Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. Only the original characters and plot are the property of this author. This author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media or franchise that is depicted within this story. No copyright infringement is intended, as there will be no profit made from this story by its author. The only places that this author has personally posted this story are on Archive of Our Own, and on Fanfiction*net; anywhere else that this story appears, is a duplicate created by parties unknown and without the express permission of the author of this story.
Author's Note: I would like to thank the people on my own Discord Server, as well as on the Emerald Library Discord Server for their help in making my fanfiction stories, regardless of their fandoms, become a reality.
※ Will Wonders Never Cease ※
※ Ch. 01: I Will Not Bow ※
A beautiful woman with long black hair and brilliant green eyes stood in the mountains, watching as a large and highly classified government facility literally imploded and began sinking into the ground. "So it seems they really were stupid enough to mess around with an Infinity Stone."
This woman's name was Haven Potter, and she had the dubious honor of being the Mistress of Death. It was dubious because no one ever really controlled Death, rather, Death favored certain people, and in Haven's case, that favor simply meant she was the one who ultimately had to deal with situations that were beyond the abilities of almost every other spellcaster on the planet, save perhaps for the Sorcerer Supreme.
Turning her attention to the vehicles that had escaped from the collapsing installation, Haven wondered which of them contained the Infinity Stone, as it was her task to secure it and possibly even destroy it. Knowing that directly attacking a group of compromised S.H.I.E.L.D. operatives would be difficult even for her, Haven did the only thing she could do and turned on her heel, Disapparating from the mountainside so that she could discuss the matter with one of another favored individual.
※※※※※※
"Hello, Wade." a beautiful woman said as she entered the bar in which the Merc with a Mouth was currently drowning himself in maple syrup covered pancakes. And by 'drowning himself' what was actually meant is that the pancakes were somehow being shoved through his mask without any damage being done to the offending article of clothing, and presumably appearing inside his stomach.
"Oh, if it isn't Mon Petite Mort!" Wade Wilson exclaimed.
Haven frowned at the vulgar term of endearment, and said, "I wish you would find another term of endearment for me."
Wade turned to look at her and said, "It's not my fault you look just like Her, the only difference is that you are much younger and far more innocent."
Haven was now scowling, because she was more than aware of who he was comparing her to, and it wasn't the Norse goddess of Death, even if there was just as much resemblance on that front as there was between Haven and Mistress Death. "Anyways, what can you tell me about S.H.I.E.L.D.?"
"Oh, this and that." Wade mused. "What is it you want to know?"
"Why are they interested in the Infinity Stones?" Haven inquired.
"They aren't interested in the Infinity Stones, mostly because they don't know that their precious Tesseract happens to be the Space Stone. But you didn't hear that from me."
"I suppose I need to go and warn Yao, then, cause there is simply no way she is ready to have this big of a target painted on our small blue planet." Haven remarked as she started walking out of the bar.
Wade Wilson, otherwise known as Deadpool, looked at the screen and said, "Who the fuck is Yao?"
※※※※※※
Haven wasn't wrong when she said that Yao, otherwise known as the Ancient One, was not at all prepared for the presence of three Infinity Gems on their precious planet. She had of course seen a future in which Thanos would come to Earth, but she hadn't anticipated that it would be the one they were now faced with. That was the problem with the Time Stone, it only ever revealed the potential paths along which the future could unfold, but actually determining which would become reality was almost impossible, unless one actively manipulates the chain of events in order to ensure a specific outcome.
As such, Yao had now begun the process of buffering the magical defenses that surrounded the planet, even if they both knew it would do very little good if the Mad Titan managed to secure the Space and Reality Stones. As such, it was now Haven's goal to secure the Space Stone, as well as finding a place to hide the object where the Mad Titan can never find it, especially as Yao had informed her it would take the combined power of all six stones to destroy even just one of them.
To this end, Haven Apparated clear across the world, where she materialized in a small plaza outside a major reception hall located within the German city of Stuttgart. She was forced to watch in slight annoyance as the occupants of that reception hall came storming out like a stampede, several of them being trampled by the people behind them, while a man in green and gold armor followed on their heels at a much more sedate speed.
As he was crossing the road, this man fired a bolt of energy from his ornate staff that would have impacted a speeding vehicle, if Haven had not reacted quickly enough to erect a shield around the vehicle, saving it from any harm. This of course drew the man's attention to her, and she smirked at him, as duplicates of his form appeared in various locations as he called out, "Kneel before me."
