Chapter 8

As the motley crew was warped from Earth via Bifrost and across the cosmos, a wave of emotions hit each and every one of them. Sif felt nothing but the familiarity of natural Asgardian travel. The rush of it all was exhilarating as always. Darcy had felt this before, but only once. It was absolutely thrilling, moving at lightspeed, like an amazing roller coaster ride but at greater speed. It was like flying with Mjolnir only faster. Jane was mesmerized by the steams of colorful light that flew past her, just like in Space Odyssey. Hikesh, on the other hand, felt like he was reliving something from his past. It brought back memories of something he had lost so many centuries ago.

However, all of these feelings soon came to a halt as the bridge seeped them into a new realm.

The group all lurched forward as they were abruptly forced into the polished floor of Heimdall's Observatory. Darcy and Jane all looked around, adreneline pulsing through their bodies as they admired the sights around them.

"Oh my god." Jane said with a smile, she looked over at Darcy. "Is this...?"

"Asgard? Yup!" Darcy said giddily. "It's cool huh?"

"So cool." Jane said. "We have to do that again."

Jane abrubly stopped, staring at the center of the room where Heimdall stood atop his pedestal, holding his large sword. He gave her a warm smile.

"Hi..." Jane said, feeling slightly intimidated by the god of sight's leer.

"Welcome to Asgard." Heimdall greeted kindly.

Before Jane could say something back, Darcy stepped forward. "Hi, there. Heimdall, right?"

Heimdall nodded. "Yes. It's good to see you again, Darcy Lewis. It seems you are more drawn to Asgard then we realized. And I see you brought someone else with you..."

Darcy and Jane blinked, and then turned back to Hikesh, who was standing in the open entryway, staring in awe at the city in the distance. The architecture of it all, it had changed. Had it really been so long. Looking down, Hikesh knelt down and rested his hand gently against the Bifrost, which was pulsing with energy. He reached out with his senses, recognizing several signatures that stepped there so many eons ago. He nearly cried.

Darcy and Jane looked at the Prothean with worry, while Heimdall glanced at Sif with a sad gaze. Sif gulped and looked away.

ooooo

Darcy, Hikesh, and Sif all watched as Jane laid still on a table with several Asgardian physicians tended to her. Jane looked in awe at the various gravings and gold decorating the interior of the Asgardian structure. As she was admiring the architecture, she blinked when golden patterns materialized above her. The beautiful holograms changed above her, and the physicians looked at it with worry.

"What's that?" Jane questioned.

"Be still." The head physician, an Asgardian maiden, said, and Jane did what she was told.

As the physicians tended to Jane, Darcy glanced at Sif. "Your people have doctors?"

"That is not what we call them." Sif said. "But yes. Does that surprise you?"

"Well, kind of." Darcy shrugged. "I mean, you guys are stronger than average humans, and you were worshipped as gods."

"Despite what your history may say, we are not immortal, Darcy." Sif explained. "We bleed, die, and are assailed by infections just as you are. Just to a lesser extent."

Hikesh gave a scoff, and Sif cast a brief glare to him, before looking back at Jane. "What exactly happened to her?"

"We were just investigating the Convergence, when she vanished." Hikesh explained. "Five hours later, she turned back up, and was different. Her physiology had been corrupted by something not of Earth."

"What was it?" Darcy asked.

Hikesh's face turned grim. "It is something my people studied long ago. All I can say, is if it not removed from Jane Foster's body, the large amounts of energy surging through her would be fatal."

Darcy gulped, and cast a worried look at her best friend. Sif looked equally concerned. A horrible fate to befall a mortal. The head physician studied the holographic portrayal of Jane's body, and frowned when a strange, red something outlined her heart.

Noticing her frown, Sif stepped forward. "Eir? You found something?"

"Yes. It is not of Earth, but it has bonded with her." Eir said. "I do not know what it is..."

"Wait, Eir?" Jane said from the table. "As in the goddess of help and mercy?"

Eir smiled at Jane. "That is merely a title created by your ancestors. But yes, I am Eir."

"Cool." Jane said. "So, this thing... is there any way you can get it out of me?"

Eir frowned, glancing at the hologram again. "We will do what we can. But the amount of energy this force is creating is replicating quickly."

"Oh..." Jane said, gulping. She lay still on the table, and gazed at the hologram. Her worry was lost for a moment then, and was replaced by her scientific curiousity. "Is that a quantum field generator?"

"It is a soul forge." Eir explained.

"Does a soul forge transfer molecular energy from one place to another?" Jane asked. Eir looked down at her in surprise, clearly impressed with the girl's intelligence.

"Yes." She said, and then looked at Sif.

