Hi everyone! I am increadibly sorry for the delay. Life was really hard on me this year and it was trully hard to find the strenght to continue righting this story. However, I made the promise of not giving it up and I won't no matter how long it will take me to write it down.
Please review and tell me what you think about it!
Chapter 14: Of Unpleasant Truths
Jane tugged nervously at the folds of her blue Asgardian-styled dress as she silently observed Hotaru. The young inventor was holding her breath unwittingly, her hands were gripping at the railing of Thor's balcony so tightly her knuckles had turned white and her violet eyes were wide open, completely captivated by Mikan's fight for her freedom which had captured her sole attention. Thor's balcony warranted them of a global view over the streets of the Golden City, which allowed them to spot and follow most of Mikan's moves easily. Watching her run across several streets while doing her best to dodge Thor's thunderstrokes, Hotaru tried to conciliate her lasting memories of her past childhood friend with the ever-moving figure that was currently giving Thor a hard time catching her. A feat that no ordinary Alice could ever dream to pretend to accomplish. 'Ordinary. This, I don't think Mikan ever was…' Hotaru bit her lower lip in contemplation. And, indeed, there she was, using the powers of her countless Alices and swiftly combining them with the Eldritch Magic she had learned to wield in Kamar-Taj to her advantages. 'Luna refused to disclose much about what happened to her, but this time Mikan will be the one to answer all of our questions: starting with why she didn't show her sorry ass to us ever since she was set free. And… Maybe she'll even have an answer for what happened to my brother too?' Hotaru inhaled a deep breath, clenched her hands into tight fists and willed herself to put her emotions aside so they wouldn't hinder her ability to analyze the situation impartially.
"The amount of Alices she is capable of using is unprecedented in all the history of our community..." Hotaru stated calmly, startling Jane who wasn't expecting her to speak up. "However, I don't know whether you noticed this or not, Jane, but Mikan doesn't seem very keen to use them. When she could easily dodge Thor's attacks by using the Teleportation or the Barrier Alices, she'd rather draw a portal instead. And this, even though it'll mean an incredible waste of time and energy. Same applies to her attacks: there again she is relying more on Magic than on her Alices. And, contrary to her faux attack in New York, she isn't using a myriad of Doppelgangers to confuse her opponents. This means that she is either too weakened to use them or using them comes at too high a price for her."
Jane's eyes widened in surprise at Hotaru's statement and quickly moved forward to lean over the railing, as if to take a better look. From their high position, she could observe the Warriors Three cornering Mikan into what looked like a blind alley. This time, instead of using her Teleportation Alice or drawing a portal, Loki's young ally opted for punching her way out. Surprisingly, she managed to steal Fandral's sword and quickly overpowered the three of them, without seemingly breaking a sweat!
"Do you think that she has been physically enhanced too?" wondered Jane in awe at the ease with which Mikan had defeated three renowned Asgardian soldiers.
"Obviously." Hotaru agreed with a small frown. "However, I think that her situation is much more complicated than that. We have already established that the amount of Alices Stones within her body is insanely impressive but, more importantly, to any given person it should mostly be deadly. Alices Stones, when used too profusely by their owner or when present in too much quantity within one's body, are known to put a great strain on said owner/body. To be able to host as many Alices Stones as there must be in her possession, Mikan's body must necessarily have been prepared and enhanced to withstand the enormous strain these Stones are certainly constantly loading on it."
"Do you think that it might impact her lifespan?" Jane voiced her question aloud. Right away, she felt like kicking herself for putting Hotaru in the difficult position of having to consider the possibility of losing her loved one, and this before even having experienced any semblance of a real reunification with her. However, even though she had paled slightly, Hotaru's features remained carefully impassive as she gave an answer to Jane's legitimate question.
"There would be nothing too surprising about it being actually true. After all, Alices have died for much less." Hotaru sighed heavily before pursuing. "Like I have already told you, Jane, Mikan's powers must be coming at too high a price for her to use them thoughtlessly. Especially when she already knows that she's going to be captured anyway. Mikan is just wasting everybody's time, including her own, by refusing to give in right away. She's either too foolish to realize that she has no chance and nowhere to escape or she is trying to gain time, for some reasons beyond our comprehension, by distracting Thor & Co with this mere cat and mouse game."
'Or maybe she knows exactly what she is doing and she is playing us like complete fools…' Hotaru sighed inwardly as she noticed another petite silhouette hiding in a small, deserted alley. Careful not to raise Jane's suspicions, Hotaru discreetly pulled a miniatured tracking device out of her sleeve and dropped it off the railing. Pretending to check some information on her phone, Hotaru proceeded to activate and adjust the device's settings so she wouldn't lose her once childhood friend's tracks. 'Enough is enough, Mikan... I won't let you run away from me this time.'
Amongst the sheer confusion and the pure chaos spreading across the Asgardian city, Mikan stood still, discreetly lurked in the shadows of a now deserted street. Panting and shivering, her chest rose heavily with every breath she made. She rested the weight of her slim fever-stricken body against a wall as she weakly reached for support. Hair sliding over her shoulders to hang in front of her face, eyes closed, the young woman gathered what she could of her composure and took a brief minute to steady her breath while waiting patiently for her way to be clear again.
