Lost Memories

Chapter 16

It smells like flowers. I can hear people around me. Well actually, I can hear one person around me. She is explaining some test results and how something is so amazing. "She could help us process the Vibranium. We could find more stable ways to use it and she could help us...", someone is talking very excitedly. I open my eyes and sit up. My head hurts and I feel cold. Apparently, they have cooled me down with ice water and iced blankets. Bucky walks to me immediately and hugs me. He places his chin on top of my head and whispers, "I thought I lost you!". I put my arms around his body and say, "Do you really think that you get rid of me that easily?". He lets go of me and I smirk at him. I can see that signature grin on his face. I finally look around and notice that I don't know everyone in the room.

There is a younger-looking girl that I now realize was the one talking a while ago. "My name is Shuri. Your powers are amazing.", she says while taking a hold of my hand. There is a worrier looking woman and a man that has majestic posture. His presence could not stay unnoticed. He is wearing a dark robe, some jewelry, and black sneakers. The sneakers didn't really belong to that outfit, I was thinking inside my head.

"Welcome to Wakanda. I am T'Challa, king of Wakanda. And of course, you already met my eager sister Shuri.", he says and smiles at me. I nod and smile back. They tell me what happened and how we got to Wakanda. Thor and Loki took the phoenixes and dragons back to Asgard. All except Funí and Fornax. They refused to go there until I was feeling better. Most of the Avengers went home, but Bucky, Steve, and Nat stayed. I got hugged by them and we then got out of the hospital like laboratory that I was staying.

When I stepped outside of the building, I could feel the clean and refreshing breeze in the air. Funí was playing with some children and when he noticed me, he flew on my shoulder and send out this beautiful sound. Apparently, it was a call to Fornax, who also flew immediately to me. "That is so cool.", I could hear Shuri saying to Nat. "I can see that you are blessed with friends from all over.", T'Challa says to me.

He told me about Wakanda. The people around us where very interested in both Fornax and Funí. Now that there was some day light around, I could really see Fornax truly. Her scales were deep dark red. In her back there were two rows of spikes to protect her. She had a long and strong looking tail, and her wigs were long but slender. She pushed her head against me, and I almost fell. I stumbled a little and laughed. "Thank you for everything you have done for my kind. We are forever in your debt.", she tells me telepathically. Her head is bigger than me and she has scary amount of sharp tall teeth when her mouth is open. She looks at me and smiles. I hug her head and caress it. "I am glad that you can finally return home.", I tell her. Suddenly she uses her tail to bring Bucky closer. "I see that you have made another friend, Bucky." I smile at him and glance at Fornax. Bucky places his hand on Fornax's head, and she pushes her head gently towards Bucky's hand.

Nat and Steve went back home on that same day. Me and Bucky spent few days in Wakanda. It was perfect place to restore my powers. Things are going great. I am with Bucky and my friends are safe. Everyone is finally home. I find myself thinking about the time when I was in Hydra prison and everything that they did to me. How much my life has changed in these few days. Bucky told me about his experiences with Hydra and how he used to live in Wakanda during the time he tried to figure out again, who he is. Shuri was the one to help him get over things. I was wondering to myself if she could help me to remember my past.

I talk to Shuri and T'Challa. They both agree to help me. We agree to start immediately. When we get to Shuri's laboratory, she tells me to sit down. She puts some kind of sensor-tags on my forehead. Bucky is sitting next to me, like ready to rip the tags off and hold me if something goes wrong. Shuri tells me to put some sort of earphones in my ears. They eliminate every sound around me. I can't even hear her voice. She puts on her headphones and starts to talk. I can hear only her voice. I then start to follow her instruction.

"Take a breath in and hold it. Think about the earliest memory you have. Breathe out and at the same time push through that memory. With every breath in, you can remember earlier memory and with every breath out, you push through that one. Breathe slowly but strongly. You start to remember more and more.", she is telling me in calm voice. "Take this cup and drink.", she says while handing me a cup full of some sort of tea. I take a sip. It's really earthy and something that I am not used to. I try to hold my expression as normal as I can. She starts to laugh, "I just needed to see if you would follow all of my instructions.". I can see T'Challa saying something to her in firm voice. She nods to her brother and picks up a new cup of tea. "This one is better", she insures me. I am little bit skeptical, but I take a sip. She was right; this one is better. It tastes like honey and rosemary. I wasn't first so sure about why I was drinking the tea. But after finishing the cup, I started to feel it. I fell into the chair I was sitting on. I drift to some kind of dream. "You can now remember the day your life changed. You are able to travel back in time and observe everything that is going on.", Shuri tells me.

I am in Asgard. I am a little child. Thor and Loki are older than I am. Our father, Odin, has just ordered them to leave for their mission. They look like teenagers. They look too young to go to battle. Our mother, Frigga, is holding my hand and looking at my brothers. She is crying. Thor tries to tell us that they will be back soon. Loki looks at me and winks. I smile. I am not truly realizing what is happening. They leave to the Bifrost to travel through the realms. After they left, Odin told me to go to my room alone. I walked with a servant to my room. They closed the door behind me. Of course, I wasn't alone because the phoenixes liked to spend time in my room playing. I see from the window that Funí is looking if there is someone else too. When I tell him to come in, they all fly in. I fall down onto a pillow and laugh. I can feel the friendship with every one of them. We are playing for a while but suddenly I hear an explosion close to the palace. I get scared. I try to get out of my room, but someone has locked the door. I cry for help, but no one comes. It has been some time, and no one has come to get me to safety. I then hear two voices. They are talking to each other. I recognize Odin's voice and the other is Surtr.

"It is time to pay for your actions, Odin!", Surtr is shouting. Odin responds with a hint of frustration in his voice, "She is behind that door, and so are the phoenixes.". I got scared. Why is he telling this to someone who is attacking our home, someone who is hurting our people? Few moments later, the fire demons enter my room. Some of them capture most of the phoenixes, but luckily some of them get away. One of them takes a hold of me. Its hand feels hot, but not too hot for me. They drag us away and no one around us is trying to help me. I look at the soldiers and my own father, while the enemy is taking me away. I see my mother running towards me crying. Odin tells the soldiers to stop her. He looks at me the last time and turns around. My own father let them take me. The version of me that is in Wakanda starts calmly to cry.

I can see everything. They fly me to the Muspelheim. On the way, there is a sharp blast of ice-cold breeze. It comes from Niflheim. I don't know what made it happen but the fire demon that was holding me got hit by the blast. I was hit too. I could feel the coldness in my heart. Could that blast be the reason I lost my powers? As the icy blast hits the fire demon, it turns in to water. I fall but somehow, I am not left to roll around in the space. There is some kind of a power that drags me towards Midgard. I then pass out and when I wake up and look around the place I am at, I realize that all of this really happened centuries ago. Everything was different than nowadays.

I can't take it anymore. I open my eyes and take away the earphones. I stand up and start to cry. Bucky gets up and is extremely fast holding me in his arms and trying to comfort me. "He really gave me away to the enemy as a payment of his actions.", I cry, "It was Odin all along. He let them take me. He just watched and turned his back on me."