Avengers: Peace in our Time

18-Observations

Acrimon was fuming as he walked along the massive corridors of the opulent palace. The news he'd just received via a courier had been distressing but he chose to withhold his concerns until he knew for certain. Rumors often fell from the wagging tongues among the palace staff.

"Word has come from the Observers that the earth-dwellers have found the caves of our ancestors," the courier explained as he ran after Acrimon in an effort to keep up with his quick strides.

"Fools!" Acrimon roared as he turned a corner and entered the massive observation deck. "They should have sent a team to earth to destroy the caves and reclaim it long ago. But no. We aren't allowed to return to earth. I'm not even allowed to astral project there!" He inwardly cursed the bylaws enacted by his ancestors that prohibited all contact with earth. Only The Observers were permitted to view earth, and they were confined to their namesake alone; they could only observe, never act.

The courier paused and hesitated to speak.

"Speak your mind, courier!" Acrimon growled.

"Sire," the courier muttered nervously. "Perhaps this will change the old laws? Surely the King will do something?"

Acrimon chuckled angrily as he looked up at the massive array of footage being displayed on multiple large, smooth crystals. His eyes took in the sight of several earth-dwellers using their tools to dig through the aforementioned caves.

"Bastards!" he shouted. "All of them, bastards!"

The Observers, those tasked with observing activity throughout the key locations in the galaxy, looked up from the mass of crystals and glared at the prince.

"When did this happen?" Acrimon demanded as he walked up to them and pointed. "When?!"

One of the Observers, an elderly woman with long, waist length silver hair met his angry gaze. "Need I remind you, Prince Acrimon, that you are not permitted to enter this place?" She shook her head disapprovingly. "The earth-dwellers gained access to the caves just moments ago. Once they breached it, we received an alert from the old crystals. They awakened."

Acrimon nodded. When their ancestors had left earth behind, they had left the first crystals in those caves. Unable to take the crystals, they had instead sealed the caves. The intention, according to the history texts, was that they would return some day to retrieve them. Then they'd become embroiled in their own struggles and had never returned to earth.

"They haven't found them yet," the old Observer went on.

Acrimon turned and walked away.

"Are you going to tell the King?" the courier asked.

"To hell with the King," Acrimon muttered under his breath. "I'm going to the Genetic Counsel."

He moved back through the corridors until he approached the chamber belonging to the Genetic Counsel. A host of some of the most esteemed, brilliant minds, the Genetic Counsel oversaw all affairs regarding the use of the crystals. Without knocking, he shoved the large doors apart and walked inside.

"What is the meaning of this, Prince Acrimon?" one of the members, a short and rotund man, fumed as he stood from his seat, his grey robes flowing around him like water.

"I must have words with the Genetic Counsel. Now."

Another member, a tall and bone-thin woman with white hair stood up. "Even the Prince has to have an appointment to meet with us."

A third member- a powerfully-built man with red hair and a dense beard remained seated and met Acrimon's gaze evenly. "What business could you have with the Genetic Counsel, Prince Acrimon?"

Acrimon wasted no time and made his case right away. "The earth-dwellers have found the cave of our ancestors. They are mining it as we speak!"

The thin woman waved a hand. "They will die upon exposure to the crystals. Or mutate into some ghastly creature and eventually die when their kind puts them down. This is beneath our concern."

Acrimon stood his ground. "What about the Princess? Don't you recall her defection from our planet to earth?"

"What has the princess got to do with this?" another member asked.

Acrimon rolled his eyes. "The princess departed for earth years ago. It stands to reason she might have had children. She may have passed her genes to them."

The redhead smiled. "Acrimon, you should have paid better attention during your lessons on Inhuman Genetics. They are not so easily passed down. It can take decades for them to even express themselves. And even then, the earth-dwellers have no knowledge of us. Say her descendants, if she had any, are walking around that planet with the necessary genes- how would they know?"

Acrimon bit his lip in frustration. He couldn't mention his interactions with the Asgardian. It had been Loki who had informed him of Dean Allen's peculiar presence. He cleared his throat. "Do you, the Genetic Counsel, wish to take the chance that some unwitting Inhuman undergoes the process without your permission? Your authority has never been challenged in such a way in all these centuries. The charge would be treason and the penalty death."

The thin woman sighed. "What are you proposing, Acrimon?"

"We send a team to earth to stop the earth-dwellers' progress. We find what our ancestors so foolishly left behind centuries ago and we bring it back here." He looked at each and every member of the Genetic Counsel with an intense stare. "Is it not the role of this body of people to determine who is allowed to change? Should we risk the chance that someone might undergo the change unsanctioned?"

One of the members looked to the redhead and sighed. "It would be best if we brought it back home."

"The King will never agree to this," the thin woman announced.

Acrimon shook his head. "Not if every member of the Genetic Counsel is in agreement."

A tense collection of moments passed as the members convened. Acrimon stood away from them and watched impatiently as he waited for them to come to a decision. Finally, after a painfully long span of time, the group parted and the redhead looked at Acrimon.

"It is decided, your majesty. The Genetic Counsel is in agreement. But only if an oblivious Inhuman undergoes the process. And that is highly unlikely."

Acrimon wanted to argue but thought better of it. The Genetic Counsel were powerful figures and he had pressed his luck enough by entering their domain with no appointment. "And when this comes to pass?"

The bone-thin woman looked at him with an amused expression. "If it comes to pass. Then we will deliver our decision to the King himself. Perhaps you, with your fiery passion for upholding our laws, will journey to earth to apprehend the criminal?"

Acrimon accepted the scraps he was given. It would be good enough for now. But in his heart of hearts he knew it wasn't a question of if Dean Allen was exposed to the crystals. It was when.

Dean and Thor's adventures will continue in Avengers: More Than a Mortal.