Chapter 19

The winds were picking up, blowing dust up from the ground, cascading the atmosphere like particles on steroids. The sky couldn't be seen and the rustic color surrounding Darcy, Jane, Sif, Hikesh, and Loki seeped into the distance as they made their way to a nearby cave. Entering the cave, the group all momentarily glanced, or in Loki and Sif's case, glared at each other. The cave was dark, small shadows bouncing across the wall from the dust storm outside. It was dry and lacking dampness found in most cave formations.

The group sat against the walls of the cave, their faces written with resignation. They had failed.

"So..." Darcy said, awkwardly. "That didn't work out to well."

"You don't say." Sif replied sarcastically, and then glared angrily at Loki. "So, what's the plan now, Loki?"

Loki's eyes narrowed at Sif. "Don't give me attitude. The power of the Aether works in ways even the wisest chroniclers of Asgard have yet to discover."

"Yet, your plan was to try and destroy it." Darcy said, glaring at Loki. "Where did that get us, exactly?"

"It looks like you are outweighed here, Loki." Hikesh chimed in, smirking. His eyes were still glazed over with red. "Seem familiar?"

Loki barred his teeth, and then resigned himself to silence. Hikesh smirked in satistfaction, before he felt a sharp jab of pain in his gut. Gripping his stomach, Hikesh growled and slowly slid against the wall, using his other arm to support himself. Darcy instinctively sat up.

"Are you okay?" She asked, worried.

"I am fine. I am physically stronger than you humans, so I can withstand the power feed better than you. I may be able to control it without risking my life." Hikesh said.

"Yes, concerning that." Sif asked. "How did you obtain the Aether? We all saw Malekith take it for himself. He even used it on Darcy..."

"I can still feel that..." Darcy cringed.

"... and subdued her with ease."

"I am not sure." Hikesh said, shrugging. "When I attacked Malekith, I must have disrupted the bonding process. Since both Malekith and I were equal in strength and power, the Aether probably could not decide which one of us it should take as a host. So, it made a compromise."

"You make the Aether sound like its alive." Darcy murmured, briefly glancing at Mjolnir. "Sounds familiar..."

"Don't get me wrong, the power is incredible. Gives me an advantage." Hikesh explained. "But I am not to fond of having a cosmic force running through my veins, taking advantage of my life force energies. If I ever get a chance at ridding myself of it, I will not hesitate."

"But you're alright?" Loki asked, although his voice was filled with more curiosity than concern. "No weakness, exhaustion, nothing?"

"I can feel the strain, yes." Hikesh said. "But other than that there were no problems. Except one."

"What?" Darcy asked.

"When I was joining with the Aether, I experienced Malekith's thoughts." Hikesh said, grimly. "He is planning something. He's going to do something with the Aether. I think he originally planned on unleashing it, causing some major destruction. But now... he's planning something else... something worse."

"What? Where?" Sif pressed desperately.

"Earth."

Everyone turned towards Jane, who had been silent the entire time, and was now sitting in a corner. She had also seen Malekith's thoughts, and spent the entire time trying to decipher what she had learned.

"He's going to Earth. When the Aether was still in me, I kept seeing these visions. I think they were Malekith's, from when he last had the Aether. I saw him going to Earth."

"Midgard?" Loki said, lifting an eyebrow. "What would he want on that miserable rock? There is nothing there worth taking. I should know."

"Ignoring that comment," Darcy said, glaring at Loki. "why would he go to Earth?"

"The Convergence." Sif supplied, her expression grim. "Like Odin said, during the previous one, Malekith tried using the Aether's full power to annihilate all of the Nine Realms, believing he could reshape them the way he wanted. From Earth, the Convergence will be at its highest, and Malekith will be able to use the Aether with its effects compounded exponentially as it passes from one world to the next. With all of the Nine Realms linked together, the Convergence is perfect for Malekith's desire."

"Then we have to stop him!" Darcy declared, jumping up with fiery determination.

"And how exactly do you intend for us to do that?" Loki said sarcastically. "In case you didn't realize, we are stranded here and the Bifrost is one again in a state of disrepair."

"Oh..." Darcy said, slumping back down dejectedly. Then, suddenly, she stood up, and closed her eyes, putting her hands together as if praying. To everyone's confusion, she started clacking her heals together.

"What are you doing?" Loki asked, looking at the girl as though she were crazy.