Mikan had managed the impressive feat of concealing both her spiritual energy and her magical trail. Retracing her Doppelganger back to her would now be impossible. As long as she avoided using any of her Alices or Magic again. 'Which will probably narrow my chances to survive in the Asgardian forest somewhere next to inexistent.' Mikan sighed heavily. 'Sweet!' Of course, it was without mentioning the furious outburst of energy she had previously unleashed in Heimdall's Observatory which had almost drained her of any she had left. 'So clever of you, Mikan! Never been one to think before leaping into action, aren't you?'
Sucking on the inside of her cheek, Mikan rubbed at the headache forming on the front of her skull. She was exhausted and the slim control left she had over Alices was now wavering. Swiping her messy brown hair away from her face, Mikan gritted her teeth at the sight offering itself before her. She cursed under her breath when she spotted alarming black marks that had already begun to spread all over her white, pale, translucent skin. 'As if I was in need of this right now!' Pressing her lips tightly together, Mikan tried to keep her hands steady. They were shaking, the blackened marks covering them burning and stretching out almost to the point of the unbearable. She's had it worse before. And though she kept telling herself that, it didn't help the feeling of dread rushing through her body at the realization of how close it was to fail her again. 'No. Not again. Please, not now!' she thought as she desperately tried to swallow down her rising panic. Mikan took in a deep inspiration and proceeded to mentally erase the screams of protest her exhausted body made at every step she took, as if trying to numb the pain into a plight of inexistence by the sole power of her deflating imagination. 'You wish!'
From her hidden spot, Mikan caught a slight glimpse of the magical dome drawn by Frigga within which her clone, Thor and his allies had been contained to restrain the collateral damage. It had been only by chance that she had avoided being trapped in it too. Though the magical barrier covered an area three blocks wide by twelve blocks long, most of it had been left in rubbles in the midst of Thor's unsuccessful attempts to apprehend her clone. The mighty god of Thunder was running out of patience and, as Mikan's Doppelganger kept dodging his attacks, the latter grew increasingly more destructive. Admittedly, the young Alice was quite surprised that Odin, whose back was turned on her, hadn't already put an end to his golden son's struggles against her clone. She somehow suspected him to be using this combat as an opportunity to personally assess her powers and evaluate how much of a real threat she was. And though Thor was facing a simple clone, it didn't fail to display the full range of her potential. Indeed, despite being hugely outnumbered, her Doppelganger proved itself to have an undeniable advantage as its immense variety of power allowed each of its moves to be unpredictable, even to Alices like Luca and Hotaru. However, Thor still had the upper hand and it was just a matter of time before this mere cat and mouse game would come to an end. Her clone was running out of tricks to display and energy to gain her time and the clock wasn't ticking in her favor anymore. She had to flee from the scene as quickly as possible.
Thankful for the diversion created by her clone, Mikan hid the sword and the two daggers she had handily retrieved from two unsuspecting guards beneath a stolen cape she now wore for sole disguise. Being armed lulled her into a false sense of security, even though she knew the real danger was yet to come. The Asgardian forest guarded countless dangerous creatures, some even feared by Asgardians themselves, and she was about to venture into it, weakened and deprived of the option of using her greatest source of protection: her Alices. Her throat tightened at the idea of possibly dying alone on her way to freedom. If she did, would there be someone to look out for her body? Would they hand it back to Kamar-Taj? Would Luca and Hotaru be reassured she was finally taken care of? Her heart sank at the thought. 'Would I even be missed?' Mikan wondered sadly. 'Yes, The Ancient One, Stephen, Mordo and Wong will probably be very sad if I die here. Though I doubt that Stephen would ever openly admit to it. I'd feel really bad for poor Christine too. She'll certainly blame it on herself. One more reason to get out of here alive!' she thought to herself. 'Oh! And Loki will certainly be pissed too, I suppose.' she suddenly frowned, 'If I am gone, then there will be no one left to translate Allice's books for him. I wonder if this wouldn't be a good thing after all…'
A loud explosion snapped Mikan out of her wandering thoughts, reminding her she had to get away while she still could. Her fingers curled around the hilt of the stolen sword she hid beneath her cape. With Thor and everyone else's attention still solely focused into apprehending her Doppelganger, the way was clear. Swallowing down her apprehension, she discreetly engaged herself into the woods of the Asgardian forest, completely unaware of the two sets of eyes watching her attentively.
A frustrated sigh broke the awkward silence the room had fallen into. Stephen pulled a chair forward and sat in front of his master, though his attention was solely turned elsewhere. His brow knitted into a contemplative frown, Stephen worked his jaw absentmindedly as he quietly observed Loki. His efforts to decipher whatever could possibly be going through the latter's mind had so far turned out to be vain. The SilverTongue had remained surprisingly silent still since the Ancient One had thrown this mind-blowing revelation upon them. Unlike him Loki knew plenty on the supposedly still alive Sorcerer and though Stephen had at first wrongly assumed that Loki would be rather pleased by this new turn of events, his grim expression and stiff figure were indicative of the contrary. Whatever conclusion Loki had come to, it didn't seem to play in their favor.
"For how long have you known?" Loki finally asked in a commanding and firm voice. "Why is it relevant now?" he wondered as he tried his best to wrap his mind around this new, almost too absurd to be true information.
