A/N: Urg, food poisoning is blah :( I felt a little better today but not by much :( I'm aiming for Sadie for tomorrow along with Thor so fingers crossed it happens ;)

~8~

Blessings

Athena stood before the Parthenon, standing at the bottom of the steps of the temple that had been dedicated to her and looking up at the ruins it now was. Wong's statement that she was walking on a dangerous path had never been more true. She and her family had taken an oath, not just that they would never again set foot on Earth and interfere with the lives of humans, but that they would never ever return to the two places where their presence was worshiped with as much revelry as it had been.

Greece and Rome, they were forbidden areas. Their temples, the ones dedicated to them, their shrines, even more so.

She had broken that first oath, when she had agreed with Odin's request to go to Earth and keep an eye on Thor. She had tried her best not to interfere too much with human life, keeping close to Thor, keeping him on track. She tried to reconcile being on Earth all the other times with reminders that she was there to help. She tried to convince herself she was only there to protect the humans, not harm them. That she was trying to make up for all of the awful things she had put them through in the Dark Days, to keep them safe now when she had failed to so long ago.

Thor didn't know, neither had Odin and Frigga, that she had sworn never to set foot on the planet again. She hadn't told them, she still hadn't told Thor, because she knew it would only lead to questions about why and, back then, she hadn't been ready to talk about the Dark Days yet. She tried to convince herself that her family would never find out and, if they never found out, then she wasn't technically breaking her oath to them. But she had psychics in her family, she had ones who observed the Earth even when they couldn't set foot on it, she had others that were aware of the goings-on down below. There were those on Earth who still worship them, still prayed to them in their own ways. They could hear the prayers, they could never deafen themselves to it, they just couldn't do anything about it.

Zeus had forgiven her, had been proud of her for leaving Earth after each mission. He had given her an exemption to the oath that she was only ever to return there with Thor at her side. She hoped her father would forgive her for this, that she had no control over being sent Earth this time without him, that she had tried to avoid it and stay with Thor.

She just kept telling herself that she would leave as soon as Thanos was vanquished, that she needed to leave, she still had to go find his people.

She wasn't sure how much she believed that.

Thor had been planning to take his people to Earth, to start a new life there, had mentioned Norway, where Odin and Frigga had said their last goodbyes. It hasn't fully hit her, what the implications would mean of that. She was Thor's chosen Queen, she would wed him one day, she loved him with everything in her. But she couldn't deny the fear that always struck her just setting foot on Earth, thinking about those days she had struggled so hard to put behind her. She had planned to talk with Thor once they had landed on Earth, once his people felt safe again, to express her concerns, perhaps even to contact her father and ask that the Asgardians be allowed into Olympus, that they could open their home to the refugees, there had been no way to contact them while on the ship nor a way to get to Olympus from there. When her family retreated to Olympus, they sealed ever path there. She could communicate with her family from Asgard or Earth, but they had only ever opened a path to Asgard. They might be able to open one more, one final doorway to Earth so his people could pass through before it was sealed once more. But she needed to be able to ASK them first, and right now her focus was on stopping Thanos, since Thor's people weren't there yet. She could admit though, a part of her did wonder what her family would say.

Her family had been just them for so long, she could imagine they would not be happy with her request. But if it came down to her staying on Earth, knowing what it could mean, knowing the danger of it, they would probably make an exception in that case.

It was all a mess now and she didn't know how to fix it.

Right now, as she stood looking up at her temple, she couldn't help the fear that surged through her as she looked down at the first step. If she did this, if she entered that temple, she would be breaking the most sacred oath she had ever given.

But the Avengers were counting on her and all life in the universe was depending on her getting a weapon that could stop Thanos.

She took a breath and moved up the steps, pausing in between the middle two pillars just at the top of the stairs. She clenched her hands into fists as she stood and looked at the empty space before her. She could still picture the statue of her that had stood within this Temple, the gifts and the jewels and the riches that her worshipers had left for her in tribute. She could still hear the prayers at they used to murmur in her name.