"Trying to get us home!" Darcy said as though the answer were obvious.

"Get us-Are you serious?!" Jane yelled, a vein appearing on her forehead. "Stop that!"

Darcy stopped, and sat back down, huffing. "Can't blame a girl for trying."

Not understanding the reference, Sif turned to Loki. "Don't you know of any other pathways, Loki? One that could get us to Midgard?"

Loki closed his eyes in contemplation, eventually opening them and sighing. "The closest passage between worlds I know of is the one that got us here, but that is miles away. With our transport swept up in the dust storm, Malekith will have already completed his plan, and there will be no point."

"Then Malekith has already won." Sif said in defeat. She to collapsed to the ground in despair. "The realms are doomed."

"Destroying the realms may not be what Malekith seeks to accomplish." Hikesh spoke up. Everyone, except for Jane, all looked at him on confusion.

"What are you talking about?" Sif asked, frowning. "Annihilation of the realms has been the Dark Elves plan for eons."

"As Dr. Foster mentioned before, when she saw Malekith's thoughts, she saw glimpses of what he was planning. He was on Earth, but he wasn't destroying it." Hikesh said.

"Right." Jane said, nodding. "He was using the Aether to do something with the Convergence. It was like he was changing it. For a minute, everything was dark, and then I saw that ship, the one he was flying back there. It flew over the Earth, and then, suddenly, there were more of them. Like thousands, maybe millions."

"Then it is as I feared." Hikesh said.

"What? What's going on?" Darcy asked.

"There were some traces of Malekith's thoughts that were different than the rest." Hikesh explained. "It was like they were not his own. He was being controlled."

"Controlled? By who?" Loki asked.

"Nazara."

"Who?"

"Nazara. The Reaper."

"What, the ship?" Darcy said, blinking in confusion. "How is that..."

"The Reapers possess the ability to influence the minds of organics. The one we saw before is using Malekith as a pawn to fulfill its own needs."

"This again?" Sif said, a little exasperated. "Hikesh, forgive me if I'm being rude, but even if that sh..."

"Do not question my theories, Sif!" Hikesh roared, catching Sif off guard. "I spent most of my life battling those abominations. I know how they work. Malekith is being indoctrinated, and the Aether is in Reaper hands. That can only spell certain doom for us all."

"Hikesh." Darcy said, sternly yet gently. "Calm down. We'll get out of this. Whatever is really going on, we'll stop it."

"How?" Sif said, casting a glare in Hikesh's direction. "We are stuck here. Any chance we have of getting out of this wasteland are slim."

"Oh, god..." Jane uttered, distraught. She shook her head. "This is all my fault. If I hadn't found the Aether, none of this would have happened. Odin would be alive, and we would all be home, safe and sound."

A hand was put on Jane's shoulder, and she looked up to see Hikesh, whose face as now warm. "Do not blame yourself, Jane. If you hadn't found it, Malekith would have only happened upon it sooner."

"Yeah, don't beat yourself up." Darcy said. "We all make mistakes sometime. I know I have."

Jane couldn't help but laugh. "Thanks, guys."

Before anyone else could add to the conversation, an annoying jingle filled the air, echoing off the walls of the cave. The group abrubtly looked around in confusion. It was not a noise that was heard on Asgard. Loki could only call it annoying.

"What in Odin's beard...?" Sif said, perplexed.

"Is that a... phone?" Darcy said, blinking.

Realization hit Jane and she suddenly began rummaging through her pockets until she brought out her cell phone. She quickly answered it.

"Hello?"

"Hi, Jane. It's Richard."

"Richard!?" Jane said, shocked. "Where are you!?"

Hikesh blinked, and looked over at Darcy. "Richard?"

"Jane's new beau." Darcy added.

Sif and Loki just stood in bewilderment as Jane put Richard on speaker, and she stood up, holding her phone in the air as she walked around.

"Oh, my god." Jane said, astonishingly. "This is amazing!"

"Is it?" Richard's voice said on the other end. "I quite enjoyed our lunch despite never ordering anything. Your assistant kind of blew our date."

"Sorry about that!" Darcy called.

"Oh, she's there with you?" Richard said. "Are you guys busy, I can call back later if-"

"NO!" Jane yelled, stilling her movements. "Please, whatever you do, do NOT hang up the phone!"

