No Warnings
Chapter 19:
It was a week later when Eli found herself on the outskirts of cemetery where Rachel claimed that a number of her ancestors were buried. Apparently in the family crypt was a diary that belonged to someone who had actually seen the map. Eli had been sceptical about the diary still being there, but Rachel was adamant about it.
"Just so you know, I am not going to jail for this; so if anything goes wrong just follow along with anything I say and you'll be okay." Eli said with a small smile.
"What is that supposed to mean?" Rachel said with a tone in her voice. Eli just laughed as they continued on further into the cemetery.
"So, are we graverobbing today or is that wishful thinking on my part?" Eli said playfully. Rachel stared blankly at the shorter woman for a moment.
"If I can avoid it, then we won't be doing anything like that. At all." Rachel said sternly as they came up to the Aves vault.
"I thought your name was Turner," Eli thought out loud.
"The Aves family and the Swan family are related through marriage, and during the Golden Age of Piracy the last Swan married into the Turner family; and that is how you get to me." Rachel explained.
"But why is the diary here in the Aves vault?"
"The last of the Aves was a cousin to the last of Swan. She was supposed to have been buried here along with her diary."
"Supposed? I hope you're right. What if the diary isn't here?"
"Well, that would be the end of the leads that I have. We might be able to find information in the Caribbean, but I have no idea where we would start."
"Well, let's just hope that it's here." Eli said as she came to stand in front of the crypt. Rachel nodded as the two opened the newer steel gate to the crypt and entered. It smelt musky despite being completely dry. It also appeared that spiders made the old tomb home. "So, where should we look?"
"I have no idea," Rachel admitted. Eli took a deep breath in.
"Then we should get started," Eli said as she looked over the dozens of slots where Eli was sure the dead were buried.
"We can't just open the tombs. What are we supposed to do?" Rachel asked.
"First we look at everything on the surface. If we get lucky the diary won't actually be with the body. If it is with the body then the diary will probably be destroyed." Eli said as she ran her hand along a wall. "Look for anything that is unusual or looks like it has been tampered with in the last four hundredish years."
"Right." Rachel started with the opposite wall. There was nothing unusual. Absolutely nothing, and for a second Eli got worried that she was actually going to have to rob graves when she heard Rachel gasp.
"What!?" Eli span on her heel to see that Rachel pulled out one of the bricks from the wall.
"It was an accident!" the college student squeaked. Eli pushed past the girl to look into the hole that was left by the brick. Eli reached into the hole. She reached all the way into the hole and screamed. Her screaming caused Rachel to scream. Eli laughed as she pulled her hand out.
"I'm sorry, I just couldn't resist," Eli laughed. "If it makes you feel better, I found this." Eli held out a small bundle that was wrapped in brown, aged linen. Rachel's eyes went wide as she stared at the bundle. "Before we look at it though, I suggest we leave. I'm pretty sure that the British police are on their way to the crypt, and we don't have a permit."
"How do you-"
"Between Jarvette and my mutant abilities there is no doubt that we are about to be arrested. Just follow my lead, alright. Whatever you do, don't talk." Eli commanded. Sure enough, two policemen entered the crypt. They looked around, using their flashlights to illuminate the dark space. They looked around and were confused before they left. Rachel looked at Eli who was holding her forefinger and middle finger to her temple, and her face was twisted in concentration. Eli let out a shuddering breath.
"How…?"
"It's useful for getting out of trouble," Eli shook her head. "We should go. Make sure to put the brick back."
Eli looked out past the entrance to the crypt. The two police officers were leaving. Eli smiled. It payed being a copy-cat. "We should hurry before someone else decides to investigate. Hold my hand." Eli focused on Kitty's powers and she phased through the walls with Rachel in tow. Eli could sense that Rachel was in awe of her abilities.
"That is amazing," Rachel breathed out.
"I can fly too. I can show you sometime." Eli laughed. "But first let's get back to Mrs. Hudson's. This diary is practically burning a hole in my hand."
Eli and Rachel stepped onto a busy street. It was a long walk back to the bed and breakfast, but Eli enjoyed walking through London. Rachel was staring at the little journal in Eli's hand longingly. It was an important part of her history. If Eli ever came across something like this she would be so excited that she wouldn't be able to sleep until she read the entire thing.
"Here, I know you want to see it," Eli held out the journal. Rachel's face lit up and reached out to grab the diary. But in that moment several things happened at once. Eli tripped over her feet and stumbled into a building; but instead of stabilizing her falling body, Eli kept falling. Eli watched Rachel's face went from excited to horrified as Eli fell out of her sight.