"I've always held some doubts concerning the finality of Allice's death and, until very recently, believe me, that's all it was. Unfortunately, these doubts were confirmed when I least expected it. Allice is quite good at faking his own death." the Sorceress Supreme admitted honestly, pursing her lips unwittingly. 'He did a rather good job at hiding himself from me, Heimdall, Frigga and Odin.' she thought to herself bitterly.
"You're both talking about the guy who created Mikan's magical kind. Right?" frowned Stephen as he waited for a confirmation that never came. "Mikan told me he was killed by Thanos."
Loki glanced up at him with narrowed eyes before answering his questions with a simple nod of his head. "He was, indeed. And I am more than curious to learn what your master knows about this and why she chose to keep it to herself too.", he declared as his piercing glare returned on the bald Sorceress Supreme, following every gesture, studying every subtle expression she manifested. He read shame and self-blame in her eyes. In them, there was also a slight hint of sadness which he, surprisingly, had previously failed to notice.
"We are all ears." Stephen agreed, gesturing to the Ancient One to initiate the explanations. "And what is Mikan supposed to find on Asgard anyway?" he inquired with apprehension.
"The truth about her connection with Allice."
All colors drained from their faces, neither Loki nor Stephen tried to hide their indignation.
"Couldn't you have told her by yourself? She stands no chance against him." Loki protested, outraged.
"And neither do I, nor you for the matter, Loki. At least not now." the Ancient One pointed out softly. "I couldn't take the risk of pressuring him into acting sooner. But I knew that he wouldn't dare to hurt her in Asgardian territory."
Loki staggered under the blow. This could only mean one thing: either Odin, Frigga or both had somehow figured Mikan's connection with Allice out and they had decided to act on it. Loki felt his throat tighten at the sole idea. And suddenly a laugh threatened to bubble out of him at the absurdity of the Sorceress's assumptions. Bitterly, Loki swallowed it to a mere scoff.
"Odin is a pragmatic thinker. He will choose the simplest solutions to achieve his ends. And, in this case, killing Mikan would be both in his and Asgard's best interests." he reasoned coolly, though his clenched fists betrayed his growing anger. The Ancient One opened her mouth, looking ready to protest, but Loki shook his head. "Because of you, Mikan is now in greater danger than the one she was already facing." he growled accusingly at the Ancient One.
"No. She isn't. Heimdall and Frigga won't allow such thing to happen. But more importantly, Odin wouldn't dare to risk angering Death more than he already has." the Ancient One replied calmly.
Once again, a strained silence fell upon the room. Unwittingly, Loki's body went stiff again as he processed the information the Sorceress had so serenely bombarded them with. As far as he was concerned, he couldn't recall any mentions of Odin being at odds with the Cosmic Entity. 'Norns! What in Helheim is this senile old woman even talking about?' Meanwhile, Stephen massaged his temples, preparing himself for the headache coming. 'Say what now?' he wondered as he finally held out his hand in incomprehension.
"Why would Odin even feel the need to kill Mikan in the first place? She's more a threat to herself than to others. Heimdall must have already realized that, if he truly keeps a tab on everything going on in the Universe. And what does one of the Cosmic Entities have to do with all of this anyway?"
Ignoring Stephen's questions, Loki leaned menacingly over the Sorceress' figure. The skin next to his eyes tightened as he glowered at her in a low, guttural voice: "Speak, Sorceress Supreme, tell us all you know and spare us no detail. Lie to me again and I swear to you by the Nines that I will rip your tongue out with my bare hands."
Unfazed by Loki's threat, which she held no doubt over its genuinity, the Sorceress sighed heavily as she motioned him to take a sit next to Stephen. If anything, it only irked Loki even more, yet he still obliged nonetheless. His rigid jaw and thinnest mouth told her he was in no way pleased with the situation. Their eyes locked and Loki fixed her a lancing stare. 'I suppose that I brought it on myself.' The Ancient One sighed inwardly, though she would never admit to it out loud.
"I will tell you everything. But firstly, I need you two to know that I have played a much bigger part in Mikan's journey than she realizes." The Ancient One finally confessed. "I first met her ten years ago. She had been sent here to retrieve the Book of Cagliostro and the Eye of Agamotto. Such attempts, mainly orchestrated by Hydra or Kaecilius, weren't uncommon. I didn't read too much into it. Especially since it seemed obvious that Mikan wasn't the master of her own doings. I wrongly assumed that she had been sent by the Alice Academy, therefore I chose not to interfere. I only loosened the chains bounding her mind and hoped it would give her an opportunity to free herself on her own. Taking a look back upon the past course of events, we all know that this didn't happen before another two painfully long years." The Ancient One admitted before adding faintly "To this day I still wish I'd freed her sooner."
Stephen bit his lip. After all the suffering Mikan had gone through, her chances of enjoying a life like any youngster of her age had forever been ripped away from her. His heart ached at the idea it all could have all ended sooner. 'Ten years ago, she still hadn't had to kill her childhood friend. She was still conscious back then. Ten years ago, she still hadn't gone through that.' Stephen contemplated sadly.
