Blue Moon| Book 1 | An Avengers fan fiction series| *under editing*

47- Revival (/)

"Why?" I demand. "Why?"

"They're coming for you." 

*

~Nobody's POV~

"It all... it all makes sense." says Natasha, lying the man back down on the ground. "This is an Imeldi base, built around the convergence point. They had the hopes that, like us, this is where the Mantra is.

"The King Snake is Kafrandi. Why he kills the villagers, I have no clue, except maybe he's just cruel. We know he is. But this isn't making sense. Why would the village purposely bury their dead in a pit of snakes? Why would they bury them somewhere that's haunted?"

Natasha is now thinking out loud, and the men have no words. Natasha strides forward, knocking aside some tree roots and other debris. Finally, she grunts in frustration. "I literally have no idea. No clue whatsoever." 

Thor is watching her silently, one of his hands resting on his chin as he contemplates the situation. He says, "Perhaps-"

"Perhapssssss you are not asssssssss  clever asssssss you thought."

They whirl around. 

Flanked by three Imeldi and two human guards, Kafrandi is slithering out of the archway towards them. 

Tony takes over. "Okay, big guy. If you're so clever, then what do you know that we don't?"

Kafrandi's lips curl in the serpentine equivalent of a smile. "Explain," he hisses to one of the human guards, whose eyes are staring blankly ahead. "Now!"

The human, a young man with a buzz cut, heavy-lidded eyes that accentuate his pouty face begins to speak in a monotonous voice. "This haunted place is home to what we desire. But we cannot get in." 

Thor folds his arms across the other, frowning at the man. "What do you mean?" 

The human gestures to the other side of the room, and Natasha spots what appears to be the pointed end of a spear sticking out of something like a stone bowl. Her sharp eyes take in the pedestal in which it is held. 

"It's a ritual pedestal." 

The man looks at Natasha. "We thought all humans were the same, like the girl. Special. Her powers are, in fact, unusual." He points dully to the half a dozen crypts against the wall. "He killed them. Tried to use their blood to open it."

"Open what?" asks Tony. He points to the door. "That?"

"Yes. It contains what we desire."

"Whoa whoa whoa, back up," says Tony. "I thought you said that the cave had the Mantra."

"Man-"

"That weird stuff you're after. The stuff that Thea has."

Kafrandi hisses joyfully. "You pathetic humans. You don't realize it, do you?"

Tony stares at him. "Oh. Oh, oh, oh, oh oh!" he exclaims, kicking a random rock into the walls. "Oh my god, I can't believe I didn't think of this."

"What?" asks Steve. 

"The Mantra. The mysterious source that nobody can figure out. It's. the. same.thing."

Everyone stares at him. 

"Are you crazy?" demands Natasha. "How can be that...what...?"

"Oh, this, this explains everything." says Tony. "We were thinking that the Mantra, the stuff her parents found was different than what was giving her power. All Imeldi have it inside them, at some point. When the Imeldi poisoned her, they must have injected the Mantra inside her, accidentally. They want to use her to open this vault, where it's stored. But... why can't they use the Imeldi, if they have it in them?"