The world seemed to be turning on its axis as Eli went from falling to her side to falling forward, and strangely enough it was now night. Eli could see a vast city of gold perched atop an even vaster sea and winding rivers. It was beautiful. A bridge that was all the colors of the rainbow was fast approaching. In fact, it was getting dangerously close. Eli focused on Jean's abilities, but the more she concentrated the more her head hurt. It was was almost as painful as when she was sick, and Eli screwed her eyes closed. When she opened them again she was almost on top of the bridge.
Eli's last thought before hitting the bridge was that she could never take a trip without getting into some kind of trouble. Her feet and legs hit first, then her hips and her hands and arms, and finally her head slammed against the surface of the bridge with a sickening crack.
Eli could feel herself go in and out of consciousness. She felt herself being carried off of the bridge and her bones putting themselves back into place. The next time she came to, she saw gold light above her. It was in the form of her own body. The next time there were people talking above her. Eli recognized one of the voices.
"...Thor…" Eli whispered.
"Eli," said the thunder god's strong voice. Eli let her eyes roll open. She could see Thor's outline. The room was so bright.
"What the hell happened…? I feel like I was hit by a freight train." Eli said as she tried to sit up. Thor pushed her back down gently.
"Eli you fell from the sky. It's a miracle that you're still alive." he said.
"I have healing abilities. I thought I explained that to you before you left for Asgard…" Eli shot up, and spoke through her spinning head. "Please tell me I'm not on Asgard."
Thor smiled apologetically at the the injured woman, and Eli groaned and buried her face in her hands.
"Pepper is going to freak out. And poor Rachel! You should have seen the look on her face!" Eli gasped. "Is there a way for me to get back? At least before Pepper finds out that I've gone missing!"
"I don't know how to tell you this, Eli, but you've been on Asgard for five days." Thor said cautiously.
"Well, there could be worse things. I could be Tony right now." Eli smiled. She would be fine as long as Tony wasn't having a good day. Well, when Tony was having a bad day that meant that she would be having a bad day the next. It was the game that they played. "Is there a way for me to go home? You used the Tesseract the last time, but I don't know if I want to take that all the way back to Earth."
"My father used the Tesseract's power to restore the Bifrost. I can take you back as soon as you are well." Thor laughed lightly. "How did you manage to get here?"
"I was walking down the street and I tripped. Then I was falling, and falling, and falling; and the rest is as you know it." Eli smiled sheepishly. "I'm not sure how I managed it, but I landed here on Asgard. And I thought that today was going to go as usual; ya know, a little grave robbing and some research and everything would go smoothly."
"Grave robbing?" Thor asked.
"It's a long story, but don't worry, I didn't get into any trouble. It took five days for my injuries to heal?" Eli said as she stood up, and she felt the break in her leg as her weight settled. Eli hissed and sat back down. Blue eyes stared down at her broken leg in shock. "My body should be completely healed by now…"
"Your body is refusing any treatment that the healers give you; and you've injured several healers and soldiers alike while unconscious. They tell me that you've been severely injured since we last met." Thor said seriously.
"Just let me concentrate," Eli said. "You should probably step back a little if I've been attacking people."
Thor took a step back while Eli focused on Logan's abilities. Her leg mended itself, and she did a quick one over her entire body. It seemed to be in working order. Eli opened her eyes, and saw that Thor was looking at her in shock. Eli looked at him quizzically. Then she felt something slide over her lips. Eli brought her hand up. Her nose was bleeding. Eli looked up at Thor, almost in a panic.
"I- uh, um. Could I have something to clean this up?" Eli was aware that she must have looked like a frightened doe. "This doesn't really happen."
A young woman gave Eli a cloth. "Well, not since I last saw your brother. It all started with him really. The nosebleeds, the headaches, the lack of control. Could this be from radiation caused by the Tesseract? It's energy seems to be different from nuclear energy, despite the similarities. Nuclear energy is what caused the rapid growth of the mutant population within the last century. So I don't understand- That stupid inhibitor. The Tesseract's energy must have reacted with a component of my inhibitor and my body wasn't able to react properly to the Tesseract's energy."
Eli nodded in satisfaction before standing once more. This time she was stable. Eli smiled while wiping away the blood from her face. "Now take me home."
Thor nodded and led the erratic girl out of the healing room. Everywhere Eli looked there was gold. Eli thought it was a bit much, but this culture was highly advanced, and gold was used in many technological devices. Gold was such a strange element.
"How are you feeling, Eli?" Thor asked.
