It honestly feels great to update this story weekly again.
Year Three: In the Dark
A Month Ago - Asgard
Apollo couldn't tell you the last time he's had a proper sleep. It had to be when he was on Midgard which was ... he wasn't sure how long it's been since he was last there and doesn't even want to think about that realm. All the days and nights have blurred but he's spent most of them in the dark. He doesn't know what to do about his life or his prophecy, but he's kept the lights off. He knows he should sleep since he's exhausted but the possibility of nightmares plague him. His thoughts and voices in his mind keep him asleep.
Besides, Freya's asleep next to him and he didn't want to disturb her. He's always tried to keep quiet since she was there. Seeing her in a tranquil state almost made him want to do the same. He didn't want to be alone, but sometimes she would stay awake with him.
"Hey, wake up," Apollo whispers, nudging Freya lightly.
Freya makes a sound that seemed like she was trying to talk. Her eyes open and she brushes her long dark hair out of her face, catching his face in the moonlight coming in from the window.
"Are you okay?" Freya asks.
"I have a plan," Apollo sits closer to her in his bed as she preps herself up on some pillows with her arms. "So this all started with the Norns crafting everything, right?"
"Sure."
"So the Norns came from the Serpent Crown but they live in the centre of Yggdrasil, underneath where we can see, right?"
"I'm not sure but let's assume so. Why?"
"Anyways, I was thinking that we go now and uproot the tree. When we find them, we'll get them out and demand a change."
"Apollo," Freya sits up and faces him, taking his hands in hers, "you can't uproot Yggdrasil. It connects the Nine Realms. If you break the bind, then everyone dies."
Apollo's expression drops and his face goes dark. "Everyone dies with what they have in store."
Freya purses her lips together, biting down on them and nodding. "Good point. How about this, take a quick nap so you're energized enough to take them on and I'll get my sword."
Apollo nods as he lies back. When he closes his eyes, Freya holds her breath. She waits for him to drift into sleep and once he's calm, she exhales silently, keeping her eyes on him as tears slowly stream down her cheeks. It wasn't the first night she went along with his insanities and made him sleep so he'd forget about it. He always does but then they come back as if they were the first. She didn't know what to do when Apollo, the person she cared about most in all the Nine Realms, was hurting like this and there was nothing she could do to make it better. All she could do was hurt by his side but hide it from him.
-o-
Present Day - Somewhere in New Jersey - 1:41 AM
The moment the clock hit midnight and Valentine's Day officially started, Angela and James left campus. They would have a date, even if it was just a drive around town since their schedules are building up close to the end of the year. They've tried having college-esque dates that were hooking up in one of their dorms or turning the dining hall into romantic date locations while pulling all-nighters for tests, papers, or training sessions.
"So, what were you thinking?" James asks as he changes lanes. "I know it's still chilly but we could head to the beach."
"Or grab a bite to eat at some sketchy diner."
James glances at her questioningly. "Oddly specific yet still vague."
Angela smiles at him. "Just suggesting."
James holds her hand and kisses it. For a moment, Angela looks at him in fascination that he's her boyfriend but frowns when he's been kissing her hand in one stop for oddly too long.
"Are you giving my hand a hickey?" Angela asks.
James parts from her hand for a second. "You're mine so yeah."
Angela tugs his hand towards hers and plants a kiss on it, leaving a glossy pink lip imprint on the back of his hand, between his thumb and pointer finger.
"It's 'cause you're mine," she tells him.
-o-
Operations Training Room A - 7:28 AM
It's an early morning training session when Weight Class A wasn't given much information about what today's training session will entail. All they were told was that they would be fighting in complete darkness and had a table of random weapons (Academy-proofed, for the most part) in front of them.
"Choose wisely," Agent Maxwell says, leaving the floor open to them.
"How can we choose wisely when given no other information about what we're doing?" Brody questions Xavier rhetorically as they look over their choices.
"Any standing out to you?" Xavier asks.
"No. You?"
"Not really." Xavier perks up with an idea. "Brody, how about we have fun with this and don't arm ourselves?"
Brody smiles before clapping Xavier on the back. "I'm in."
-o-
Carson Long Military Academy, Virginia - 8:48 AM
Merida: Mom, can you come here to punch my SO and make me some soup?
That was the last text message Merida sent to her mother before her SO forced her to go to a secondary military school to represent the Academy in gaining recruits. She never got a response. Her mother is leaving her to practice discipline, will-power, people skills, and following orders. Rude. To make matters worse, she had to drive to Virginia with Victoria and it wasn't even their official first assignment. Agent Iyu could've been in the car with them but she came a day early. Merida would've driven off the road if she was stuck in a car with Agent Iyu and Victoria for hours while crossing state lines.
When they arrive at the military school, Merida in her Operations training uniform and Victoria wearing a blazer with her student ID card clipped onto her pocket, they sign in and follow the directions to the school's auditorium. There are tables for universities and other specialty schools like the Academy. Some parents and teachers are already making rounds at each table. They find Agent Iyu talking to some parents and approach her.