"Our path crossed again two years later. The explosion that freed her from her detainers contained unprecedented amounts of gamma radiation. It didn't go unnoticed neither by me, nor by S.H.I.E.L.D. Master Hamir and I arrived there first and I recognized Mikan. We decided to take her to a place where her safety wouldn't be threatened by S.H.E.L.D's interference. Looking back at the situation with the knowledge I have now, it seems obvious that, contrary to Mikan's beliefs, the explosion didn't occur because her detainers kept pushing her body to its limits. It happened because the Soul Stone acted on her subconscious desire to be set free." She paused to make the two men sign not to interrupt her. Under their careful attention she continued. "Somehow, a powerful spell placed on her allowed this to happen, although I am not certain that it was meant to work that way. But I guess there's nothing too surprising about that. Mikan never acts according to any plans after all." the Ancient One remarked, "She always does complicated."
Stephen scoffed at his master's last comment and the ghost of a smirk curved Loki's lips. They could each easily testify by their respective experiences with the young woman that it couldn't have described her any better. 'One shall never make the mistake of underestimating Mikan.' All three had learned the lesson. For most, it had been the hard way.
"Well," the Ancient One resumed, "At least, taking care of her was. Mikan woke up with a complete lack of control over her new acquired powers, especially the Mind-Reading, the Corrosion and the Teleportation Alices. These three caused us the most trouble and Mikan's constant delirious state wasn't of any help either. She kept hearing voices no matter how far away from the cities we went. She was in constant physical pain and she suffered several mental breakdowns. She even attempted to kill herself once. She was a ticking time bomb awaiting to explode and represented a threat as much to herself than to others. It took us almost two full years to realize that the problem wasn't coming from her but from me."
Stephen's eyes widened, comprehension dawning on his face. He shot a brief look at Loki who seemed to have come to the same conclusion.
"This was the aftermath of the two spells combined." Stephen stated.
"And the voices she was hearing weren't coming from the outsider world but from the inside." Loki completed gravely. 'They emanated from the Soul Stone.' he added to himself. 'Does this mean that the myths behind its pocket Dimension are true? Has Mikan been able to access it? Even unconsciously? Then, if my guess is true, how much influence does he still have over her?'
The Ancient One nodded. "Indeed, and they disappeared the instant I reversed them."
Suddenly, bribes of the conversation he had with Mikan on the rooftop of Allice's Mansion came back to him. Loki frowned as Mikan's soft voice echoed back into his head. 'The last attempt dates from eight or seven years ago; as I said, those two years were a complete blur, I remember them barely. […] Four years ago. It was a bit of a coincidence, really. I just happened to be looking out for information on Alices in Nepal when I met Master Hamir there.'
"If everything was going so smoothly then why did you feel the need to erase her memories?" Loki briskly pointed out.
The Ancient One's slight flinch didn't go unnoticed by neither men, who stared at her intently. Taken aback by his master's reaction, Stephen let himself sink further down on his chair. Sighing heavily, he bent over at the waist, elbows on his knees and pinched the bridge of his nose. He was aware of the Sorceress's affection for Mikan towards whom she felt particularly protective. However even he couldn't look past the hypocrisy of the Ancient One's actions. 'If Loki's accusation is true, then she's only stolen Mikan's memories of the two years following her liberation from Kuonji's hold. If she could take those away then why didn't she take it all of them then? Mikan has been through so much worse already. By doing this she isn't protecting her but only breaking her trust.' Stephen, reflected gloomily 'Unless those memories might disclose something, something she truly doesn't want Mikan to know. But if such a thing is true… Then how bad could it be?'
"Back then, I was still ignorant of the horrors Mikan had been through and I hadn't yet realized about her connection with the Soul Stone." The Ancient stated almost defensively. "Mikan was getting better at mastering her Alices and ever since I reversed the spells, she grew progressively more and more apt to take care of herself on her own. She became entirely lucid too and my help wasn't needed anymore. This is why I asked Xenophilius Lovegood to retrieve her memories of these two years. I genuinely believed that I was sparing her from a harsh, unnecessary pain." the Ancient One argued faintly before materializing a shallow stone in the center of the room. It was carved with strange runes and elaborately decorated with precious stones. Within its hollow was contained a cloudy, silvery substance that appeared to be neither gas nor liquid. Loki raised a curious eyebrow, more impressed with the complexity of the enchantments the artefact was carrying than he would care to admit.
Simultaneously standing up, Loki and Stephen gathered around the basin in which they could see thick glistening strands of the same strange silvery-white of the substance they were swirling in. To their surprise, an image of a much younger Mikan was swimming around the surface of the bowl.
"This is a Pensieve, a clever invention of the Wizarding World. It contains Mikan's stolen memories, which include the one episode of delirium which cost Master Hamir his missing hand, the one time she killed all living beings within a mile radius of her during one of her Corrosion Alice outbursts. Or how she consciously burned beyond recognition all her detainers in a fit of madness after she finally woke up. And much more that happened during the course of these two years. Nothing that she needed to know; it would just have made her feel unnecessarily miserable. Or, so I thought at the time." the Ancient One explained to the two Sorcerers, carefully impermeable to their judging stares. "Only Xenophilius knew of what her memories enclosed and, unwilling to invade her privacy more than I already had, I asked him not to disclose their content to anyone, including myself."
"But you looked at them anyway, didn't you?" Stephen guessed, his voice was hard and his tone sounded more blaming than he had intended for it to be.