"That's not gonna happen," Haven remarked, knowing that while he had issued the same command to the people in the streets, his focus had been on her specifically. Her refusal seemed to infuriate him, as he repeated his command at considerable volume, and while everyone else in the immediate vicinity was quick to do as he commanded, Haven remained on her feet, smirking at the one which was clearly the original.
He ignored her, however, and started monologuing to the assembled civilians, in a way that highlighted his arrogance, culminating in the words, "In the end, you will always kneel."
Much to Haven's surprise, an elderly gentleman stood up and said, "Not to men like you."
The golden asshat smirked at him and said, "There are no men like me."
"There are always men like you." the old man remarked in a show of true courage that made Haven's inner Gryffindor proud.
"Look to your elder, people. Let him be an example…" and as with before, he fired a bolt of energy, only this time, two shields intercepted the bolt, one made of magic, the other made of stars and spangles.
Haven walked up so that she was standing alongside Captain America and before anyone could say anything, incanted the word "Stupefy." while jabbing her wand, the Elder Wand, in Loki's direction.
The golden clad individual didn't even attempt to dodge the bright red bolt of energy, since he assumed it would do him very little harm thanks to his Frost Giant constitution. Unfortunately, he failed to understand the threat that was posed to him by someone wielding the Unbeatable Wand, to say nothing of an individual who could literally be described as an Avenging Angel. As such, the conflict was over before it truly began.
Steve Rogers pouted at her and said, "I had this whole speech planned out and now I can't deliver it."
"Villains monologue, heroes get the job done as quickly and efficiently as possible." Haven remarked as she walked over to Loki and picked up the staff. Of course, she wasn't at all surprised when the world began to melt away, only to be replaced by a vast empty expanse, save for the throne on which sat a large purple-skinned mountain of a man.
※※※※※※
Thanos blinked in surprise, as the individual whose mind he had just tried to subvert appeared within his throne room, or what counted as such at any rate. "My lady?"
"While you aren't the first person to make that assumption, the fact is I am not who you seem to think I am. With that said, I am perhaps the only living person who can casually ignore your attempts to take over my mind. Now get out of my mind!"
With that said, Thanos was rudely shunted back into the waking world, as the girl who had just appeared before him regained focus on what was happening around her.
※※※※※※
"So you're telling me this girl just shows up out of nowhere, fires a bolt of red energy from a wooden stick, and suddenly Loki's unconscious?" a slightly mechanical and highly incredulous voice was asking from somewhere above and behind where Haven was standing.
"What can I say, it was like magic!" Steve Rogers retorted, not really believing what he was saying as well.
"Incarcerous." Haven remarked as she waved her wand at Loki, tying him up in magically enhanced ropes and turning to look at the mechanical man. "Unless you want to interrogate him here and now, I suggest we move this somewhere a bit more private. Oh, and I suggest we stay on the ground, less chance for us to crash and burn when his brother shows up."
Tony Stark frowned at the girl, he had no idea how she knew about Thor, but he did know that the Bifrost would utterly wreck a Quinjet, so he was more than happy to agree to her suggestion, even if Fury would likely complain about this at a later point in time. "Well, if Thor's coming, then the least we can do is not move around too much until he shows up. I think I have a penthouse in this city, come on."
Natasha Romanoff groaned in annoyance when she heard that, as it meant she would now need to find somewhere to park the Quinjet, and that was a more complicated task than one might imagine, since they are highly classified and thus not the sort of thing you can just land at random airfields. Making a decision, she spoke through their comms and said, "I'll be on the city outskirts if you need me."
With that said, Stark landed and proceeded to lead Haven, and Steve through the city and towards the Penthouse he had just located, while Steve had the unconscious Loki folded over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. Steve frowned at the Asgardian and said, "Golly, this guy's quite heavy for such a skinny individual."
"He's from a world with quite a bit more gravity than ours has, Captain." Haven admitted. "And please don't ask me how I know that."
Tony smirked and said, "So what's the deal with the staff?"
"It has the ability to completely and utterly dominate the minds of other people, but I'm not entirely sure how it does that, only that it can do so."
"That probably explains what happened to Barton and the others," Steve admitted.
"Yes, but here's the thing. I think it is controlling Loki just as much as he is controlling this Barton fellow." Haven explained in a soft tone of voice.
"So why hasn't it taken control of you?" Steve asked.
"Oh, well, I'd like to say I'm stubborn enough to throw off any attempt at controlling my mind, but really, I think it's more because of my favorite cloak."
"Okay, that's…" Tony started to say as he turned to look at her, only to frown when he saw that she looked completely serious. "That must be some cloak."