"I've been better, but I'm feeling good. The air is a bit heavy. I wonder if Asgard's atmospheric composition is different than Earth's. Maybe there's more oxygen here. That doesn't make sense, though. You would feel light headed all the time on Earth then. So, when I was falling, Asgard looked like it was just a giant island. Is the island the only thing here, or is there more. I guess it wouldn't really be an island, but a supercontinent."
"Eli, you're rambling," Thor said.
"It's that obvious is it?" Eli sighed. "I'm sorry. I'm just a little nervous. I don't want to do anything that I'll regret, or get myself into trouble." Eli looked at Thor's broad shoulders. "There's never a moment when I'm not thinking about him. I don't know what I'd do if I saw him."
"He can't hurt you, Eli. He will be imprisoned for the rest of his life."
"That's not what I'm worried about," Eli smiled. Several soldiers stepped up to the pair. A man with a metallic patch stepped forward, and looked at Thor and Eli critically. "Should I be worried?" Eli whispered.
"And where are you going?" the elderly man said with natural authority.
"Father, I was taking Eli to the Bifrost, to take her home." Thor said. Eli observed that Thor stood a little straighter. "Is there something wrong?"
"I wanted to know how she made it here without the use of the Bifrost or the Tesseract. If you would be so kind to enlighten me." Odin, Eli's mind supplied loudy, said.
"I- I, uh. Um…" Eli put a hand to her head. The noise was getting even louder. "I'm sorry, but I can't- I can't think straight. I think that something bad is going to happened…"
The fire lighting the halls started to grow as the noise in her head became louder. Eli could feel the heat from the out of control flames was searing her skin. It was becoming almost as unbearable as the noise. She could almost feel her skull split. In seconds, all of the pain and noise stopped. Eli looked up to see all of the soldiers pointing their weapons at her.
"Well, that was strange…" Eli studied her hands for a moment. "That hasn't happened since I first… became a mutant." Eli's head shot up in realization. "My body is trying to assimilate to Asgardian physiology. Of course! Thor did I attack you at all while I was unconscious?"
"N-No," Thor hesitated for a moment.
"Those that I did attack, did they touch my skin at all? Or did I happen to see them?" Eli asked with near excitement.
"Many of the healers touched you and after they were attacked, the guards that touched you were attacked as well. I don't understand why this is important…"
"Being a copycat abilities are just the beginning of my mutation. One of my body's greatest abilities is to adapt to another being's genetic structure. Since I copied Rogue's abilities my body developed a defense mechanism in which my skin will absorb the life force, and in the case of superpowered beings, I get their powers also." Eli explained. "My body was trying to imitate Asgardian bodies. I wasn't able to do it while you and your brother were on Earth and now I don't have any amount of control. Those who were injured should be fine after they've had some rest. Now I feel bad."
Eli let her shoulders slump a little. She was a guest on Asgard and she attacked their soldiers and healers. Even if it wasn't intentional. She still did it. Eli looked up to see that all of the soldiers were still holding their weapons up. Eli smiled sheepishly. She then felt her nose bleed again. Eli quickly brought the already bloodied cloth to her nose. Then, Eli felt her knees buckle and her eyes roll into the back of her head.
Thor must have caught her as she fell, because Eli never hit the floor. Eli opened her eyes to see Thor holding her up by the arm. Eli looked around in a daze. "Well, this isn't good," Eli said as she saw that all of the metal in the area shaking and rising to the ceilings. Including the weapons that were pointed at her earlier. Eli closed her eyes and took a deep breathe in and then exhaled. All of the metal fell to the ground.
"I don't know if I should go home yet," Eli said to herself. "I'm a little out of control at the moment. Is there somewhere I can go that I won't accidentally destroy this entire building, or get myself or someone else killed?"
"I'm not sure I understand…"
"My powers are a bit out of control and I need to taken somewhere where my abilities won't be able to affect the surrounding area. For example, if my body suddenly bursts into flame and threatens to burn the entire city to the ground, the only place that would be affected would be contained to like one room."
"There is a place like that here, but it would mean you would be staying in the prison." Thor said.
"You're worried now, but when the entire city is flooded or when everyone suddenly has broken bones or when all the volcanoes erupt at once you'll want to launch me into the deepest depths of space." Eli assured. "I think the soldiers would be a lot happier if I was somewhere where I couldn't accidentally kill them."
Eli looked at Odin who seemed content to watch and listen to his son and Eli converse about her self imposed imprisonment. Eli noticed that his sagely face was a mixture of annoyance and amusement and bewilderment. Eli smiled a little crookedly and looked at Thor.