"I did." the Ancient One admitted in a bare whisper. She suddenly sounded concerningly wearier and more exhausted than Stephen had ever heard her before. "Since the instant I first met Mikan I perceived a singular duality in her Magic. Almost too subtle to notice. When I learned about the two fragments of the Soul Stone linked to her own, I blamed it on that. And, since it grew stronger after she acquired the one inside the Infinity Gauntlet, I simply assumed that my first guess had been right. But when I performed the rituals to complete the oath you three took, I realized that it was more than just that. Because this particular stretch of Magic, which isn't her own, resisted the magical bounding of the ritual and refused to comply to the Oath. Since I couldn't find any plausible explanation to justify what happened, I decided to screen her retrieved memories in the hopes to find one."
'And she obviously did.' Stephen kept himself from pinching the bridge of his nose in frustration. 'How great of a threat must Allice be to instore this much apprehension in her? Loki seems to dread what he could do to Mikan too.'
Speaking of the devil, Stephen turned his attention back to Loki, slightly surprised to notice that the Asgardian Sorcerer hadn't torn his eyes away from the basin even once. He kept staring at it intently as if though searching for something in particular within its depths. When the insight of a certain memory seemed to have finally caught his attention back, Loki gripped the edge of the Pensieve and leaned down slowly for a closer look. He stilled when his nose made contact with the odd substance, his eyes widened and he raised himself up almost immediately. An undecipherable, intense expression crossed Loki's face. Stephen was struck by the realization it was one of pure shock and raw incomprehension. Any other given day, he would have highly enjoyed the priceless look of muted surprise on Loki's face, but not this day. If anything, an unexpected, unwelcomed, gut-wrenching feeling of fear overwhelmed him as he wondered what terrifying truth hid behind it.
Recovering from his shock, Loki finally swore: "By the Nines! How in the sweet name of Valhalla did Mikan end up in Niflheim?!"
"My queen, I am concerned for her welfare: the spell you cast on her is way too strong. It will drain her of every single remaining drop of magical energy she owns." Heimdall voiced his worries to Frigga.
"I know, old friend. However, on the basis of the information you shared with me, I have a strong faith in my plan." affirmed confidently Frigga even though Heimdall caught a worrying glimpse of hesitation in his queen's eyes.
"In the short period of time your son has spent with Lady Sakura, he seems to have gotten slightly attached to her. If anything wrong happens to her, you will not be forgiven easily." Heimdall warned her.
"This is exactly the reason why my plan must not fail, Heimdall. Do not worry dear friend, I will not allow any harm to be done to her."
A feeling of frustration, deception and disillusionment overtook Hotaru as she briskly walked away from Thor's chambers. This had been the last straw! Working on putting all this negative energy into keeping her poker face straight, she decided to personally take the matter in hands. 'One is never better served than by himself.' If she had quickly pierced through Mikan's illusion, it was only a matter of time before an expert Sorceress like Frigga would too. 'I have to bring reason back into this idiot's head. She's been fleeing from us for way too long! I won't let her keep avoiding us forever; if she refuses to face me, I'll be the one to come for her!'
The young woman hastily crossed the golden halls of the Asgardian Palace, marching nearly flush to the wall as she tried to avoid bumping into anyone she knew. Especially Luca. With the Royal Family's trust on her side, her rushed entrance in the stables aroused no suspicions. A cheerful stable boy even approached her.
"How can I serve you, Lady?" he asked politely.
"I need a horse. One that is fast and docile." Hotaru succinctly requested.
The stable boy nodded obediently as he silently led her to the box of beautiful dark horse whose black coat was pierced by a graceful white line on his face which ended just above his muzzle.
"I think this one will suit you the best, Milady." the blond man recommended her as he gently patted the horse head whose clever eyes calmly observed Hotaru. Smiling to the latter's confusion the stable boy added: "Darksilver is quite the smart boy. I believe that's one of the reasons why he was Prince Loki's favorite. Once you earn his respect, he'll become your most faithful companion."
The young woman raised a surprised eyebrow at the precision yet her violet eyes quietly studied the intelligent creature's dark orbs in which she deciphered a subtle but nevertheless present mischievous glint. She smirked slightly to him as she exchanged a conniving glance with the clever mount. Finally, Darksilver leaned his head down to Hotaru's reach. A small smile curved her lips as she caressed gently his mane and patted his head playfully.
"Should I help you prepare him or do you prefer to start getting acquainted to Darksilver by yourself, Milady?"
"I can take it from here, thank you." Hotaru politely dismissed the stable boy. The latter bowed his head and walked away.
Entering the box, Hotaru let its door open as she continued to caress gently Darksilver. Approaching him from the left side, her eyes screened for the equestrian equipment. Once she found it, Hotaru reached for the saddle pad without interrupting her soothing strokes and draped it over the horse's back, just in front of his withers. She then hooked the stirrups over the saddle horn, carefully adjusting them into place. Once done, she swung the saddle over Darksilver's back, posing it down kindly, and moved to his right side to adjust the cinch and the girth so they fit snug around his body. Subsequently, Hotaru tightened the girth so the saddle would stay in place. Finally, she put on the bridle as she patted gently the back of the docile horse.
Hands on her hips, the inventor admired her work as she started to wonder on how to safely mount the impressively tall equine. Problem that Darksilver was prompt to solve as the horse kneeled down to Hotaru's height.