Haven giggled and said, "That's putting it mildly, especially now that I know how to make proper use of the thing."
Tony frowned and was about to respond when a bolt of lightning impacted the ground between them and a loud bombing voice said, "Unhand my brother!"
Haven sighed and shoved a hand into the air, pulling it across the aether as she tore a hole in the fabric of reality, and said, "Hela, dear, would come here please?"
An incredibly beautiful woman, who basically looked like a far older version of Haven stepped out of the portal, looked at Haven in mild confusion, and said, "Pray tell, how did you break the seal on my prison?"
"You were in an Afterlife Realm, and I have the ability to call people back from such realms, and in your case it is effectively permanent, since you aren't actually dead. Now, please be a dear and explain to your younger brother why it is a bad idea to oppose someone who can do what I just did."
Hela turned to look at the other people, noticed the one holding her old hammer and said, "You! What is your name?"
"I am Thor, Prince of Asgard…"
"And I am Hela, Crown Princess of the same. I don't know why thou hast come to this world, nor do I care. However, I will not allow you to harm my Lady's Champion."
Thor's face scrunched up in confusion as he said, "I have a sister?"
Hela turned to look at Haven and said, "Dare I ask?"
"I'm not entirely sure, as my focus is primarily on this Realm. In any case, now that you are both here, I think it would be best if we relocated this discussion to the flying death trap known as the S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier."
"Why do you consider it to be a Death trap?" Tony asked in confusion.
"What else would I call a flying aircraft carrier after watching The Sound of the Drums and Last of the Time Lords? Especially when it is currently playing host to Bruce Banner."
"You know, Fury's going to be furious when he learns how much you know about S.H.I.E.L.D.'s current operations." Tony remarked.
"It's not my fault that S.H.I.E.L.D. is filled with more holes than swiss cheese." Haven admitted. "Though, I suppose I could offer him the intel he'll need to seal some of those holes."
By this point they had reached the rendezvous point and began loading onto the Quinjet, with Natasha looking slightly confused by the presence of yet another unexpected passenger. "So who's the other raven-haired girl?"
"I am Hela, Crown Princess of Asgard." Hela informed the other woman.
"Oh nice, another Asgardian." Natasha snarked. "Fury's just gonna love this."
The trip to the Helicarrier was conducted in silence, with Tony only looking slightly annoyed by the fact that Loki remained unconscious for the entire journey. Everyone else, however, was relieved that they only had to deal with Tony being snarky, instead of both Tony and Loki.
They were greeted by a platoon of soldiers when they arrived, and a man in a very nice suit was in front of them. He took one look at the scepter in Haven's hands and said, "If you would be so kind as to turn that over, we will ensure it reaches the lab…"
Haven frowned at the man for just a moment, and then wrapped herself within the folds of the single most powerful Invisibility Cloak in existence, vanishing from sight, as well as all other forms of perception.
Hela, who had been watching this interaction, smirked at the men and said, "I fear the little Mistress has no desire to be parted from that scepter."
Jasper Sitwell scowled at this statement, turned to his men, and said, "Locate that girl and bring both her and the scepter to me as soon as you've done so." With that said, both Sitwell and the soldiers left the landing pad.
"Okay, so what the hell was that?" Tony Stark demanded.
"Why do you use my name in such a vulgar manner?" Hela inquired as she looked at Tony in a confused manner.
"Uhm…" Tony muttered, before pinching his nose slightly and saying, "I suppose there is some similarity between your name and the Christian concept of a torturous afterlife."
Haven reappeared and said, "That's because the Christian Missionaries sent to convert the Nordic peoples decided to demonize both Hela and the realm she has been trapped inside of for who knows how long. Of course, they might have had a good reason for doing so, considering what I've learned about your temper, Hela."
"I do admit, I sometimes get carried away…" Hela admitted.
"Right, Fury wants to see us all asap." Natasha interrupted, as she guided Thor out of the ship, with the bound Loki slung over his shoulder.
"Miss Romanoff, would you be so kind as to look me in the eyes while thinking of the location where we will be meeting Fury?" Haven inquired.
"I suppose," Natasha agreed as she did so, bringing up the relevant memory, only to feel as though someone was sticking gauze into her eye or something like that, causing her to break eye contact almost as soon as it had started. "What was that?"
"That was me looking at your memory, and I apologize for the odd sensation, I've never been particularly good at the Mind Arts." Haven admitted. "Oh, and I only looked at that one specific memory, so don't worry about any secrets that you might have, as I still don't know them, even if I can guess what some of them might be."
