Revised and Reposted on 10/07/2013
Disclaimer: I only own my OC. Any other characters belong to their respective owners.
"What glitters may not be gold; and even wolves may smile; and fools will be led by promises to their deaths."
― Lauren Oliver, The Delirium Stories
Chapter Three: Contract
When Kaehra was small and still believed the world was a beautiful, happy place she lived with her family by a large forest just outside of the city. Being the curious child that she was, she ignored her father's pleas for her to stay away from the woods; It was far too often that she ventured into it's dark embrace, finding comfort in the chattering of the woodland animals and the cool caress of the trees' shadows.
After many weeks of exploring, and a good few scoldings from her father when she had been less than careful, Kaehra continued to spend her days deep in the forest. When she was feeling particularly adventurous, she would venture farther in than she ever had before. The trees surrounding it were large and ancient, a thousand years old, at least. Their great branches interlocked and blocked out most of the sunlight. Thick, gnarled roots and dead leaves covered the forest floor and the air was dank and cool. As she walked, a faint mist settled around her ankles. It was startling how quickly the forest grew silent and so dark Kaehra could barely see in front of her. Like a scene out of a picture book, the branches of trees reached for her like gnarled hands and crooked fingers.
Yet, through all of this, she would keep walking through the forest maze, not even noticing how far away she had wandered. Usually, she would turn back after an hour or two in case her family noticed she was missing. One day, however, she decided to continue walking.
When her father had found her, lost and shivering underneath an enormous dead oak tree, he was furious and relieved and happy all at the same time. He and her brother had scolded her, telling her how terrified and worried they were, and forbid her from going into the forest again.
She wandered into it's shadowy clutches a week later.
Kaehra supposed this was how her father had felt: frustrated with her inability to listen to his warnings and do as she was told.
"What do you mean, death will be our only escape?" The dark skinned man, Director Fury as she now knew him as, had growled.
Kaehra said nothing, only gazing coolly at Director Fury and the red-headed woman.
"If you don't plan on answering, you can at least tell us who you are." The woman had said calmly, emotions never worming their way into her words or onto her face.
Kaehra hesitated for a moment, but replied. "My name matters little right now. There are more important things to discuss."
Director Fury's one visible eye shone with anger as he slammed his fist down on a table. "Like hell it doesn't! I find you in a restricted area with knowledge about confidential information. How the hell do you figure that who you are doesn't matter?"
"The Tesseract must be surrendered to Asgard." Kaehra said, unfazed by his display of anger.
Show no emotion.
Show no fear.
Let nothing betray you.
Expose your emotions and you expose your weakness.
Kaehra chanted the words like a mantra inside her head. Those words had kept her safe and sane all these years and would continue to.
"Why would we listen to you? You've given us no reason to trust you." The woman said, her gun still pointed at Kaehra's head. Like that would cause her any harm.
Internally, Kaehra raised an eyebrow. Trust? Trust was an illusion so easily shattered by reality. Cruel and harsh as it may be, Kaehra had no room for trust. She had no room for innocence. For ignorance. For error. She was alone. She would always be alone. The reality was that the only one she could 'trust' was herself.
"The Tesseract must be surrendered to the Allfather or Midgard will face consequences."
"Consequences? That sounds an awful lot like a threat." Director Fury hissed.
"No, it is not, regardless of what you believe. I have little use for meager threats and fallacies."
"You're Asgardian, aren't you?" The red-haired woman questioned.
"Yes." Came Kaehra's simple retort.
"So you want us to give up an energy source we discovered to your world just on your say so?"
"If you are implying that I am warning you to give up the Tesseract for some hidden agenda of mine, you are mistaken."
"You want us to give up something that can make this world a better place just so your world can become even stronger. I see no mistake behind my logic." Director Fury shot back.
Kaehra sighed. She liked Midgardians but sometimes they were so... dogmatic. That was the only word for it. "I can assure you that my reasons for asking you to give up the Tesseract are sound and justified. It would be better for you not to know the full extent and danger of the Tesseract's power until it is a safe distance away from you and your planet."
