Awakening

Do I need to repeat myself?

This chapter is dedicated to Marie1000, who was the second person to guess right! :)

"Did you see this coming?" Vitam asked as she rounded on her Sister who simply smirked.

"Whatever gave you that impression?" Infinitas asked lightly as she tilted her head and Mortem rolled his eyes.

"You're the Immortal of Time; of course you saw this coming." Mortem drawled as he slipped Penny farther into his arms.

Infinitas didn't reply, leaving her siblings to believe that she them all believe what they wished. She looked over at the three mortals still awake and nodded to Thor, who returned the gesture with a respectful smile.

She glanced over at Tony but his eyes were mostly on his daughter (and the bird on her chest), though his gaze did flicker to Infinitas and Vitam every few moments, being the two unknowns in front of him.

"Should I call for Memoria?" Insania asked with a tilted head, her eyes wide and a knowing grin on her face.

Infinitas shook her head and spoke as if the balance of the world rested on her words, and as far as she knew…it did.

"I have already sent for her," Infinitas stated causing Mortem and Insania to share a knowing look. "But I believe that it would be for the best if we only altered the memories of those unconscious."

"Wait," Mortem interrupted in surprise, as he studied the Elder Immortal closely. "Are you telling me that you're going to let E're's mortal father, the one known as Hulk and Thor all remember?!"

While Mortem wasn't against this idea, he was just extremely surprised that Infinitas was approving, and even suggesting this action. Vitam raised her eyebrow at Mortem's use of Aequivalere's nickname, and shot him a look at he ignored while Infinitas simply smirked.

"Thor already knows us," Insania reasoned bringing everyone's thoughts back to the present, her voice solid and consistent for once. "And in her current state…support from those around her are is invaluable."

Vitam raised her eyebrow again at Insania's words but nodded non the less, knowing that her Sister was right.

"I don't disagree." Mortem shrugged as he ran his fingers through his Bonded's hair. The Asgardians had done nothing but help the Immortals in their Existence, look at Hel! Countless Asgardians in this world and others were Adiutores, and one of the few other races that the Immortals actually interacted with.

"However," Mortem continued after a moment and Thor's eyes flickered to him, though he remained silent, knowing his place. "Is it really necessary for the Mortals to remember? I have nothing against either of them, I don't believe that it would be…in their best interests if they don't. Mortal's don't have the best track record with mentally handling our existence."

Insania and Vitam chuckled while Infinitas just looked at her brother sternly.

"It is in her best interest, like Insania said." Infinitas' tone had hardened, and her eyes had turned to ice. Mortem shivered and gripped E're tighter to his chest. "The repercussions otherwise would be extremely, unpleasant."

Tony had absolutely no idea what was going on, though he knew the four entities (he assumed they were entities from what he knew about Mortem and Insania.) were speaking. He made a note to Jarvis to work on a translator between the races because not being able to hear people speaking right in front of you was really annoying.

Infinitas suddenly turned with Insania and both winked at Tony, causing him to jump and realize that they could most likely hear his thoughts.

He shivered and suddenly he got the strongest urge to go downstairs, go to sleep, and pretend that this was all a dream. But he chased that urge away; Pen mattered too much to him. If he had to deal with a bit of insanity in his life to keep Penny in it, then so be it.

Insania and Infinitas both hid smiles as they heard Tony's thoughts. Thor's were also along similar lines, though he's were more on topic since he could hear the conversation. Bruce's thoughts were more scattered than normal, and he was struggling to understand what was going on, while explaining it to Hulk, which was the hardest to do.

Though to be honest, Bruce was actually playing up the part of being mentally overwhelmed, because while he was, he was also paying close attention to what was going on. He wanted answers of course, but he had already figured out that the cloaked figure was Pen and that no, she wasn't dead. Obviously, to him anyway, Tony had some idea about what was going on, though Thor was the most clued in. Both he and Hulk both agreed on one thing, they hoped that the figures before them weren't enemies; as they weren't confident that they would survive against such powerful beings.

Mortem had to stop himself from snickering from Bruce's thoughts, and realized that letting the three men in on the secret was a good thing. While usually all information regarding Immortals were forbidden to the majority of Mortals, Aequivalere usually got away with it because she was Balance, and therefore could decide whether or not it was allowed. Using that loophole, Mortem and Infinitas also used that to their advantage the few times that they had to step in to help their little Sister.

Mortem glanced up, realizing that the other three in the conversation, and one listener, were all waiting on his response. He nodded simply before glancing back down at the redhead in his lap.

"You're right Sister, as usual. It would be good for her to have people to talk to when we're not around."

Mortem wasn't naive, he had been around more eons, and had been Bonded with E're for millennia. Because of his Duties, he wasn't able to be at his Bonded's side constantly; and if this break was anything like the previous one…then Penny would need someone at her side, wither she knew it or not.

Fawkes trilled quietly as he finished singing, the phoenix glanced up at Mortem and blinked once before jumping up and perching on the Death Immortal's shoulder.

As soon as Fawkes moved, golden mist appeared on the ground and another Immortal appeared. She had midnight blue hair with golden highlights that shined like stars. Her age was impossible to tell, like the majority of her Siblings, though from the look in her eyes, she seemed to be older than Insania and E're, the ancient power rolling off of her also helped with that deduction.

Memoria, the Immortal of Memories had been around almost as long as Infinitas, though she only appeared once there were other sentient beings with the ability to remember things. She, however, remembers everything that has happened, in every world. Her Realm is very close to Infinitas', while she is only knowledgeable about events that have already taken place.

"Memoria," All four Immortals nodded to their Sister in greeting, while Thor and Tony shifted slightly. Tony was unnerved with the appearance of another entity, while Thor was struggling against his instincts to introduce himself and greet the Immortal. He knew better than to speak though, thankfully.