"Just who are you?" Natasha demanded.
"Oh, sweetie, that would be a spoiler," Haven remarked as she disappeared with a crack, while Tony cracked up laughing, having caught the reference thanks to her earlier comments about flying aircraft carriers and Time Lords. Of course, he was beginning to suspect that this girl was far older than she appeared to be, since Natasha looked to be older, and yet their mysterious guest had no problem treating her like a little girl.
"I'm not sure bringing her along was a good idea," Natasha remarked.
"Oh, I disagree!" Tony enthused. "She made apprehending Loki far easier than it would have been, and also, managed to find… Actually, what are you supposed to be the goddess of Hela?"
"Mine enemies would refer to me as a goddess of death, while mine allies would refer to me as a goddess of victory." Hela remarked.
"Right, let's get moving." Steve said as he began walking towards the hatch leading to the Helicarrier's interior.
※※※※※※
Director Nicholas Fury was standing on the bridge waiting for the newly formed Avengers and their guests to arrive when he heard a loud cracking noise come from behind him, prompting everyone in the room to turn and draw weapons. "I would suggest you boys, and ladies, put those away, unless of course you want to risk explosive decompression?"
Fury raised an eyebrow and told his men to, "Stand down."
Once they had followed his command, Fury returned his focus to the woman, noticed she was holding Loki's scepter and said, "Want to explain to me why you have appeared on my ship's bridge while holding such a dangerous object as that?"
"Well, it isn't dangerous right now, since I'm consciously preventing it from influencing the minds of everyone on this ship, but if I were to let it go, then all bets are off on how long it will be before the Hulk comes out to play." Haven explained.
It was at this moment that Agent Coulson stepped onto the Bridge and promptly froze when he laid eyes on the woman that was standing in front of Director Fury. "Oh, this, this is not good."
"Coulson, do you know this woman?" Fury inquired.
"Er… yes, but only by reputation, and that reputation is beyond terrifying." Coulson admitted.
Haven sighed and said, "I suppose I've had enough fun with my mask of mystery. You want to introduce me to the Wannabe-Moody, or shall I?"
Coulson snickered at what she just called his boss, but quickly turned serious, saying, "Forgive me if I don't use your full titles and styles, milady, but they are quite a mouthful."
Haven blinked in confusion, "Do you mean to say you know what the mundane equivalents to my titles would be?"
Coulson frowned and said, "I wouldn't be very good at my job if I didn't know something like that."
"Then please, please, share with the room my full title. Because it might get the more trigger happy among you to back off."
Coulson sighed, and was about to do so when the room became a bit more crowded as Natasha, Tony, Steve, Thor and Hela entered the room. They had just come from ensuring that Loki would feel right at home within the Hulk containment cell, and Tony looked like a little kid in a candy store after having heard that the mysterious young woman was a noble of some sort. "Oh yes, please share with the class!"
"Sir, shouldn't we debrief everyone before giving in to Stark's baser impulses." Natasha inquired.
"Oh I agree." Fury remarked. "Coulson, just who is this woman?"
"Allow me to introduce Her Highness, Haven Potter, Magical Duchess of Cornwall, Marchioness of Godric's Hollow, Magical Baroness of Stinchcombe, and unless I am very much mistaken, Queen of Magical Britain."
"You lost me on that last one," Haven admitted. "I don't recall ever sitting through anything that resembled a coronation, and last I checked, Magical Britain was still answerable to the mundane government, even if they tend to ignore that fact."
Coulson nodded in understanding, and said, "All I can say is that you might want to do a more thorough investigation of the Black family tree. That will explain why you are the Duchess of Cornwall, and also why I suspect you are the Queen of Magical Britain."
Haven frowned and was about to respond when a guard entered the room and walked up to her, grabbed her by the arm and began dragging her away from the others. Fortunately, Steve was still standing and intercepted the soldier, preventing him from leaving the room with their guest. Fury was already walking forward and said, "Want to tell me what you think you were doing just now, soldier?"
"Following orders, sir." the soldier retorted.
"And who gave those orders?" Fury asked.
"I'm not at liberty to say," the soldier bit out.
"Well that is unfortunate, since you were manhandling a woman who most likely has diplomatic immunity." Fury informed the soldier.
The soldier winced at that statement, since even a Hydra Operative knew better than to manhandle someone with diplomatic credentials. "I… It was the council, sir."
"Someone take this man to the brig!" Fury exclaimed.
Maria Hill stepped forward and frogmarched the soldier off the bridge. Once they were gone, Haven said, "I would like to go have a chat with Loki, but after what just happened, I think I'll need an escort."