"Should we make sure that this okay with your father first? He is the king after all." Eli whispered conspiratorially. Thor smiled. It was a little sad, like he was remembering something from long ago.
"Father, as you know this is Eli Potts-"
"The young woman who has injured seven healers and nine royal guards." Odin's voice didn't hold any malice. "And instead of sending her and her problems home you want to allow her into the prison where her abilities could cause untold chaos."
"He does have a point. Not only that, I don't know if it's a good idea that I be within fifty feet of Loki." Eli said to herself. If she saw Loki she might just beg him to do some rather intimate things to her.
"That's right, you're the girl that he took hostage," Odin said more to himself. Several of the soldiers heard though and the all looked at Eli strangely.
"Why are they looking at me like that?" Eli whispered to Thor. Thor looked taken aback and he almost looked as if he was going to blush.
"Well, you see- Loki claimed, he said that- Well-"
"That jerk said I slept with him!" Eli said only to herself, then spoke to Thor. "Did he say something to impede my honor?"
"He implied," Thor said nervously. Eli scowled. Loki was so getting punched in the face when she saw him next. Eli blushed a little when she realized that she did in fact come close to doing what Loki implied. The blush was incriminating to all who saw it. Several of the soldiers were now even more wary of Eli.
"What exactly did he say about my time being his hostage?" Eli asked equally wary. Thor looked like he would rather be vacationing on the hottest planet in the galaxy than to to talk about this with Eli.
"He said that you threw yourself at him," said a woman's voice. Eli nodded at her thoughts being confirmed, and then shook her head at the gall Loki had to tell others that she threw herself at him. She remembered that it was him who threw himself at her. Granted that she didn't really protest until after the Helicarrier started to fall from the sky, and before that she was all too willing to be with him. But that wasn't the point. The point was that Loki was going to get a mouthful when she saw him.
"I threw a shoe at him. That was about it. Anything that happened he started." Eli pouted. Eli scowled again and she could hear thunder in the distance. Eli was unaware of the static electricity causing her hair to stand on end.
"Frigga, you say to much. I can not permit her to stay here regardless of what she has or has not done with Loki. Humans do not belong on Asgard, and as such she must leave immediately. As she was supposed to when she first arrived." Odin said.
"I was near death when I arrived," Eli scoffed. "What was I supposed to do? Crawl my way back to Earth. I'm sorry, that might have been a bit uncalled for. I was allowed to heal after all. I do agree. I should get back home. I'm sure that Tony and Pepper are on a worldwide search as we speak. If I'm gone any longer they'll probably never get married."
"These soldiers will escort you to the Bifrost," Odin said.
"Where's my purse?" Eli asked suddenly and lightening struck just outside of the walls of the castle. Eli realized that it was her that was causing the weather abnormalities. Eli cleared her head. "And the diary that I had with me, where are they?"
"They will be returned to you when we reached the Bifrost. They were kept safe in your absence." Thor said politely. Eli nodded. Her watch and earrings were gone and probably with her things.
"I need to speak with Jarvette, I need my watch or my phone. I just need to check a few things, it's a nervous tick really. She keeps me level." Eli said absently.
"I can arrange for your things to be brought before we reach the Bifrost." Thor said.
"You're quite accommodating to this young woman," said Odin.
"I made him feel bad when he was on Earth. I was strapped to a wall while everyone else was fighting off an army. He was fighting not fifteen feet from me. The least he could have done was to get me down before flying off to save New York. I wasn't a happy camper to say the least." Eli said as she mockingly glared at Thor who looked away at something that Eli couldn't see. "If we are going we should probably start moving."
Thor nodded, and Eli suppressed her laughter. Thor was almost as fun to tease as Pepper was. The same woman from before giggled. Eli assumed that she must be Frigga. She was beautifully regal. And tall. She was smiling warmly and knowingly at Eli. For some reason, it made Eli blush nervously. It was like Frigga knew something that Eli didn't. Frigga took Odin's arm.
"Come, Thor and the guards can handle taking her to the Bifrost. I have something I wish to speak with you about." Frigga said almost happily. Thor's mother motioned Thor and Eli away, and led Odin away from them.
"I feel like I'm missing something," Eli said.
"I feel the same," Thor said, then said quietly, so that only Eli could hear: "I think she visits with Loki." Eli looked down at her feet. The thought of Loki thinking of her as she did him made Eli's heart flutter. "Do not worry, Eli, he can not hurt you anymore."
Eli took a deep breath. Thor was seriously misguided if he thought that Eli was worried about Loki hurting her.