"I hate this already," Merida mutters in Russian.
"We should've gotten lost," Victoria responds. "Angela should've been the one to do this. Orchid too. Freaking people-pleasing blondes."
Agent Iyu glares at them once the parents stepped aside to talk amongst themselves. "You two have no idea what's going on."
"What? Of course, we do," Merida says sarcastically.
"But tell us anyways so we're on the same page," Victoria adds with a grin.
Agent Iyu studies them for a moment before calling the parents she was just talking to. "These lovely ladies are my subordinates, Cadets Barton and Kovanova. Do you two have any advice for upcoming recruits?"
"Have skills," Merida states, causing Agent Iyu to roll her eyes to hide a grin. She wasn't wrong.
Victoria steps forwards to steer the conversation. "It's an Academy. Like the school your child already attends, SHIELD Academy is a prestigious school with some of the most gifted people in the country and all over the world. It's a privilege to be accepted here and you're guaranteed to land a government job after graduation. We're not like other preparatory schools. SHIELD Academy does a lot more by building on your skills and individual strengths."
The difference between Operations and Communications has never been shown more than with those two. Getting straight to the point versus the long-winded and detailed way to the same conclusion.
"For example," Merida pipes in, "archery isn't just a marksman skill but must be mastered in motion."
"And deception is both taught to apply and adapt."
"It's a privilege to attend the Academy. Our professors are the best agents and every student knows that."
Merida's fake smile and overly cheery tone are geared towards Agent Iyu who nods approvingly to them both.
-o-
By the end of the day, after chatting with countless parents and students about how amazing SHIELD Academy is and handing out brochures, Merida and Victoria sit at their empty table with their boots up, not changing their stature when Agent Iyu approaches them.
"Ladies, thank you for completing that," Agent Iyu says.
"You made us," Merida says.
"We hated every second of it," Victoria adds.
Agent Iyu scoffs, her expression unchanging. "But you two enjoyed it and have been enjoying each other's company even outside class and your tasks."
Merida is about to argue that she didn't enjoy anything but stops when she sees Agent Iyu and Victoria grinning at each other as if they said an inside joke. Merida lowers her boots from the table and sits straight, eyeing them because she doesn't feel right about this situation. Screw her mom for still not responding to her text. Not even asking if she made it to Virginia alive.
"What?" Merida asks.
"You two completed your first assignment, probably completed it a while ago," Agent Iyu says, sitting on the edge of their table.
"But you never gave us an official first assignment."
"You both had the same one. I just didn't disclose it to you, Barton. I told Victoria the day I met her."
Merida blinks, feeling betrayed and used. "There are so many things wrong with what you just said. What was the assignment?"
"She wanted me to befriend you," Victoria says. "You're lucky I think of our sisterhood as genuine. I would've done it without the order."
On that note, Merida's stomach burns and she's glad she forgot the night they spent at the bar the day they met. "Oh, fuck you."
"Calm down, Barton," Agent Iyu says.
"That was my first assignment?" Merida nearly yells. "I'm not in preschool!"
"A preschooler's temperament isn't that immature," Victoria mumbles to spite Merida.
"It was supposed to be more on the lines of getting you into the loop with Communications," Agent Iyu explains before Merida could rip out Victoria's silver hair one lock at a time. "As you've been explaining all day and that I've been teaching. Operations, Sci-Tech, and Communications are very divided in the Academy but rely on each other. Barton, you've already got friends in Operations and Sci-Tech. You just needed someone in Communications."
"Which is me," Victoria says proudly. "It helps that we both speak Russian."
"Вернуться в Соковию."
"Ты первый, сука."
"Fine," Merida states, smacking her hands against her thighs, "Agent Iyu, all your points make sense." She glances at Victoria. "For the record, I'm not answering any of your calls."
"Who said I'd call you?" Victoria smiles wildly.
-o-
Academy Courtyard - 15:06 PM
After his morning lab, Daniel went by his SO's office since she wants an update on his progress with his second dissertation. She was his supervising officer in both Academy matters and for his dissertation, especially since he chose one of her fields as his topic. He was on a good pace with his dissertation and could defend his thesis by the summer.
And all Dr. BV said was: It's Valentine's Day. Go call your fiancée.
Which he tried to all day but got sent to voicemail. Emily's tried calling and messaging him back but he was in class or, ironically, talking to Dr. BV.
"What happened to you?"
Daniel looks up from his phone, sliding it in his pocket as Naomi takes a seat next to him on the courtyard bench. She keeps to herself, hands in her pocket, as the cold February breeze passes them.
"Relationship … stuff…" Daniel grumbles. "Nothing serious."
Naomi nods. "Didn't look not serious."
Daniel glances at her. "It's good. Don't worry about it."
"Not worrying if it's not serious."
Daniel pauses and Naomi cocks a brow at him.
"I'll worry for you," Naomi says, "if it helps."
"You really don't-"
"Don't worry about it," Naomi grins as she mocks him, "nothing serious about it."
Nothing gives me more joy than referencing PNG in this story.