The red-haired woman stared at Kaehra for several heartbeats before finally lowering her gun.
"Agent Romanoff?"
"I don't think she's lying, sir." She replied, her eyes never leaving Kaehra's multicoloured ones for a second.
Romanoff. So that was the woman's name; Midgardians had such odd titles. They twisted Kaehra's tongue in alien ways and left an unknown taste lingering in her mouth. Not unpleasant, just unusual.
Romanoff was indeed a strange name, but completely unfamiliar. It wasn't her's. Although the two held some similarities, their fiery-red hair and green eyes, they were two different people. Kaehra wasn't sure if was she was feeling was relief, sadness, or something entirely different.
"Asgard was lost to me years ago. I have no inclination to help them." Kaehra began, "Midgard is my home therefore I am responsible to protect it. The Tesseract is dangerous, despite what you think you know about it."
Both paused for a second, thinking over her words. "What do you know about the Tesseract?" The one called Romanoff asked.
"Far too much."
"You're going to have to give us more than that." Agent Romanoff huffed.
"It is dangerous and holds more power than any mortal can control. That is all you need to know."Kaehra turned to leave, but paused. Looking back at the two, she spoke softly. "I will help you in any way I can. I only ask that you comply with my demands."
"And what demands would those be?" Director Fury called, not disputing her previous statements.
"Information." Kaehra began, "And compliance. If you agree, I will offer my full cooperation and aid you in defeating the war criminal Loki and recovering the Tesseract as long as both are returned to Asgard."
"And what would you get out of this deal? Information is a low price compared to what you are offering." Agent Romanoff challenged, eyes were full of suspicion, not accusation.
"My reasons for choosing to aid you are my own and I would ask you not to question them. I assure you I have no malicious intentions behind this bargain."
Fury looked at Kaehra, his one eye searching her face for any signs of deceit. "Agent Romanoff?" He asked, turning to her. She glanced at Kaehra, still mildly suspicious of the dark-haired woman, but nodded at her superior. "Then we agree to your terms and conditions."
And then Kaehra felt it. It began as a dull ache in her chest that slowly grew to a piercing agony that made her mind go fuzzy at the edges. Then the ache spread. It set every inch, every cell in her body on fire. Her knees shook with the effort to hold herself up and her vision grew dark and cloudy. Her limbs felt heavy and sluggish, like they were weighed down with invisible burdens. Her senses grew dull and distorted, like she was underwater. Her fingers gripped the flesh around her curse mark, fingernails leaving bloody half-moons in the skin. She wanted to scream. She wanted to go to sleep and never wake up. She wanted it to be over.
But it wasn't.
It was never over. The pain never stopped. It was always there, lurking in the corners of her mind. Kaehra had learned to ignore it, or at least part of it. Part of her was thankful for it. It served as a warning sign and, despite the unpleasantness of it, the pain had saved her on several occasions.
Suddenly, Kaehra was aware of a hand gripping her shoulder. "Ma'am?" A voice called, piercing through the darkness. Shaking her head to chase the darkness away, Kaehra looked up. Agent Romanoff was staring at her, fingers gripping fabric in a way that wasn't hostile, but still firm.
"My apologies. I felt rather dizzy just then." Kaehra said shakily, trying to regain her wits. The woman didn't look convinced but released her anyways. Director Fury's gaze was calm and calculating, silently gauging her abilities. "I realize I have been rude and neglected to introduce myself. I did not want to reveal my identity until our business was over and an agreement was reached. My name is Kaehra Grímsdóttir. Although it is true that I am of Asgard, I cut my ties with my homeland centuries ago. I will do my best to aid you in your war against Loki and the Chitauri, as is my bond."
Kaehra drew a small knife from the confines of her tunic and held it against the palm of her hand. "As is the will of Vár, my agreement will be unwavering and true. Should I break my oath, Forseti's wrath shall fall upon me. By my blood, I swear it." She said, dragging the blade across the sensitive skin of her palm. Blood beaded and gathered along the incision, pooling in the crevices of her hand. Both Midgardians just watched her, never moving or speaking. "I intend to fully keep my promise. I must leave you now; I have other business to take care of."
