Chapter 5: Galanthus Nivalis
I placed my hands on both
sides of her head, letting my energy turn her eyes completely black. It looked
like pouring dark dye into a bowl of water, slowly dripping down until all the
water was stained. She was going to be in a semi-vegetative state for a few
minutes, while reviewing some of my selected memories, so I carried her in my
arms to her room.
She was so pretty. Her relaxed face looked like Botticelli's Venus, only that her face was a little rounder. - I don’t hope you understand, but at least someone will know the truth - I left her body on the sheets of her unmade bed, so that when she woke up she would be comfortable, although I didn’t had any certainty of her awakening.
My ears were tingling, I noticed that the ocean was restless, and not only that, but there was also a very loud noise coming from upstairs. Trying to keep my shit together, I casted a protection spell on Morgan that would last at least a year and would not worn out if I die.
I rushed to the balcony facing the ocean, the night skies were covered by dark clouds, the air turned uncomfortably warm and damp.
- Where is the Stormbreaker? Tesseract - His deep and hoarse voice mentioning my name, on other people's lips it would be something very hot, but on his it was like a kick in the stomach, and more when it is my full fucking name.
– I missed you too – If I looked down, he would know there’s someone else with me, so I turned around to face him, slowly, attempting to look at him dead in the eye so he wouldn’t notice. – Thunder, I see that in five years you have not changed at all, well, the piercings are new, they look good on you – He was wearing his armor, of course he replaced the jade with metal, it was good to know that although he was dishonoring his family, he still had some decency.
– The haircut is new, I like it better like this, although long it gave you more style – He came unarmed, but not alone. - So, you came for what exactly? – That was a bad situation, I was weak, and he was strangely calmed, - Relax cousin, I'll have no quarrel with you, I just want to talk – pacing, he was bloody pacing around the living room, making me very nervous.
- Well, an ant has no quarrel with a boot – Second time I felt weird about something I said, natural but weird. – Tessa, where’s the fun if I kill you in your current state? No, I came with a proposal – One of the goons he came with, clearly not human, handed me a long silver briefcase, it weighed like hell and as soon as I put my hands on it my hands turned blue for a second.
- What’s inside? – He only gave me a smirk, staring at me deeply while I removed the locks and opened it, - Where did you get this from? – My father’s scepter, without a single scratch and without its respective stone, but the reason why was a bit obvious.
– The scepter in exchange for the Stormbreaker, what do you think?– I closed the briefcase and threw it at the nearest goon, - Did you really think I would’ve accepted such a stupid deal? If I ever show it to you, it’ll be the last you ever see – I swallowed so hard he noticed my anxiety, that was a mistake.
He walked slowly towards me, his steps were heavy and loud. The blue lightnings coming from his body were making me very nervous, not because I was afraid of what he could do to me, but because I wasn’t sure how long I could keep my inner me at bay.
- Now listen here cousin - In a second something pushed Thunder and carried him across the living room to the balcony, - I’m listening – I muttered to myself, laughing a bit due to my shock. The smoke that whatever took him left behind came from the right and vanished into the sky, there was an explosion and the thugs left leaving the briefcase next to the metal mess.
- What an asshole! Next time he comes in here, I'm going to vaporize him – A some sort of robot landed a few steps away from me, it had a black and red patterned design, it looked strong and female, which reminded me of a certain name but at that moment couldn’t exactly catch it yet.
She fought with my cousin in the sky, blasting him off every time he wanted to throw a lightning, she stood up to me twice now, and she looked insanely good while doing it so.
- Are you ok? Did he hurt you? Any broken bone? – She grabbed my arms softly and basically examined me with a light scanner, - Tessa, please tell me! – Morgan took off her head piece and tossed it away. Her eyes were normal and bright again, I grabbed her waist pulling her close to me.
- Thanks, Mi Vida - I let her go with a smile, admiring her shock and confusion, - I’m fine, thanks to you – her robot suit suddenly disarmed, it opened on the side and she slipped out easily. – You didn’t mention your last name, although now is more than clear to me – a small blush creeped on her cheeks as she quickly turned her gaze away from me.
- It's not a big deal, besides Riri helped me build it, it's funny how my father's legacy reached everyone but me – It hurt her, the fact that despite being the blood heir, she was put aside as a successor, I felt bad because I kept running away from the path imposed on me, by doing so, was I really being selfish? It was the first time I thought about it that way.
- So, you woke up sooner than I expected – she laughed, never arguing with the fact that I was still holding her close, - Yeah, now I see why you said that I would “watch it” – she was in a giggly mood despite of how many horrible scenes she must’ve seen while she was inside my mind. – Well, you haven’t seen anything yet, I need you to help me do something – I said letting go of her but keeping the closeness, she looked up to me waiting for me to tell, - I need to go back in time and get an old item, the Casket of Ancient Winters –.
Morgan a bit shocked stepped back and grabbed her phone from the counter, - Wait, won’t that ruin the continuity of time and space? If we change something we shouldn’t – I cut her off, smiling and feeling pretty smart about the plan I thought while watching my cousin low-key brag about his strength.
- Not if we pick the right moment. My cousin has a very deadly object, so we are going to pick up the only thing that can counteract it, just five minutes before Asgard is destroyed, we grab it and disappear before anyone notice its gone – she wasn’t quite convinced yet, her face was really honest.