"Clever boy." Hotaru smiled satisfied and petted him under the snout in recognition.
Grasping the reins with her left hand, Hotaru positioned her left foot in the left stirrup and grabbed the saddle horn with her hand. She then jumped up slightly to raise herself onto the horse and swung her right leg around Darksilver's body. Her two feet secure in the stirrups and the reins in both hands, she lowered herself slowly into the saddle as Darksilver bounced back to his full height. Rubbing him gently on the sides, she squeezed them with her legs. Darksilver trotted out of the stables and guided her to the gates where two familiar warriors were waiting for her. Pulling the reins to make a sign to Darksilver to halt in front of them, Hotaru silently greeted the two men with a slight bow of her head.
"Lady Hotaru, isn't it too late for a horse ride?" Fandral accosted her.
"I doubt it is, Fandral. The sun is still high in the sky." Hotaru retorted.
"You do barely know Asgard and some of its regions can be dangerous even for Asgardians. Perhaps we should guide you." Volstagg proposed.
"I thank you for this thoughtful proposition but such measures won't be necessary. I will not venture further town and I already am in a trustworthy company." Hotaru politely countered.
As the two men finally took notice of which mount she was riding, Darksilver had already galloped far away, bringing Hotaru to the borders of the Asgardian forest.
Pulling out of her purse a map of Asgard and scanned it with her phone. Then, she opened the app which was monitoring the signal of the device she used to track Mikan to match her location with one existent in the map. It took a few minutes but, eventually, an orange dot appeared on it, located deep within the Asgardian mountains.
'Gotcha! I won't let you run away from me anymore!' Hotaru smirked as she carefully guided and allowed herself to be guided by Darksilver through the forest.
Mikan blew out a breath and watched it hang in the cold air as a cool breeze lazed about, brushing playfully over her flushed cheeks. The young woman shivered slightly and dug her hands deeper into the pockets of the blue sweatshirt she wore beneath her cape. She had been wandering for nearly three hours and was now walking within the deep depths of the Asgardian forest where the temperature had considerably dropped in contrast to the warmer weather of the Golden City. And though she was thankful for the warmth and the coziness her choice of clothing provided, the cold was more than welcome. It kept her mind awake, turned her attention on elsewhere than the dark marks covering her body and helped her forget about the excruciating pain each one of them enforced upon her.
Mikan had followed Heimdall's instructions to a tee, and, though she had at times questioned whether she would make it to the Stronghold without getting lost, she breathed a sigh of relief when she finally recognized the sight of towering, rapidly flowing waterfalls spanning all across the mountain. Too tired to thoroughly enjoy the breathtaking majesty of the landscape, Mikan scanned the view looking for the one particular waterfall behind which Heimdall had indicated the doors of the fortress would be. When she spotted it, Mikan punched a low triumphant fist in the air. 'Bingo! That's the one!' As she headed toward the bottom of the mountain, a glimmer of hope wormed its way up at the possibility of making it to the fortress before nightfall. Mikan's features brightened at the idea and she forced her aching legs to move at a faster pace. 'Come on! You can do it! You're nearly there!' She kept saying like a mantra, in a desperate attempt to cheer herself up and, ultimately, Mikan reached the bottom of the mountain.
The doors of the Hidden Stronghold were situated about approximately six hundred feet above her head. A muffled groan escaped her lips as she was struck by the realization that she would eventually have to climb said distance of steep slopes separating her from the Stronghold. In her current state, the idea seemed outrageously unfeasible, almost ridiculously so. 'One single misstep and I am dead. I am too tired, there's no way I can pull this off without using Magic or at least my Alices.' Mikan debated, less than appealed by either two options. The former threatened to give away her position whereas the other one would probably cost her the loss of all remaining control she held over her Alices. The young woman pulled a face as she remembered how well it went for her last time such thing had happened. 'I was unconscious for four days straight. I cannot allow this to happen to me again. At least not in here, not now. Four days is a huge time frame... I won't be able to defend myself and I might even miss several opportunities to get away from this damned situation!' Mikan reasoned. She concluded that using a portal would be the safer option. 'I'll make it brief. My Doppelganger hasn't been destroyed yet. This means that they are most likely still buying it. After all, they probably won't even notice it. Right?'
A nauseous feeling built up in Mikan's stomach as she swiftly traced her right hand in a circular pattern while she focused on the image of two enormous doors of stone on which featured a large engravement of the world tree, Yggdrasil. Vision turned into reality when she passed through the portal which she conjured back immediately. Caressing the carvings on the cold stone, Mikan attempted to push the doors open. Her lips parted in surprise when they opened with the slightest shove. Indecisive, she stood under the doorway for a fraction of a second before entering the Stronghold whose heavy doors enclosed themselves loudly behind her.
Venturing further in the main hall of the hidden fortress, Mikan pressed her lips together and frowned slightly at the sight of the already blazing torches that were adorning the tall columns carved in the mountain. 'This place reeks of Magic. Both ancient and new. Someone must have been here recent-'
Snapped out of her thoughts at the sound of heels clicking against the marbled floor closing in on her, Mikan froze on the spot. Her eyes widened and her mouth dropped open in fear and astonishment as a too familiar figure came into better focus.
'Oh no! Dear God, what have I walked into?!'