Sif shrugged. "The mortals have changed a lot. They were much more advanced when I last saw them."

"Yeah. We're awesome like that." Darcy commented with a smile. Sif just rolled her eyes while Eir looked at her bemusedly. Eir then turned her gaze to Hikesh, and looked at him with mild interest.

"And what are you, if I may ask?"

"Prothean." Hikesh stated simply, his attention focused entirely on Jane as she lay on the table.

"I don't believe I've ever heard of your species before." Eir said. "Tell me, where are you from?"

Hikesh scoffed. "Of course you wouldn't know."

Eir frowned in confusion, while Sif glared at Hikesh, and clenched her fist angrily. Suddenly, the doors to the room burst open, and everyone turned to see a rather displeased looking Odin standing there. With his one eye, he glared at Sif. To guards flanked his sides. There was an awkward silence as Eir and the other physicians backed away. Jane sat up on the table, looking at Odin in confusion. Darcy and Hikesh just looked at him with raised eyebrows, while Sif stood firm, staying still despite the great worry washing over her.

As usual, Darcy was the one to break the silence. She gave the AllFather a smile, and waved. "Sup!"

Sif's eye twitched, and Odin cast Darcy a glare, and she shrunk back, moving behind the table that Jane was on. Odin then turned his gaze back to Sif.

"I see that my words are but mere noises for you to ignore completely, Sif." Odin said.

"AllFather, please. I was merely acting on orders from Heimdall." Sif defended herself.

"I have spoken to Heimdall, Sif." Odin said. "I heard his excuses. But I do not recall him saying that he requested you bring outsiders into our realm. Especially these two." He motioned towards Darcy and Hikesh. "The isolationists of the royal court already dislike Darcy for her actions two years ago, and I told you specifically that you were not to delve into anything related to the Prothean."

"The circumstances were different than expected." Sif said. "Their friend was ill."

"She is mortal." Odin boomed. "Allow her own kind to tend to her."

"Her own kind cannot help her. This is not a mortal affliction." Eir spoke up.

"She does not belong in Asgard any more less than a goat belongs at a banquet table." Odin barked, motioning his words directly at Jane.

"Oh, he got you, Jane!" Darcy said, smirking at Jane. Jane glared at Darcy, and then at Odin.

"Excuse me, but who do you think you are!?" Jane demanded.

"I am Odin." The AllFather announced. "King of Asgard and protector of the Nine Realms."

Jane's mouth immediately closed up, and she paled slightly. Darcy elbowed her, and whispered to her, "He's Loki's dad."

"Oh..." Jane muttered, embarrassed.

"So this is the king of Asgard you spoke so much about, Sif?" Hikesh stated, stepping forward. He looked down at Odin, whom he was at least a foot taller than. Odin glared up at the Prothean, who merely smirked. "I must say I'm a little disappointed."

Odin growled. "Your kind have not stepped foot here for thousands of years, Prothean. The opinions of you and whatever may remain of your people matter no longer."

"Like hell they do." Hikesh growled. "If it weren't for us, you'd have no civilization."

"Still your tongue, ancient one." Odin snapped.

"And why should I? If anything I should be badgering you for your past incompetence." Hikesh sneered.

"I beg your pardo-"

"Darcy told me all about you, Odin." Hikesh explained. "How your actions led to the death of your eldest son, and then Loki's crimes against Earth. In a way, all the disasters that have plagued the humans have been by your hand. And you call yourself protector of the Nine Realms?"

"How dare yo-"

"Oh please. I'm wasting my time talking with you." Hikesh said, waving Odin off. "I doubt you've even revealed to your people the truth."

"What?" Odin said, visibly surprised. "How do you..."

"For someone as old and powerful as you are, your aura radiated even from afar." Hikesh said, smirking.

Darcy blinked. "You read him without even touching him?"

"It's a gift." Hikesh said to Darcy.

Odin, meanwhile, was seething. He immediately turned to the guards. "Guards, get them out of my sight. Take them back to Midgard. Now!"

Immediately, the guards restrained Hikesh and Darcy. The former didn't fight it, he merely looked at Odin with a glare. Darcy complained and kicked at the gaurds, not appreciating being touched. Sif wanted to speak out, but didn't want to incur Odin's wrath. But when one guard reached for Jane, Hikesh's stoic exterior broke, and he pushed the guard away from him and ran towards her.

"Wait, don't..." He yelled, but it was to late. Just as it did to the police in London, Jane's body unleashed the foreign force in a wave of red energy. Everyone in the room was blown back by the force, crashing into walls and tables. Two Asgardian busts were knocked over by the wave and smashed to pieces upon hitting the ground. Jane's body went through brief convulsions when the wave was unleashed from her body, and she fell back against the table, shivering violently. Her face had grown deathly pale.

