Book 4: Arcane [Thor]

Chapter 5

The Space Stone, which came from the Tesseract, seemed to be the most active stone of them all. It moved through quite a few planets throughout the Nine Realms. Due to one of its capabilities being able to teleport its wielder anywhere they wished in the universe. When it came into the possession of the Asgardians, Odin brought the Tesseract to Earth for safe keeping. Though it became uncovered in 1942, during WWII. Fell into the hands of HYDRA and became lost in the ocean alongside Steve Rogers. Anya knew the rest from first-hand experience.

The Mind Stone's whereabouts were unknown in the universe. Up until Loki arrived on Earth wielding his scepter. And none of them realized exactly what it was until Ultron broke the stone out of its confinement to place in his very own android.

Which left the final two stone unaccounted for. As if they were merely myths themselves. No locations. No list of powers or capabilities. Not even their colors. Just their names: the Soul Stone and the Time Stone. The historian went far back into the archives to unearth something, but came up empty handed.

Anya didn't retire till late that evening. She became so engrossed in the presented information the agent dragged herself to bed just as the first rays of the sun began to peek over the horizon.

This was good. This was the kind of information Anya needed to find to help their extensive search. And despite coming to the end of what the historian had to offer, the young woman found herself combing over old information. Just to make sure nothing was missed.

"Thought we might find you here," Hogun said.

Anya picked her head up from the pile of books. A smile stretched across her lips from the sight of the Warriors Three and Sif entering the library.

"It's a beautiful day out," Fandral stated. "Too beautiful to spend it cooped up in here."

"I've been busy," the agent said.

"Doing what?" Volstagg wondered.

"Reading."

"About the Aether?" Hogun wondered. His eyes scanned over the covers of the books and the texts that were open. "Why?"

Sif and her shared a discrete look. "Curiosity. I'm been... having nightmares at times. Sometimes I find myself pulled back to my memories of Malekith... My teammates on Midgard believe it's a form of PTSD."

"What's that?" Volstagg asked.

"Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. It's where someone has difficulty recovering after experiencing or witnessing a terrifying event. Triggers can bring back memories of the trauma. They suffer from nightmares of unwanted memories and can experience intense emotional and physical reactions."

The comment worried the three male warriors. "Are you alright?" Hogun wondered.

"I've had my good and bad days. But the worse one came during the Ultron incident. An Enhanced human from the opposing side dug up memories of my past." She fell silent for a moment. "The Aether isn't the only trauma I've dealt with on Midgard."

"What other trouble has befallen you?" Fandral wondered.

Sif knew. But they were memories she didn't like to go into too much detail about. No matter how many years passed since then.

"My archeological team was kidnapped by the Taliban. And I was the only survivor to come out of it. Not only was there the carnage and blood from their deaths... but then I nearly died of dehydration wandering the desert until my country's army found me."

"We never realized..." Volstagg trailed off.

"Because I try to not let the incident dictate my life. I'm a survivor. I lived through those horrors the first time I came into contact with Loki. He invaded my dreams too. But when it came to the Enhancement... she combined both the incident in the desert and the Aether's attempt to overpower me. It brought back a lot at once. While here on Asgard, I just want to try and understand the dark matter more." A sigh escaped her lips. "But there's not much more to go through it seems. There's not a lot of facts since it's an enigma compared to some of the other more well-known stones."

"Because Bor hid it away for so long," Sif said. "And from how parasitic it acts, it's impossible to study. Not without consequences."

"You nearly died yourself for being in contact for too long," Hogun pointed out.

"I know," the young woman said. "But it doesn't hurt to look through what you have. I want to try and understand. I've come across three of the six Infinity Stones already face-to-face... something tells me the Avengers will have to deal with what remains soon enough."

"You'll be in here for weeks if you keep this up," Volstagg stated.

Anya nodded, not mentioning that she'd already covered the core of the material.

"Come on then," Fandral said. The warrior closed the book in front of the young woman. "No more reading. Since you can't do all of this tonight."

"Yes, for tonight, we drink!" Volstagg proclaimed.

"And this time we know you have nowhere to be."

"Which means you get to try our wonderful brew."

Anya smiled, "You all make a pretty compelling argument. Very well, lead me to the pub."

"Yes! Follow me."

She watched Fandral and Volstagg take up the lead, while the books were left behind.

"I'll try to reign them in as best I can," Hogun said.

"I appreciate it," the agent said. Then a little lower towards Sif, added, "Please don't leave my side."

"Promise," the female warrior answered. "You're safe with me."

"Just make sure I don't do anything stupid. Or die from alcohol poisoning."

Sif's head threw back in a laugh.