"Infinitas, Mortem, Vitam…Chaos." Memoria greeted each of them in turn with a nod, though the pause before Insania's previous name was obvious.

"Insania," The young Immortal corrected, trying to hide her scowl. Memoria nodded in acceptance, though otherwise didn't respond.

"Just the ones unconscious ones, if you would, Sister." Infinitas requested softly as she leaned against her staff.

"Only them?" Memoria asked with a raised eyebrow, her eyes drifting between the awake mortals and Penny's still form.

"Only them." Mortem repeated sternly, confirming what Infinitas had said.

"Though it might be necessary to meddle with some others, I am not aware of exactly what the rest involved have been exposed to." Vitam stated and Memoria looked over at Infinitas in question.

"I believe that if you take care of these three," She said gesturing to the unconscious Avengers, "your work will be done."

"If you say so Sister." Memoria sighed before turning and moving towards the mentioned Mortals.

Tony, who was still extremely uneasy, looked between his fallen team mates and the Immortal quickly.

"Hey, Mortem buddy, mind telling me what's going on?" Tony asked as Thor stepped aside for the Immortal.

"Peace, Man of Iron." Thor stated quickly, not wanting Tony to offend any of the Immortals present. "They shall not harm them."

Mortem and the others chuckled, and Insania's hands finally stopped glowing as she finished all of the repairs she could.

"Don't worry," Mortem said as Memoria laid a glowing hand on each of the aforementioned Avengers foreheads one by one. "Our Sister is just removing the memories retaining to any…sensitive information that could be of harm to Penny."

Tony still seemed slightly unsure but at Insania's nod, he relaxed a bit more.

"We do not harm Mortal's, Anthony," Infinitas said, speaking in English for the first time, causing Mortem and Vitam to jump. They hadn't known that Infinitas could speak English. "Do not take Fati's actions as examples for the rest of us."

"Indeed." Thor and the rest were even more surprised to hear Memoria speaking English. "She is nothing more than a spoilt child, and now everyone in Core knows it!"

Tony nodded at the look of rage on the blue and golden haired Immortal's face. She had seen the broadcast, like everyone else, and was ashamed of the actions of her Sister. Her deeds weren't befitting of an Immortal, and it would be bad for their reputation as Keepers be tarnished.

"So…" Tony said slowly trying to break the ice. "They're not going to just wake up forgetting everything, will they? Cause I know that Rogers and Romanoff have been assholes today…well, I guess…Fati was it? I guess that Fati is to blame for Rogers' actions, and I can't really say about Barton…but still…."

Thor was shocked that Tony was rambling on pointlessly in front of Immortals, but they didn't seem to mind. In fact, they found it…enduring, and much like their Sister.

"Fret not," Memoria stated as she finished with Romanoff, who was the last one. "Memories are quite familiar to me."

Mortem, Thor, Insania and Vitam all chuckled at that while Infinitas just shook her head at her Sister's antics.

Memoria stood as Bruce cautioned a glance up, before looking away again, deciding that it would be best to stay out of it for a bit longer.

"So…are you going to tell us what's going on or are we going to have our memories wiped as well?" Tony asked tensely and Jarvis stiffened in the Mark IV besides him. Tony didn't want anyone messing with his mind, it was his safe haven, the only place he was truly safe. No one was touching it.

Jarvis had already been recording everything, though at times it was hard to get a visual on the beings, he could get thermal images just fine. He had recorded what sound he could, and had all of the energy waves documented. He had already copied and saved the data onto six different hard drives, and two ghost drives, in three different systems. He was prepared for the worst, even if they wiped Tony's memories, it would take someone of Stark caliber to remove the data completely, and even then it would take a while.

"As soon as things are straightened out regarding recent events…Penny and I will explain to you, with Thor's assistance perhaps?" Mortem said, bringing the Asgardian into the conversation for the first time.

"Aye, if you wish me to do so I will." Thor stated with a slight bow and Tony's eyebrow raised, impressed at the amount of formality that Thor was using with the entities on his roof.

Thor hesitated for a moment, but seeing that no one was apposing him, he continued, "What will happen to my brother?"

Vitam glanced down at the sleeping Asgardian/Frostgiant and sighed. "Loki's Soul had been restored, and I have healed the damage that Fati's possession caused. However, your brother is still riddled with many wounds, both physical and mental, that will take time to heal. But he should recover fully, in time."

Thor nodded, looking very relieved, before thanking the Immortals.

Bruce and Tony were both surprised at how quiet Thor had been during this whole interaction, which was vastly different than the previous impression that they had had of him.

"Is she alright?" Tony asked turning the attention back towards Penny as Memoria finished with Barton and nodded goodbye to her Siblings.

Mortem looked pain before he responded softly, "I am unsure…but I hope so."

Tony glanced around at the Immortals, and noticed that Vitam and infinitas seemed to be talking quietly to one another.

"How about we take this inside, my Tower might be trashed, but there has to be one floor with an intact sitting room."

Chuckling to himself, Mortem nodded and stood, Penny in his arms.

Tony climbed to his feet with the help of Jarvis, and he pulled Bruce up with him, who was looking slightly green.

The Jarvis controlled suits all picked up the unconscious Avengers and the group of Immortals and Mortals all moved downstairs, and inside.

Back inside, Tony said the thing that was on the forefront of his mind.

"What's up with the flaming chicken anyway?"

Fawkes squawked in protest, he wasn't a flaming chicken! Why did everyone insist on calling him that?!

Hope you liked it, don't know if I'll be able to update again this weekend, be glad for this chapter as I'm currently at ComicCon and am surprised I got the time to write.

Have to go before Sparrow gets any more mad at me for staying up!
Cp