She blinked rapidly to keep the tears back and shook her head fiercely, forcing herself to walk further into the temple. She couldn't afford to think of anything else but getting the weapon. She paused right in the center of the temple, looking around at the pillars on all sides of her and down to the stone slab just beneath her feet. She stepped back off of it, kneeling to the ground and using her sword to pry the slab up, moving it to the side. It gave easily, felt like nothing at all next to her god-like power and strength.

She stared down at the stone that had been beneath the slab and waved her hand over it, the old magic placed on it recognizing her and a crude carving of an owl seemed to bleed out of the stone. She moved to hold her left hand out, but quickly snatched it back when she saw the wrappings around it. She looked down at her right hand instead and move to place it on the seal. It hovered just inches above the emblem, her entire body trembling as she tried to think of anything else that she could do besides this.

But there was nothing.

She took a deep breath and forced her hand down, gritting her teeth at the owl began to glow before she pulled away, watching as it seemed to melt away, creating a circle in the stone. She turned and grabbed a rag that she had taken with her from the quinjet, holding it in front of her hand as she reached down into the chamber that she had put within the slab, well hidden by magic. She wrapped the rag around the object beneath and pulled it out, revealing the most glorious sword she had ever seen in all her life.

It was beautiful, with a golden hilt, flawless metal blade, so sharp it looked like it could cut through stone itself. It was truly the best workmanship Hephaestus had ever forged just for her at the height of the Dark Days and imbued with extra fortifications from the metal it came from, making it nearly an unstoppable weapon when it was in her hand.

She tried to ignore the trembling in her right hand as she nearly had to force herself to slip it into the sheath at her hip, her usual sword hidden within the strap of her shield on her back.

She closed her eyes tight, knowing she couldn't pray to her family or her father for what she needed next, knowing they would hear her if she did, but hoping with everything in her heart that they would forgive her for this.

The sword was never supposed to be there.

It was supposed to have been destroyed after the Dark Days.

But she had used a foul trick to fool her family into thinking she had gone along with their agreement when, in reality, she had stashed it away.

They had agreed, when they returned to Olympus, that everything that had been tainted by the corruption they had felt was to be destroyed. Artemis and Apollo had destroyed their bows and arrows, Aries his sword and shield, Hephaestus his beloved Hammer, Zeus his thunderbolts, Poseidon his trident, and so many other weapons, so many other objects all destroyed. Hephaestus had remade versions of them, not as well of crafted or as powerful as they would have been during those days, but a comfort to them to hold once more, a sign that they were moving on and moving forward and were no longer held back by what happened.

She had thrown a sword in among the other weapons and her family had never doubted that it was the real thing, not even Aries could guess her next move when it really came down to it. But it wasn't, she held her real sword in her sheath right now.

She didn't like to admit where her mind had been during those days, but she had anticipated that the Dark Days would not end so easily, that her family would continue on their path even on Olympus, and she would need her most prized weapon in that event. They would have all destroyed their weapons, but she would have hers, and so she would come out victorious against them. So she hid it. Here.

It made her sick to think that she had actually thought ahead to a point where she had truly planned to destroy her family in such a way, that she would go so far as to hide her most powerful weapon on Earth with the intention to return and claim it.

As it turned out, she had been wrong. Her family had proven stronger than the corruption. They had pushed past the Dark Days and kept to their oaths, kept to each other, and helped each other heal instead of tear each other down. She had never returned to Earth to take her sword back for conquest. She had kept to her oath for...centuries. Only to break it now, for here she was standing there, back on Earth, needing her weapon to destroy an enemy.

It just wasn't the enemy she thought it would be when she first hid it.

She quickly replaced the stone slab back where it had been and pushed herself to her feet, staggering back towards the pillars in the front of the temple, feeling her entire body shaking with the effort it took to do what she had. To hold that sword in her hand once more, and resist using it, to set it aside. The last thing she ever wanted to do was touch that blade again or even think of it, it was too much a reminder of what she'd done, of how far she'd fallen, of all the corruption that had infected her. But it might be their only chance at stopping Thanos.

