The Wakandan jets landed in a field near New Asgard where a shuttle awaited their arrival. Shuri and Okoye were taken to the center of town and escorted into a meeting room where Valkyrie sat, waiting for them. Shuri was the first to notice she wasn't her usual energetic self.
"What happened to you?" Shuri asked, concerned.
Valkyrie groaned as she stood, clutching her side.
"Got stabbed by a god-hating maniac. Thanks for asking. What can I help you ladies with?"
"Thor. Do you know where we can find him?" Okoye asked.
"Not at the moment."
"Does he ever come back here?" Shuri sounded desperate.
Valkyrie studied the two women, curiously. "What's happened?"
Shuri and Okoye exchanged looks, before Shuri answered. "How much do you know about Rhiannon?"
Valkyrie's face changed, losing it's humor. "The Dark Soul? Everything. Why?"
"She's been staying in Wakanda with us. But she's taken up with someone who-"
"Triggered her transformation? Please tell me you weren't about to say that."
"How do we stop it?" Shuri asked.
"You can't." Valkyrie sat back down in her seat at the head of the conference table. "You'll have to kill her. No, a god will have to kill her because you two won't be able to get close when she's fully transformed. I might have had a fighting chance, but with this injury... Thor and his secrets. He said he killed her years ago. But I guess he would, wouldn't he? Odin wanted her brought to Asgard, no doubt to use as a weapon against his enemies. I guess Thor saw through that. Found her in Venezuela and brought her to you."
"We were trying to help her." Shuri spoke. They sat down as well, focused on Valkyrie.
"Fix her, you mean? She can't be fixed. Not by us."
"Then who?"
"I can tell Thor kept as much from you as he did from me. Can't blame him, really. It's smart. Give everyone bits of information, but not all so no one can use it against you. Well," Valkyrie pressed the intercom button on the phone in front of her.
"Yes, your majesty?" The voice on the other end was clear and deep.
"Rasha, can you please bring us something to drink. Waters for the ladies and -" She let go of the button and spoke directly to Shuri and Okoye. "I'm assuming you two don't drink?"
"She doesn't." Shuri responded before Okoye could answer. Okoye opened her mouth to protest, but changed her mind.
"A water for the general and the strongest thing you have chilled for myself and the princess."
"Right away," the voice obeyed.
"Right. I guess I should get started then." Valkyrie got comfortable in the chair.
"On what?" Okoye asked.
"The rest of the story. I'm going to assume you lot did some testing? Her DNA showed human, didn't it? Doesn't match up to what you've been told? That's because there's more to the legend of The Dark Soul. We each have a piece of the story, it seems. I'll give you mine, then maybe we can come up with a plan to stop her from killing us all."
***
Because there were just two Old Spirits, Rhiannon was still in there. There was space for her amongst the chaos inside where Death and Destruction took the reigns. The part of her that had compassion was silenced and handcuffed until every living thing in sight was dead. At that point, they'd weaken and she'd be able to take control once again. Usually, after being triggered and once the person who triggered her lost control, she would kill them and take their life into herself. It was a sacrifice to keep the darkness inside of her calm.
She would find some quiet place away from humans and fall into a sleep that usually lasted centuries, unless something woke her like an earthquake or volcanic eruption. Then she would leap from her slumber, ravenous for destruction and add to the chaos.
Rhiannon watched from within as the Old Spirits took power and then....
She was in the air, hovering several feet above the French ships and soldiers. Rhiannon raised her hands shoulder height with the palms facing up. When she did this, the French soldiers were lifted in the air as well. Dozens of them raised off the ship and out of the water, their helpless bodies wriggling at the invisible force that held them.
She flipped one palm face down and the men lifted above the ship, slammed into the metal deck with loud cracks and thuds. The ones that didn't die immediately, cried out in agony, their bodies broken and bleeding. She flipped the other hand over and lowered it. The men she'd lifted out of the water, slammed back into the ocean again. They sank deeper and deeper into the abyss, their scuba gear not meant to go that deep. Their bodies not able to handle the pressure. She held them there below the water until....
Rhiannon cupped her hands. She glanced down at the three ships with bodies of men who begged for help. The spirits wanted them quiet. She balled her cupped hands into fists and the ships crumpled beneath her. They warped into large, metal wads of trash that floated in the sea, like paper floating in a pond.
There was no sound now. The soldier were quiet, but she could still see the living. The French soldiers, she couldn't really see their faces. Just colorful auras or lights that surrounded them that begged to be fed upon. And she did feed. Sucked their lights up with their dying breaths. But the two she saw were clear. They stood behind Namor, blue tint to their skin.
Since Namor commanded her to destroy everyone, he must have meant these two as well. She opened her palm and raised it to her shoulder. The two blue creatures standing behind Namor were raised into the air. She cupped her hand, prepared to ball them into waste similar to the French ships.
"No, mi amor," Namor shot into the air and faced her. He was calm and spoke low as he looked into her eyes. She saw him clearly. His deep brown skin, mesmerizing eyes, and strong body. "Not them. You are not to harm my people."
He touched her cheek and smiled at her, threatening her with his eyes. He didn't need to threaten her, she thought. He was still in control.
"If that is what you want." And she lowered Attuma and Namora to the white sands.
She looked in the water and could see more of his people, Talokan soldiers staring up at them from the depths. The Old Spirits wanted to take them, but couldn't.
Namor touched her chin and lifted her face toward his. He repeated, "You are not to harm my people."
"If that is what you want." Again, the voices that whispered and sang. In English. In Yucatec Mayan. Not in French. There was no one alive to hear.
He leaned in to kiss her, surprised at the sweetness of her lips. "Are you still in there, mi amor? How do I get you back?"
Rhiannon didn't speak. She waited for his command. On the inside, the sliver of her that was kept silent and handcuffed broke free. She yelled his name above the screams of the Old Spirits.
"...sin amor... namor.... Namor...." Rhiannon said in those beautiful whispers in multiple languages. "I can give you what you want."
Namor flinched. Could it be that easy?
"I want you. Come back to me, mi amor. Para siempre, mi amor. Eres mia, solo mia."
Forever, my love. You are mine, only mine.
Her eyes returned to their silver color and her hair fell back into the blue strands. The swirl designs on her skin faded. Before she could fall from the sky, Namor grabbed her and pulled her close. Rhiannon wrapped her arms around him and buried her face in his chest.
She could feel the Old Spirits' anger. No one had ever wished she would return from full transformation before. Those that controlled her in the past had one thing on their minds: Domination. They didn't care about her or what she lost.
Namor had figured something out that no one else had. She would have to do what he wanted. The Old Spirits were bound to that rule until they got the third Old Spirit to occupy her.
This meant two things: One - She would have to stay by his side. Two - the Old Spirits would now stop at nothing to summon their sibling to join them for full control.