Grumbling, Hikesh pulled himself up. "... touch her."

Darcy staggered up to her feet. "Jeez, Jane. I'm sure they weren't trying hurt you."

Jane glared at Darcy, still shaking. "I didn't do it on purpose!"

The Asgardian physicians and guards were now standing, and looking at Jane in fear and shock. Sif stood up, and went over to Odin, helping him up to his feet.

"AllFather, are you alright?" Sif asked.

Odin was just looking at Jane, his face etched with white. "Impossible..."

ooooo

"The Aether?" Darcy questioned. She, Hikesh, Jane, and Sif were all gathered around a table, examining an Asgardian book that detailed the alien force known as the Aether, and how it was used to create monumental levels of destruction throughout the realms.

"Yes." Odin said. "It is one of six objects forged long before the universe itself, making their exact origin unclear. While most of these objects appear in the form of stones, the Aether was unique. It appears in the form of a liquid that is ever changing. It was used eons ago by a sinister race called the Dark Elves. Their leader, Malekith, attempted to use it to obliterate the Nine Realms under the misguided belief that he could recreate it in his own image. But the Aether only causes destruction. Nothing more."

"I know of the Dark Elves." Hikesh said, examining a picture of a Dark Elf sorcerer displayed in the book. "They were one of the many primitive races that my people studied in my cycle, mainly by the Asgard science group. They were a tribal race who followed a shamanistic religion. We attempted to uplift them due to their intellectual potential, but their devotion to their customs made that impossible."

Odin couldn't help but glare at the Prothean's knowledge of the Nine Realms. "You would be correct. The Dark Elves did indeed follow a separate religion. It was this religion that led them to waging war with us many years ago."

"What happened to this Malekith guy?" Darcy asked, curious.

"He was defeated in a war against my father, Bor." Odin said. "He disappeared shortly after a great battle on the Dark Elf homeworld, Svartalfheim. While the rest of his kind died out after the war, Malekith was never accounted for."

"Do you think he still lives?" Sif queried.

Odin cast Sif a warning glance. "The Dark Elves are extinct. Their light died out long ago. The Aether is all that is left of their religion."

Darcy looked at Hikesh. "What do you know about the Aether?"

Hikesh glanced at Odin and Sif, who both glared at him, not really wanting him to share his knowledge. But there was no one present other than them, so they let it slide.

"The Aether is similar to the Tesseract. It is an object of unlimited potential, but it cannot be controlled." The Prothean said. "It is almost like a living entity. It can change regular matter into dark energy and seeks out the body of a living host. When bonded with the Aether, the host is granted powerful cosmic abilities, ranging from enhanced strength to molecular manipulation. But there is a cost. The longer the Aether remains bonded to the host, the more life energy the Aether draws from them, in time killing them."

The group all looked at Jane, whose face had gone pale with fear at Hikesh's words. "I-Is there anyway to get it out of me?"

Hikesh sighed. "In my cycle, we developed technologies that could tear the Aether out of its host. But I doubt anything like that remains today."

"Well that's comforting." Darcy said, frowning. Jane shivered, suddenly feeling cold.

Sif face Odin. "Does the book say anything that could help?"

Odin looked down at the book, and then looked up at Jane sadly. He sighed. "No. It does not."

ooooo

On the bridge of the dark, arthropodial-like ship, Malekith sat in a chair, hand on chin. The ship seemed to be whispering silently, and Malekith's glowing blue eyes stared intently at the void of space that lay outside the viewing port before him. The whispers suddenly stopped, when Algrim entered the room.

He bowed to Malekith. "The Aether has been moved. It is now on Asgard."

"I know." Malekith said.

"Our brothers await your command." Algrim said.

Malekith stood, and faced Algrim with his hands folded behind his back. "Nazara has formulated a plan. He is not invincible, especially against the full force of Asgard's warriors. That's where you come in. You will infiltrate the great superstructure, and unleash the wretches that are imprisoned there. In the ensuing chaos, we will descend upon Asgard and take the Aether form its host. After that, we will wait for the Convergence to reach its peak, and Nazara's ilk will return."

Algrim nodded. "I am honored to do whatever it takes to avenge our race."

"An honor that would be equally as honored by our kin." Malekith said with pride towards his oldest friend. The ship seemed to rumble darkly, and Malekith's ears perked up. He smiled. "We are nearly there."

Algrim nodded. "I am ready."

Happy New Year everyone! I just got done with this chapter yesterday, but decided to post it today just for kicks. Hope you all enjoyed this, and have a good 2014. Review pleaz.