She looked up at the quinjet sitting just before her and swallowed hard, there was just one more place she needed to go to make sure of that.

~8~

Thor stood in the back of the small pod that Rocket was flying as they drifted through space, the tree, Groot, on a chair off to the side, still playing his video game. Thor was looking out of a small window, watching the stars, unable to help but feel like they were moving far too slowly, that they needed to be at their destination already. Time was far too precious and he wished that the small pod would go faster. The sooner he could get a new hammer, the sooner Thanos would feel his wrath and the sooner he could be returned to Athena.

"I am Groot," the tree murmured, sounding somewhat petulant.

"Tinkle in the cup!" Rocket shouted back at him, starting to mutter to himself, the tree have been going on and on about how he needed to relieve himself for a while now, "We're not looking. What's there to see? What's a twig? Everybody's seen a twig."

"I am Groot!" now the tree sounded quite horrified at the suggestion.

"You can pour what's in the cup out in space then go in the cup again," Thor cut in, understanding that Groot was trying to con Rocket into pulling over to a different planet by claiming he needed to go more than what a cup would hold.

Rocket spun around in his chair to face Thor, "You speak Groot?!"

"Yes," Thor glanced back at him, "They taught it on Asgard. It was an elective."

He was quite sure, though he wasn't certain, that Athena herself might also understand this language. Or perhaps a dialect of it. Apparently all tree-based languages shared the same common root, he wasn't sure if the pun was intended. There were beings that had lived on earth, during the time her family occupied it, called dryads, tree spirits. They all spoke their own unique language that humans could not understand, but they also spoke the language of the people as well. Apparently some of Athena's family members had close ties with these tree beings and she understood some of their language herself. He would have to ask her if that extended to Groot.

"I am Groot?" the tree-being called out with a sigh of impatience, asking if they were there yet.

"You'll know when we're close," Thor responded, "Nidavellir's forge harnesses the blazing power of a Neutron Star. It's the birthplace of my hammer; it's truly awesome."

Thor let out a very long sigh as he moved to sit on a small metal bench, resting his head in his hands, at the full weight of everything he had lost yet again. He had had hope, when they escaped Asgard, that things would be well. He had lost his father and mother, but gained back his brother, he lost his home, but his people were safe, he lost his hammer but regained a strength within, and he had Athena beside him.

Now he had nothing. His brother was gone, his people were lost, and Athena was trapped on Earth with no knowledge of whether he survived, and he had no knowledge of her well-being either. He could assume that the Children of Thanos had made it to Earth on their quest for the other two stones. And while he knew Athena would guard them with her life, the Children had managed to cut through him and a few of his people with such ease that he feared for her safety. He had hoped that the Avengers would assemble once more to aid her, but he didn't like leaving her in places where he couldn't be there to watch her back as she watched his. They were a team.

He looked up, shaken from his thoughts, when Rocket sat down across from him on another bench and began to speak, "So, dead brother, huh? That can be annoying."

"Well, he's been dead before," Thor shrugged, trying to be hopeful, but all he kept seeing every time he thought on it was the sound of bones crunching and Loki's body tossed before him, turning blue like a Frost Giant once more, "But this time...I think it really might be true."

"And you said that your sister and your dad..."

"Both dead."

"But, still got a mom, though?"

"Died with my father."

"Best friend?"

"Stabbed through the heart."

"What about that girl? You said you got a queen, didn't you?"

Thor smiled at the mention of Athena, "Athena lives, as far as I know. But being parted from her is almost a pain worse than death. I have lost much in such a short time, if I lost Athena as well..."

"You sure you're up for this particular murder mission?" Rocket asked, seeing that the man really seemed to be hanging on by a single strand, that girl. He wasn't about to vocalize the thought that the girl was probably dead. If these other Children of Thanos were anything like Gamora, had any of her skill, it would take a fearsome warrior to be able to hold them off. It didn't bode well for this Tina chick.

