and Dad died, I returned to England and took my place as the Head of House Potter until James graduated school and accepted the mantle in my stead." She chuckled dryly, her tears momentarily stemmed. "I just about caused the Wizengamot to have a conniption when I passed the mantle of Head of House to James. Though he was the male Heir, he was younger than me and as such wasn't in direct line to inherit the Lordship; I was, as the eldest. The Lord, or Ladyship, titles are highly coveted positions; they granted the bearer incredible political and monetary power and my passing it to James was completely unheard of." She looked down at Aria, running a gentle hand through her thick hair. "And I went a step further, I made it so that any children James had would be in direct line to inherit, regardless if I had children before he did." She smiled sadly. "I guess it doesn't matter now, Aria is the eldest of her generation of Potters."
"Okay, no offence, but it sounds like that world is completely backwards." Darcy said in her trademark bluntness.
"You have no idea." Lyssa said, giggling lightly.
All too soon, her giggles became full blown laughter, the musical sound echoing on the wind as Aria joined in as well.
For several minutes, Lyssa could only laugh gaily at the description of the Wizarding World while Darcy, Erik and Jane watched her. While the three were confused at the amusement, each was happy that their dear friend was expressing an emotion other than her sorrow and anguish. Aria meanwhile was only laughing because her mother was, unexplainably happy that she was no longer sad and that her light was once again shining brightly.
"What about using the library computer to send the email?" Lyssa suggested after several minutes, her laughter slowly fading away. "It may not be overly secure, but surely you would be able to send a message?"
"That could work." Erik said, nodding thoughtfully.
"Great, I can take you." Lyssa said, already getting to her feet and lifting Aria into her arms.
"I'll go with you." Jane said, getting to her feet. "I need to get out for a bit or I'm gonna lose my mind."
"And I'll stay here." Darcy said, blowing a tendril of hair out of her face. She glanced down at the mess that was in the lab that had been left by the SHIELD agents. "Get started on cleaning up this mess." She looked over at Lyssa, a curious expression on her face. "Hey, do you think you can use magic to clean up?"
"Maybe." Lyssa said cheekily, grinning at Darcy.
"You can do it later." Erik said, getting to his feet. "First, let me send that email."
Lyssa nodded and the small group carefully made their way down from the roof, the young redhead absently canceling the privacy ward at the same time.