"Um. Okay. Sure." Richard said slowly. "I was just wondering if you wanted to try again? Maybe dinner next time?"

"Yeah, of course!" Jane said, smiling. "But, could it wait till later? I'm kind of in a situation here..."

"How are you getting reception here?" Hikesh questioned curiously as he and the others followed Jane deeper into the cave.

"Who was that?" Richard asked on the other end.

"Oh, um, t-that was just my..." Jane paused. "My uncle. He just flew in from... somewhere and is staying with me for a while."

"Oh, well alright." Richard said. The group walked further into the cave, where the light from outside was nonexistent and darkness filled the cavern.

"Darcy." Loki said in the dark.

"Yeah?"

"You are crushing my hand..."

"Huh?" Darcy said, but then realized she was actually holding Loki's hand. "Oh! Sorry about that."

"Yes, well, you can apologize once the feeling in my fingers has returned..."

"Where are we? I can't see a thing..." Sif wondered.

"Jane, are you having a party or something?" Richard asked.

"No." Jane said, shining the light from the phone in front of her so she could get a better look.

"Here, maybe I can help." Hikesh said. The cavern was suddenly filled with a red light as Hikesh's dark energy aura, which was now red from the energy from the Aether, illuminated it. The group all blinked when they saw they were no longer in a rocky cave, but a narrow tunnel with a large doorway on the end.

"Okay..." Darcy said. "That's not creepy."

"Jane? Jane, are you there? I-" Richard was cut off as Jane hang up, looking at the passage with weary eyes.

"Let's go." Sif said, breaking the silence as she walked forward.

Darcy blinked. "Wait, what?! Are you serious? We don't know what's down there!"

"Given what we've been through, I will take my chances." Sif countered. "You can either stay here or follow me."

"I'm coming." Hikesh said, following Sif.

"I've got nowhere else to go." Loki shrugged.

Darcy and Jane glanced at each other, before sighing and following.

Stopping at the door, Hikesh frowned as he studied the architecture. After a few moments, his eyes went wide with shock and he backed away a few feet.

Sif looked at him curiously. "What is it?"

"T-This..." Hikesh stuttered, trying to form the words. "The architecture. It's Prothean!"

Gaping in shock, Sif said, "What? You're sure?"

"I have never been more sure in all my life." Hikesh said, and then started feeling around. "There must be a panel or something that should-Ah, here!"

There was a whir of machinery as the door suddenly opened, revealing what looked like an elevator. Blinking in surprise, the group followed Hikesh inside. Once everyone was in, the doors suddenly closed by themselves, and started descending deep into the underground. It was moving slow but steadily.

A few minutes later, the elevator stopped and opened up. The group all walked out of it, and found they were once again in a dark room.

"Am I the only one who asks for lights around here?!" Darcy said incredulously. Then, as if in response to her statement, the room was illuminated with bright green lights. They were in a rather large room, packed with pieces of advanced machinery. They all wondered around in astonishment, gazing up at the pieces of technology. They were dark and sleek in appearance, with various green lights dotting them.

"The technology of my people..." Hikesh muttered. "How is this possible?"

"How could Heimdall not have seen this place?" Sif said, shocked.

Loki himself was shocked, but did not show. In fact, he was a little disapointed in himself for not finding this place sooner. The question was, what was this place.

"Uh, Hikesh." Darcy spoke up. "What is that?"

The group all turned to what Darcy was pointing at, and gaped. There, at the edge of the room, was a little hologram of an undefinable shape. It was green and buzzing around with static. The group approached it, and they all glanced at each other. Then, Darcy bravely stepped foward, and reached out to touch it.

Suddenly, the hologram sprung to life, and Darcy jumped back with a yelp as it zoomed about the room. It hovered above the group, a green light falling over each of them.

"Prothean life sign detected. Identity match confirmed." A mystical, feminine voice said, originating from the hologram. "Welcome, Xegh Hikesh."

Bet none of you were expecting that. From here, things are gonna get a little crazier. And for those of you who haven't figured it out already, this fic is somewhat of a loose crossover with Mass Effect, considering the presence of a Prothean and now, a Reaper. Hold your complaints or flames, cuz everything will finally be explained in the next chapter.

So who saw Captain America: The Winter Soldier? I loved it! It makes me wonder what Age of Ultron will turn out like. Don't worry. I'm not gonna spoil it. Thanks for reading :)