"Absolutely!" Thor tried to give a joyful cry, forcing a smile on his face, trying to make it seem like he was holding it together better than he was, but his voice shook and his words came out just a little too forced, "The rage, vengeance, anger, loss, regret, they're all tremendous motivators. They truly clear the mind. but more than that, I have a queen that I need to get back to. And Thanos is the only thing standing in my way from returning to her. So, I'm good to go."

"Yeah, speaking of Thanos...he's the toughest there is."

"Well, he's never fought me."

"...yeah, he has!"

"Well, he's never fought me TWICE! And I'll be getting a new hammer, don't forget."

"Well, it'd better be some hammer."

Thor fell silent for a moment, contemplating his history with his hammer, the enemies he had face down in the past, and the more recent enemy within his own family that he had bested. He thought about everything he had endured, everything Athena, even, had lived through that got them both to the point where they could meet each other. He recalled all the obstacles that had stood in their way, his arrogance, her fear of her past, and so much more, but they were both still there. No enemy they faced had been able to defeat them yet. There had to be a reason for it.

"You know, I'm 1,500 years old," Thor began, "I've killed twice as many enemies as that, I would even bet Athena has killed more, she is a fearsome woman and a skilled warrior. Every enemy we have faced would have rather killed us, but none succeeded. I'm only alive because Fate wants we alive. Thanos is just the latest in a long line of bastards, and he'll be the latest to feel my vengeance. Fate wills it so."

Rocket hesitated, not wanting to ask, but he had heard that kind of talk before and it never ended well, "And what if you're wrong?"

"If I'm wrong, then...what more could I lose?" Thor tried to smile, adding, "Athena already thinks me dead."

He swallowed hard at having to say that out loud, quickly brushing a finger under his eye before a tear could actually fall in front of such comrades, pushing himself up to move towards the front of the ship, done with the conversation. He could hear Rocket muttering to himself, before the creature moved to join him, holding something out to him.

"Well, if fate does want you to kill that crapsack, you're gonna need more than one stupid eyeball," Rocket offered him a small white sphere.

"What's this?"

"What's it look like? Some jerk lost a bet with me in Contraxia."

"He gave you his eye?" Thor took the sphere, turning it over in his hand as he observed the literal eyeball he was holding.

"No, he gave me 100 credits. I snuck into his room later that night and stole his eye."

"Thank you, sweet rabbit," Thor smiled at his offer, pulling the patch off of his left eye to push the eyeball into it.

Despite knowing that was the intention behind it, Rocket couldn't help but grimace at the action, "I would've washed that. The only way I could sneak it off Contraxia was up my...hey," he cut himself off, the ship slowing down enough that he noticed, "We're here."

Thor stood as he tried to peer out the pod, a deep frown on his face, "I don't think this thing works," he rubbed at the eyeball, "Everything seems dark."

"But it ain't the eye."

And indeed it wasn't. Thor had been to this area a few times now, most recently with Athena, and it had been thriving. The star at the heart of the system had been blazing, the rings around it spiraling, all the Dwarves at work at their various crafts, pleased that Thor and Athena had helped them with their latest threat. But right now it was dark, the star seem to have burned out, the rings were not spiraling any longer, but laying there idly.

It looked dead and abandoned.

"Something's wrong," Thor murmured, "The star's gone out. And the rings are frozen..."

Rocket glanced back at Thor, before maneuvering the pod closer to the docking bay on one of the rings. The small trio cautiously made their way out of the pod, Rocket holding a flashlight as they moved through, Groot still playing on his small video game. Thor kept shaking his head as he looked around, there were cobwebs and dust everywhere, everything in a state of disuse he wasn't used to. That shouldn't have been possible.

"I hope these dwarves are better at forging than they are at cleaning," Rocket commented, if just for something to say in the darkness, but it was as though every hall and every step was littered with junk, "Maybe they realized they live in a junk pile in the middle of space."