Turning on her heels, Mikan sprinted franticly toward the doors. She made it halfway to the exit before being thrown off her feet as she was sturdily hit by a strong forcefield. Mikan hissed in pain as her body slammed against the hard ground. Gasping for air, Mikan blanched when her traitorous legs refused to support her weight.
Mikan was trapped. She never stood a chance.
Staring at the approaching figure Mikan whispered in defeat: "What do you intend to do of me?"
Stephen was thankful for the chair he was sitting on, for he wasn't sure his shaking legs could support his weight. Damn, he couldn't even calm the tremor seizing his injured hands right now! Niflheim. A shiver ran down through his spine, unable to stomach the idea of pronouncing the word and Mikan's name within the same sentence. Ever since the incidents of New-York he had kept his knowledge on the Norse Mythology in check and Niflheim, he was pretty sure, was the realm of the dead. And, Mikan was pretty much alive, he was even more certain of that. 'Even though she may no longer be in few hours…' Shaking these dark thoughts away, Stephen sighed for the umpteenth time. 'She even attempted to kill herself once.' Those had been the Ancient One's own words. 'Did it somehow result in the semblance of a success?'
Loki stared at the Ancient One, eyebrows raised with some disbelief. He had half a mindset on strangling the woman, no matter how much it might hinder his plans in the near future. 'Forget it. Killing her will bring you no good. Mikan will probably have your head for it if you do anyway. Or, at least, she will try.' That, he decided, would certainly give him something entertaining to watch. 'Only if she gets out of Asgard alive… I must take care of this before any harm is done to Mikan. I am not done with her yet.' Resuming his attention back to the Pensieve, Loki pursed his lips in a thin line at the surprising memory it enclosed. This dusty, shakily lighted, desert-like environment he had seen within its depths, this landscape, he had only seen it on illustrations adorned by ancient books covering the history of the Nine Realms. 'Norns! How did Mikan end up there?'
"What is the meaning of this Sorceress?" Loki finally voiced his questions out loud, "Did you bring Mikan back from the Realm of the Dead?" he added somehow hesitantly.
"As I already I told you, I had no clue of what this Pensieve contained before I perused it. So, no. I didn't. I never had to. She never went there physically anyway. As far as I am aware at last. She never went there willingly and I highly doubt that she'd even realized what was happening to her at the time. All I know is that all of this was made possible thanks to the fragments of the Soul Stone in her possession."
Loki's brows knitted in a pensive frown. He had heard of several legends about the Stone's pocket Dimension but none had mentioned its capacity to make people travel to other realms. 'It wasn't any Realm, now, was it? The Stone is said to wield as much power over the livings' souls as the dead's. This could make sense, but it still leaves the problem of how Mikan could have found her way there. No matter how powerful the effects of the spells placed on her may have been, it is very unlikely that it is what caused Mikan's mind to drift so deep within the Stone's command...'
"Mikan couldn't have possibly found her way there on her own. She must have been guided in and out of it. So, I assume this is where Allice comes into play." Loki concluded, awaiting for the Sorceress's confirmation.
"It's more complicated than that." the Ancient One replied. Loki flicked his gaze up for a moment, obviously on the verge of losing any reigns on his patience, and Stephen shut his eyes close in frustration. "But there is some truth to what you said." the Ancient One added in quickly. "There are only two beings who possesses the proper knowledge to accomplish such thing: Frigga and Allice. And, though Frigga had no particular motive to guide Mikan to Niflheim, Allice did."
The Ancient One looked at Loki wearily before adding cautiously: "Thanos's and Allice's fear of Odin is the only thing preventing them from leaping into action. And, to this day, the only being capable of undermining and precipitating his downfall for them is Lady Death herself. Yet, both have opted for very different ways to gain her approbation. In Allice's case it was by attempting to free Hela, Goddess of Death and Lady Death's daughter, from her imprisonment in Nilfheim imposed by her own father, Odin."
Stephen held his breath at Loki's blatant surprise. 'So, he didn't know? Things are going to get ugly.' he winced internally. Indeed, Loki's eyes had widened considerably, his green orbs locking onto the Ancient One's, scanning her up and down for a moment, lips parting and closing twice without saying a word as the reality of hers painfully sank in, reviving the too familiar feelings of betrayal and raw anger in his chest. 'Another lie it is then. At this point I shouldn't even be surprised anymore… So, this is what the Sorceress must have meant by him not wanting to trigger Death more than he already has. Firstborn… This means that he had her before Thor. But, why would he hide her from Asgard entire history? What crime must she have committed to be punished so cruelly? Did she breathe in more air than Odin wanted her to? But more importantly… How comes that this pathetic Midgardian knows so much about this?'
His hands curled into tight fists; Loki schooled his features into an impassive, cool expression. Before giving Stephen any time to process what was happening, Loki materialized himself next to the Ancient One, closed the distance between them, curled his fingers around her neck and teleported them to Allice's Mansion, leaving a flabbergasted Stephen alone in the Mirror Dimension.
"Do not worry Lady Sakura. I bear no intent to harm you."
"You make it a little hard for me to believe after you've stolen my life force away and you've bound me with chains that suppress my Alices." Mikan snickered weakly. Cocking her head to the side to take a better look at her captor, she observed her warily. When she failed to spot the slightest hint of malevolent intent turned toward her, her tense shoulders relaxed a bit. "Why did you bring me here?" Mikan inquired softly.