"When are you coming back?" Fury questioned.
"Tomorrow evening, at the latest." Kaehra replied, tucking the knife into her belt. Her hands hung loosely at her sides, the cut already closing,and her blood ran in crimson rivulets down her fingers before finally dripping onto the floor. She paid little attention to it; her mind was occupied with trying to keep herself conscious and from crying out.
Then, without another word, Kaehra closed her eyes. A sudden breeze swirled around her, growing in intensity until suddenly, she vanished. For a long while it was silent, both agents not knowing how to react to the odd display that had just occurred and their unlikely, spontaneous new ally's words.
"Well, that was unexpected."
When Kaehra reached her home tucked away in the forest, she nearly collapsed on the mossy stone floor. It was foolish to ignore the ever-present pain for so long, that she knew. But it was necessary. She could take it. She wasn't weak. She couldn't be.
Steadyingherself with trembling, shaky limbs, Kaehra crawled over mossy rocks and thick roots that threatened to trip her. A set of marble steps loomed in front of her, so covered in lichens and decayed they could hardly be called steps anymore. Dragging herself up the broken staircase left Kaehra face to face with an enormous oak door, rimmed with iron and almost entirely obscured with ivy and other plants; it would be impossible to find for someone who didn't know just where to look. Unsteadily, Kaehra reached for one of the great iron knockers, fashioned into the shape of a sea serpent, and pushed the massive door open.
Kaehra staggered inside the large chamber before finally fallingto the floor, panting and writhing as she clutched her chest. Only a few paces away from her prone body was a large, perfectly-circular pondringed with reeds and exotic flowers. Several enormous willow trees bowed their branches, but never covered the pond. The surface was calm and clear, letting Kaehra see deep into it's crystal depths where tiny fish swam.
At the far end of the chamber was a massive white-marble arch that opened out onto the ocean, its waters eerily calm and silent. Along the other walls were other, much smaller arches and doorways leading off into unknown corridors.
With another stab of pain, Kaehra could feel the black ink around her curse mark encircling the column of her neck and crawling up her jaw line. She had to hurry. She dragged herself to her feet once more with sheer willpower and staggered over to the edgeof the pond.
When her feet, suddenly bare, touched the water, they didn't sink, instead gliding along the surface as if it were glass. Sluggishly, she made her way to the center of the pool. Black ink fused with water where her toes touched, seeping into crystal depths before finally vanishing. Kaehra could feel the pain disappear, slowly, but surely. The black ink that had curled up her neck and jaw, now precariously close to her eye, began to recede. When she reached the center of the lake, Kaehra knelt down and cupped the water with her hands. Bringing it to her mouth, she began to drink.
At first there was a blinding pain, but it was quickly over, replaced by a soothing calm. It washed over her, easing her aches and worries. Her mind grew cloudy and sluggish, but not in a bad way. It was like when one was just about to fall asleep, in those few minutesjust before the mind fell into a comfortable darkness. The dark tendrils on her skin had withdrawn until they were about the size of half of a fist.
Satisfied, Kaehra rose to her full height and strode over to the edge of the pond. The waters were crystal-clear once again, devoid of any trace of the darkness that had spread across its surface moments before. Striding over towards the chamber, Kaehra leaned against the columns of the great marble arch. Gazing out towards the sea, Kaehra sighed.
"What have I done this time, father?"
Author's Note: I'm terribly sorry about the late post! I had a whole bunch of things going on and this story got pushed to the side. A few things to note: when Kaehra swears her oath to Fury and Natasha, she mentions Vár, the Norse goddess of promises and agreements. Forseti is the Norse god of justice and reconciliation. Please review! It inspires me to write and I love to hear your thoughts and input on the story. If you have any questions, comments or suggestions, feel free to PM me or leave them in a review.