"The forge hasn't gone dark in centuries."

"You said Thanos had a gauntlet, right?" Rocket suddenly called.

"Yes. Why?"

"Did it look anything like that?"

Thor looked over where Rocket was shining his light, to see what appeared to be a model of Thanos's gauntlet...and he felt his heart plummet. The only reason something like that would be here was if it had been created there. And with that realization came a horrified notion of exactly what must have happened to the other Dwarves, the same thing that had happened to his own people.

"I am Groot..." Groot spoke, voicing the exact same thought that Thor just had.

"Get back to the pod," Thor turned to command them, intending to search the rest of the forge for anyone who might still be there. When, out of nowhere, there was a sound of thumping, before the group was attacked by a large mass. Thor managed to catch a glimpse of the attacker in the light of Rocket's flashlight, realizing exactly who it was. The Dwarf King himself, "Eitri, wait! Stop!"

The Dwarf seemed to recognize his voice, for he stilled in his attack and turned to face him, staring at Thor as though he couldn't believe what he was seeing, "Thor?"

"What happened here?"

"You were supposed to protect us!" Eitri raged at him, accusation heavy in his voice, "Asgard was supposed to protect us!"

Thor swallowed hard, "Asgard is destroyed," he stepped closer to the Dwarf, glancing at the model of the gauntlet sitting on a pedestal and back, "Eitri, what did you do?"

Eitri let out a sobbing breath as he staggered over to a wall and fell down against it, slumping over as he moved to the floor, completely broken down and disheartened, full of shame and guilt and heartbreak, "300 dwarves lived on this ring," he began to recount, "I thought if I did what he asked, they'd be safe. I made what he wanted. A device capable of harnessing the power of the stones. And he killed everyone anyway. All except me. 'Your life is yours,' he said. 'But your hands...your hands are mine alone.'"

Thor looked down at where Eitri had moved his arms to reveal stumps where his hands had been. Clearly Thanos had wanted to make certain that the Dwarves would not be able to craft any weapons that could stop him.

But there was something that Thanos had overlooked. Anyone can make a weapon, with the proper instruction. It was the mind itself that was the true danger, and in leaving Eitri alive, Thanos had signed his own doom.

"Eitri, this isn't about your hands," Thor stepped closer and crouched down so he was eye level with the Dwarf, "Every weapon you've ever designed, every axe, hammer, sword, it's all inside your head. Now I know it feels like all hope is lost. Trust me, I know. But together, you and I, we can kill Thanos."

~8~

Athena never thought she would be standing here again. It never factored into her plans, even when she thought she might one day return to Earth, to have to go here. And there she was, breaking the second part of the oath she had made.

The Pantheon in Rome, it had first been built as a temple to worship all the gods, all of the deities, a small section of it having been dedicated to her though she had been called Minerva here.

And there she was, she had gone to Greece and Rome, both places she was never to return to. All those years ago she never thought she would have a reason to return to either of them let alone both. Even during the days she thought she'd come back for her sword, she hadn't thought there would be a reason to come back to the Pantheon.

It was hard for her to stand there in the middle of it, the light of the sun shining down on her as it rose. Even after so long she could still feel the energy and magic of her family there. No matter how much the structure changed, no matter the new religions that took over, it had first and foremost been a place dedicated to her family. They had infused a blessing on the place, each of them adding a bit of magic to it...and that was what she needed now.

She really hoped her family would forgive her for taking their blessings away, but she couldn't pray to them and ask for the real thing now.

She looked around the room, noting the small notches where specific members of her family had once been represented.

"I call upon Morpheus," she began to intone, "God of dreams and reality. Zeus, King of the Gods, most powerful of us all. Hades, god of the dead and guardian of departed souls. Aether, god of space and the heavens. Cronos, god of time and founder of our line. And myself," her voice weakened on the last one, "Goddess of wisdom and the mind," she took a deep breath, watching as each alcove that held the particular god's blessing began to glow. Ironically, they matched the Infinity Stones in terms of color, "I beg of you, please, for the sake of all life, grant me your blessing."