"For the same reason my son took interest in you, Little One. I was intrigued by your special bound with Allice." Frigga replied with an apologetic smile. 'And because my dear husband will probably make sure to have you beheaded if he was to discover half as much as Heimdall and I know about you, my dear.' she added to herself.
Mikan tensed immediately. 'And round and around in circle we go. Why does it always have to be like this?' She sighed inwardly. 'But more importantly, how much does she know?' Even though Frigga had sparred her the humiliation of placing her once again under the Truth Serum, she was too weakened to keep the Asgardian ruler from weaving her ways through her mental barriers again. 'Lying to her will be of no use.' Mikan realized defeated. 'However, this doesn't prevent me from not elaborating more than needed.'
"How is my connection with him in relevant anyway? Any Alice owner has it." Mikan stated, her voice cautiously toneless. 'Please take the bait!'
"There is no need to play pretend with me, Little One. I am aware of the three fragments of the Soul Stone in your possession. And, if your compeers are faintly imbued with Allice's Magic, every single cell of your body screams of it."
Mikan pressed her lips in a thin line and raised a contemplative eyebrow. 'She hasn't mentioned the books yet. Does this mean that she doesn't know about them? Is the Soul Stone what it is all about?'
"True." Mikan confirmed to the Asgardian queen with a slow nod of her head, "I was born with two of them and the other I acquired it when I destroyed the Infinity Gauntlet."
"Are you looking for the four other fragments?"
Mikan's lips parted slightly in surprise. She gaped and stared at Frigga incredulously. She had had some doubts concerning the real number of fragments being higher than five pieces, however she hadn't paid that much attention to it.
"No." Mikan assured firmly. "I was only aware of the one in Thanos' possession and the one hidden within Thor's Hammer. Yet you didn't see me go for it when I already had multiple opportunities to do so. Frigga, I am not on a conquest to acquire all the Stones. All I wanted was to secure the one Thanos was looking for out of his reach. And see how well this turned out in the end. He destroyed an entire Realm for everybody to watch." Mikan sighed and rested her head on the comforting cold marble of the column she had been tied to.
Frigga slipped to her knees, placing a warm, comforting hand on the untrusting young woman's face. Frigga smiled indulgently at Mikan and studied her features silently. Her hazel eyes though wary exhibited no fear. The lines on her face were singularly smooth and expressed a natural tenderness from which Frigga knew her son's heart could benefit. The Midgardian traits were quite appealing, even by Asgardian standards and, from the information she had carefully gathered, though her smartness wasn't her first asset, the young woman was far from being a dimwit too. If anything, she was powerful and resourceful enough to destroy the Infinity Gauntlet and escape from Odin's attention without him even noticing it. 'I can see my son falling for her.'
"Lady Sakura, what do you have to gain from my son's allegiance?"
"I've already told you." sighed Mikan, "All I want is to help secure the Stones out of Thanos' reach. Loki offered to help me do that."
"Why?" Frigga asked softly. "Why would he put his own life in jeopardy, taking the risk of crossing paths with Thanos again, just to help you? He was already free, yet he decided to take you with him anyway. To me it sounds like you had more to offer than he had to give."
"You said it yourself, I am in the possession of three out of seven fragments of the Soul Stone. This might as well have played in the balance." she remarked, keeping her voice even. "You know your son better than I do, Frigga. Loki is a smart man. He saw in me a potential ally and took me with him so he could personally investigate my connection with Allice. He wanted to make sure on whether I could help him study his legacy." Mikan admitted reluctantly.
Frigga stared at Mikan silently for a moment before cupping her right cheek gently.
"You have no idea. Don't you dear child?" Frigga realized sadly.
Mikan blinked and stared back at Loki's mother, unsettled by her sudden change of tone and attitude. 'What is she talking about?'
"Lady Sakura. Mikan... Allice has made of you a terrible weapon. Both capable of restoring him back to greatness and triggering the happening of Ragnarok."
Hotaru finally reached the end of Mikan's trail. She was facing two enormous doors made of stone carved with the representation of tree she guessed to be Yggdrasil.
For the first in twelve years, too anxious and completely at lost, a nauseous feeling built up in her stomach as Hotaru didn't know what to do next. As Darksilver posed his muzzle on her shoulder she took in a deep breath and she tried successfully to recollect herself. Once poised and calm again, she firstly attempted to push the doors open, effort which finally appeared to be unfruitful. She tried to simply knock on the door. No one answered her call. Running out of patience, Hotaru threatened:
"Mikan, open up! I know you're here! I'll give you five seconds to open these damned doors. If you don't, I'll blow them up and we both know you don't want this to happen. One. Two. Three. Four. Fi…"
The doors of the Stronghold opened. To Hotaru's surprise it wasn't Mikan but Frigga who stood behind them. She turned her gaze away from the Asgardian Queen to stare at the entrance of the Stronghold. She stiffened at the sight of Mikan limp body lying against a column. Flickering her gaze away from Mikan's unconscious form, Hotaru focused her attention on Frigga and flinched at the sight of the blood still dripping from her hands.
Thank you for reading this chapter! Constructive criticism is always welcome, please leave a review!