– Ok, but promise me something – I approached again, making the space between us almost non-existent, in height she reached a little below my neck, so looking at her from above only gave me the privilege of appreciating her fierce nervousness.
– Anything, Mi vida - I whispered, teasing her was fun, well, until she grabbed the collar of my shirt and in a blink she hit my back on the floor, setting her foot between my breasts, - You must tell me the truth and the truth only, I still don’t know if I can trust you – she had a point.
I laughed to myself while getting up again, then slightly below my collarbone I placed my fingers, making a black line with a single snowbell appear, - A spell, it will keep me from lying, no matter how hard I try to resist it – it looked pretty and very practical, since it blend in as a tattoo.
- If this makes you feel more comfortable, I will use it until you feel like you can trust me – I extended my hand for her to take it, as soon as she did, the same flower was drawn on her palm, - If we ever get separate, just say this and I will come to you, not matter where you are – I leaned and whispered in her ear softly – Jörmungandr – something in my stomach growled, she laughed and told me she would heat up our food, how to tell her that it wasn’t hunger?.
I ate nonetheless, I regretted it afterwards, all that delicious food went down the drain as soon as I entered the bathroom. I felt sick, how the hell did he get the Elderstahl sword? Well, after the destruction of Asgard, Surtur must have died, but his sword, it still made no sense.
It was a long night, I stared at the ceiling without being able of getting any sleep, my thoughts ran wild, intertwined with memories and old ghastly sensations creeping over my scars. It didn’t help that the scepter was inside my room.
It was like it talked to me, whispering desperately, more like begging for someone to wield it in the name of violence.
- Tessa? – Morgan’s voice called me from the other side of the door, – Are you awake? – I looked down and I saw that I had the scepter in my hands, in shock I threw it away towards the opposite end of the room, feeling the remains of absolute… power, on my fingertips, a dark power, incapable of loving.
- Something happened? – I didn’t know what came over me, I glanced over my bed thinking how I used to be there a second ago and then I was holding that weapon, thankfully she didn’t saw me. – I know it’s a bit weird, we barely know each other, but…can we sleep together? –.
After letting her inside my mind, I figured that the level of trust between us could only increase. Although she didn't know that she could have seen more than just my memories, she didn't tried to find out, also, I had no coherent reason to distrust her, so I opened the door.
- Fine, but only if you stay on you half of the bed – she smiled and entered the room. For a brief carelessness, my breath became visible in the air, it must have been her body heat compared to mine, just being a few centimeters away her temperature exceeded mine in every way, and I liked that.
- Hey, can you tell me a fun story? – she was being so cute while getting herself under the covers, I scoffed and laugh a little, - How old are you, five? – her eyes lost their shine for a second, maybe it was something I said? Unsure of how exactly to proceed, I lifted the sheets and dropped onto the pillow, - I can't think of anything now, not that is exactly fun, but… I can tell you how I learned to master the Mystic Arts by being Doctor Strange’s personal apprentice –.
She widened her eyes and opened her mouth in awe, but she stayed quiet, I assumed it was because she wanted me to start telling already, so by just lifting my finger in the air, figures appeared in the air tangled in orange and green wooshes of light.
– I was fifteen, a couple months after my coronation I went rouge and scaped the palace. At the time I was having a real hard time controlling my powers, especially when it was about my emotions and anxiety.
Inadvertently I injured several people in the palace, so I fled swimming to Russia. I thought that thinking a bit next to my mother's grave would help me find answers, maybe even about myself.
And that's when a bright circle appeared in the air. On the other side was a man, who was wearing ancient clothes and a red cape upon his shoulders. He spoke slowly and calmly, "I wish to help you" and extended his hand towards me. Something in me told me to go with him, but that instinct was not the exact reason why I followed him to the other side, in fact, I remember seeing a lot of books behind him, so puzzling him a bit, I slipped through the portal leaving him behind in the snow while I admired the number of books.
He always knew who I was, and although my dad’s was labeled as a threat, he saw no reason to include me in that list.
Believe it or not there was a whole shelf about Asgardian magic, spells that perhaps my dad knew and used, and others that would make him proud if he saw me cast them. I dedicated three years to train my body, my mind, my soul, and well my inner issues.
And then it happened, my teacher was gone, only left the Eye of Agamotto behind and a responsibility over the sanctuary, both left up to Wong. And me? Well, you know what happened, and so I ended up imprisoned. All that led me to being here… I guess –.
My magic dissipated in the
air once I stopped speaking, suddenly I became aware of her little cat snores over
my shoulder. I nearly jumped out of reflex, but my temperature didn’t seemed to
disturbed her, so I just let her rest.
It started to rain, I casted an illusion over the window to let the petrichor smell of the air entered the room. – Why there’s two of you? – She was barely awake, maybe that's why she got closer to my body, wrapping her arms around my left arm, and her head fitted perfectly in the space between my neck and my shoulder, just like puzzle pieces.
- I do this every time I’m in a new place and it rains – My illusion came to me and delivered a little vial, once it disappeared I pushed the tiny piece of cork to seal it. – The first rain brings good luck, specially if you’re magical like me, and it keeps the nightmares away – she slowly fell asleep again.
- Sweet dreams, Mi Vida – I whispered, leaning my head on top of hers and letting the tiredness take me away and back to the divided forest.
- Tessa – I turned around and saw someone I thought I would never see again, - We need to talk, now – she spoke rather concerned, - Mom? -.
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