She wrapped the rag around her right hand and pulled her sword out of the sheath, holding it above her head. A moment later it lifted out of her grip and into the air, beams of light shining out from the alcoves to be absorbed by the sword. She let her hand fall back down to her side as she watched it begin to glow.

It was...a risk. Gaining these blessings from her particular family members, given the realms their reigned over, it might gain an advantage against Thanos, maybe against the Infinity Stones. They would never be as powerful as the stones, even if the blessings were fresh. These blessings were centuries old.

But it might be enough to neutralize an attack from the stones long enough for her to land a blow to the titan...she would just have to make sure it was a killing blow.

A moment later the glowing began to fade and the sword started to fall.

Athena leapt forward, reaching out with her hand to grab it, not even realizing that she'd dropped the rag in her haste. The moment her hand touched the hilt, she fell to her knees, biting her lip to keep from screaming as a pain shot up her arm, nearly overwhelming her. She hadn't touched this blade in so long, she'd almost forgotten the power it took to control it.

A few minutes went by though it felt like a torture lasting hours, before she was able to push past it, her entire body trembling from the onslaught. She swallowed hard and forced the blade back into her sheath, nearly slumping forward at the relief of it. When something caught her attention...her right palm, where she'd held the sword, was speckled with small grey splotches now. She swallowed again, for a different reason, and curled her hand into a fist, closing her eyes.

She whimpered, feeling like she just wanted to curl in on herself, for a split moment wanting to give up and just...stop. For a single moment she couldn't help but think about Thor, and wonder why exactly she kept going when he wasn't there anymore. She knew she didn't have it in her to just give up, not for anything or anyone, she had the heart and the mind and the spirit of a warrior. She had sprung from her father's head dressed in armor with a weapon in her hand, she had literally been born to battle, and that would never change. But touching that sword...it took so much out of her. For just the briefest moment she wished she wasn't a warrior, she wished she could just lay down, and stop, that she could just be with Thor one more time. She was just so tired, and hurt, and she missed him so much.

She punched her fist against the floor of the Pantheon, shaking her head at her own thoughts. Thor would never have wanted that. Thor would have wanted her to keep fighting, to keep strong, he would never want her to give up. She had to keep reminding herself of that, the same as she would never want Thor to give up either. His people were still out there, lost and afraid, and Thanos was a threat not just to them. Too many lives rested on this for her to give up now.

So she pushed herself to her feet and made herself walk out of the Pantheon and back the quinjet, ready to punch in the final destination that had been pre-programmed, for Wakanda.

A/N: My heart broke through this entire chapter :( The guilt Athena felt in having to face that part of her past that was anticipating betraying her family, then Thor having that moment with Rocket, and Athena just being tortured by the raw power of her old sword :'( And the guilt, to have forethought in a sense of actually thinking of a way to use her family's oath and attempt to pull themselves out against them and plot to destroy them by hiding her sword, that's gotta be gut-wrenching :'(

I feel like that was something Athena would have thought of, a weapon is needed, but it had to be able to withstand the Stones. So she thought out of the box, turning to her family for help, but in a way that kept them from having to learn the oaths she was breaking. I felt like the Pantheon, being a temple for ALL the gods, would be something they'd all have something to do with. It's not everyday something like that was built so they'd want to sort of offer it a blessing. Athena had to transfer that magic into her sword to protect it from the Stones, or at least give her a chance to get close enough :(

But on a lighter note, we'll get some reactions to this 'powerful weapon' she went to collect in the next chapter ;)

I know Cronos is technically a titan and was taken down before the gods took over, but I figure they left some sort of magic behind that their kids could use to offer blessings even from them ;)

Poor Thor and Athena though :( This chapter was hard to write :'(

No real notes on reviews here, I don't want to give too much away ;)

But one thing that I'm feeling quite proud of...I've reached another million words archived :D With this chapter, I am now over 11 million words! :D