"Oh, I would happily accompany you, little Mistress." Hela agreed.
"Romanoff, I want you to go with them. Stark, you should head down to the lab and help Banner in his search for the Tesseract. Rogers and Coulson, keep an eye on the Bridge." With that, Fury began walking towards the door leading into the Council Chamber, only to stop as Thor made a sound of confusion. "Thor, just, don't cause any electrical storms and you can do whatever you want."
※※※※※※
Loki was annoyed, very, very annoyed. He had expected to be apprehended, and he had made plans for his escape, but that escape relied upon his ability to cast a web of illusions before he was ever placed into a holding cell, to say nothing of a cell that was as dangerous as this one was. He only knew of the danger this cell posed, even to him, thanks to the information Clint Barton had supplied him with before they set out on their separate missions.
He definitely did not anticipate being hit by a spell that rendered him unconscious for such a long time that he was already in the cell by the time he woke up. Of course, his annoyance reached a whole new level when that infuriating Vǫlva entered the room with his scepter held in one of her hands.
She smirked at him and said, "Oh that look on your face, you seem to be under the impression that I am merely a wand carrier, or a Vǫlva as you would call us. Unfortunately for you, that just shows how badly you have underestimated me, Liesmith. You see, I am actually what you would describe as a Fjǫlkunnig."
Loki's face drained of so much color that it almost seemed like his Frost Giant heritage was about to make an appearance. His adoptive mother, who he loved dearly, was the only individual he had personally met who could claim such a title as her own.
"Unfortunately, Norse is not one of the languages I'm fluent in, so could one of the three of you explain what those titles mean?" Natasha inquired.
"I already explained the first one, so I won't repeat it. The second one, however, is the interesting one, because it means I am uniquely suited to the task of cutting through the lies that Loki will try to spin for us." Haven explained. She then turned to look at Loki and said, "Now, be a good boy and tell us where the Tesseract is."
That was the moment when the ship shuddered under the stress of an explosion as one of the turbines was taken out by an external aggressor. Loki smirked, and said, "I think you have more to worry about right now than where the Tesseract might be hidden."
"Hela, be a dear and ensure that we remain undisturbed, but try not to kill anyone, as Loki's would-be rescuers are hardly in their right frame of mind."
"Oh?" Loki remarked, "And what will she do if that green monstrosity turns up?"
"If Hulk shows up, I'll tag in." Haven smirked. "After all, I've always wanted my very own Rabbit of Caerbannog."
Natasha frowned and said, "I did not need that mental image."
Snickering at the woman, Haven turned back to Loki and said, "Now are you going to play nicely and tell us what we want to know, or am I gonna have to use some of my less palatable spells to force your compliance?"
"You shouldn't need me to tell you where the Tesseract is. It should be obvious if you know what it would need in order to do what I want it to do." Loki admitted.
"Hmm, that was almost too easy." Haven remarked.
"What, what do you mean?" Natasha inquired, not having understood the cryptic response.
"He sent the Tesseract to Stark Tower, since it is the only place in the entire world with a fully functional Industrial Arc Reactor." Haven explained. She then turned back to Loki and said, "Thank you, now have fun with all the guilt you are about to suffer." Pulling out the Elder Wand, she waved it at Loki and uttered a completely unique incantation, "Finite Incantatem Cosmos!"
Loki's eyes widened in shock as the spell hit him like a freight train, and in that moment, the color of his eyes changed from electric blue back to their natural green. As soon as she saw them, Haven scowled and said, "Of course they're green! Why wouldn't they be green? And not just any green, but Evans Green. If I find out we're related I'll be most displeased!"
With that said, the girl turned on her heel and began walking away from the cell, "If I were you, Loki, I would stay where you are, it'll be safer for you in the long run."
※ Chapter End ※
Author's Note: I'm not at all sure if I will continue this idea, it was mostly meant to work out some stress I have been accumulating over the past few weeks. Suffice it to say, I have serious issues with how Odin treats his children, especially in regards to Hela, and those issues will be addressed if I do continue this story.
For those of you who don't feel like looking up the two Norse terms I used in this chapter, "Vǫlva" literally means "Wand-Carrier", which means it is a valid Norse term to use when describing the witches and wizards of Potterverse. Meanwhile, "Fjǫlkunnig" is a catchall term for someone who practices Shamanism, Sorcery, Prophecy and numerous other branches of mysticism. I'll also point out that the Seance is one of the oldest forms of Divination in history, and Haven has access to what might as well be an Afterlife Cellphone.