Chapter 32: Year 2000, Part 1.
Arbor Mundi (World Tree)
As the titanic willow tree stopped growing, Gaea sighed in relief of the task and assumed a comfortable position over Aragorn.
"Now we simply have to nurture it slowly for about 3 to 4 weeks. *Yawn* But this left me tired."
'⸮ʏdɒᙠ'- Aragorn asked as he, once again, grew a tentacle to rub Gaea's belly.
"Baby, indeed. Also, I think that the green energy was... heavy? So I used more of my divinity than I presumed."
'!||Awo|ɘᙠɘᴎO'- Aragorn explained.
"One-Below-All? Who's that?"
'ᴎoiƚɔuɿƚꙅɘᗡ .ɿooᗡᴎɘɘɿᎮ'
"Oh! The one on the other side of the door!... I've felt many different terrifying energies before, like the ones of my family members, but this was the first time I felt something so vicious. It felt like the energy wanted to even destroy itself while dragging down everything in between"
Gaea laid down on Aragorn's head, and he shapeshifted a bit to make her comfortable.
"Aragorn, Can you be a dear and get me some dirt? I want to make a bed here since it looks like we will stay here for a while."
Aragorn responded with his actions by levitating about half a tonne of dirt to their location.
Gaea reached into the dirt and infused the soil with her divine power, causing a lush bed of soft, green moss to grow.
"You can drop it here."- She instructed as she floated to allow Aragorn to set the bed in her previous resting location.
Once the bed of moss was set she made it grow a slight elevation for her head and she laid to rest.
"Good night, Aragorn. I'll wake up when I do."- A banket of green grew from her bed and covered her just as she was about to fall asleep.
Aragorn sneaked in a tentacle from under her bed and protectively covered her belly while feeding energy to Gaea.
"Mmm, that's nice. Thank you, dear."- Gaea said as she fell into a much-needed slumber.
Aragorn was also about to close his eyes but felt a spatial intrusion, one he recognized.
The hand-sized Spark flew out of a portal and quickly analyzed the situation.
"Looks like the EGR cleansing took a toll on her. How are you doing, Master Chief?"- Spark asked because he was there helping Aragorn when he was studying his soul.
Spark was more aware of the risks that Aragorn took than anybody else, other than Death, the expert in souls.
'.ꙅɘ|oH.ǫᴎi|ɒɘH'
Spark used a modified Soul Forge to scan and analyze Aragorn's soul—something which Aragorn didn't resist.
A soul with the shape of a western dragon was shown, on it one could see several rivers of energy coursing through with some spots of inactivity.
These spots could be regarded as a consequence of the holes left in his soul.
"I see. You're regenerating, which we knew you could do since the piece you gave to the baby regenerated almost instantly, but it's going slower than expected. I assume that you spent several eras in The Outside, right?"
'ɘviƚɒmɿiᎸᎸA'
"It could be that The Void hinders soul regeneration, that would explain why it is still healing. This also overlaps with the fact that The Void eats at the souls of everything. Even if your soul became part of it, it is still a soul-hostile environment. My projection sets recovery to approximately 4 weeks. Do you have to stay here feeding the tree?"
'ɘviƚɒmɿiᎸᎸA'
"What about Gaea? Does she also have to stay?"
'ɘviƚɒmɿiᎸᎸA'
"I see..."- Spark floated in silence while doing an incalculable amount of projections and running several scenarios, not only about the current situation of Aragorn and Gaea but also about the life signs of the organics he is detecting at the base of the tree.
While Spark levitated a tentacle grew from below and started to pet him.
"This is probably a result of damage to your inhibitions centers... I missed you as well."- Spark responded with the growth of a hard light tentacle that intertwined with Aragorn's.
"Okay! I'm going to start up the A-117 and assume your mortal identity, Aragorn Abner. I'll start the socioeconomic takeover of Chile, hopefully by the end of your unwanted vacation I should have about 80% of what's left of the country under our banner."- A-117 is one of the latest lifeless androids that Aragorn made.
He made these androids for cases like this one, where he can't act by himself.
"I'll have the butler and your maids stand guard while you two rest. Between our Maid-CEOs, Seraph, Fury, and me we should be able to take over this place seamlessly. I might as well take this chance to get rid of the Hydra cells of this country."
'|uᎸɘƚɒɿᎮ'- Aragorn expressed his thanks and fell asleep.
Sparked called Irina, Yelena, and Bucky and waited for them to relieve him of the guarding duty.
Not even a minute later, three portals opened and five people came out.
"Hey Spark, Can I have Steve and Peggy help out?"
"Mr. Rogers is fine, but won't it be a problem for Ms. Carter?"- Although Peggy, after the treatments and regen baths, can be considered as healthy as a regular human, maybe even more, she was still just that, a regular human.
The white hair and some of the most noticeable age marks couldn't be removed without the help of Aragorn. The regen baths are not the fountain of youth.
"I'll be okay, worst-case scenario I'll just have one of them portal me out."- Peggy.
'She has separation anxiety.'- Bucky sent Spark.
'Isn't that even more of a reason to not have the squishable human in the field?'
'With the barrier Aragorn left, there won't be much for us to do.'
'Fine, but you better portal her out if something happens. She is needed for Mr. Roger's mental health... and yours to some extent.'
'Certainly!'
"Alright, Ms. Carter... The Master Chief and Gaea have to stay for about 4 weeks here, you can take turns with the guarding duty and sleep at Halo or you could use Viridis Magic on the trunk and make yourself a temporary shelter."
They could probably stay on top of Aragorn, he is more than wide enough, but since two of them couldn't fly and they are more than a few miles above ground level, it's better to have a reliable resting place.
Irina walked to the trunk and placed her hands on it. Two green magic circles, one on each hand, and she was able to analyze part of the tree.
"Wow..."- Is all she could say when she felt the internal structure of the trunk and the gargantuan amounts of energy in it.
Bucky and Yelena followed her example after seeing her expression.
"Damn!"- Yelena.
"These guys are monsters..."- Bucky.
"What are you talking about?"- Peggy asked Bucky.
"It's the amount of energy, Peggy. It's probably enough to cast a revitalizing spell all over Eurasia."
"The tree is also impressive, Ms. Carter. Probably Seraph is the only one who could house this much energy without blowing up."- Yelena.
"Is it dangerous?"- Steven asked.
"No, our Goddess and Young Master are stabilizing it. I'm not sure how they can cast spells while asleep, though."- Irina.
"Damn! Check out the root growth! I think it breaches the crust."- Yelena excitedly said.
The magic circles on the other two glowed and spun in response to their desire.
"Damn..."x2- Irina and Bucky once again realized how monstrous the sleeping beauty and dragon were.
"What is it supposed to do? Aside from removing the radiation."- Peggy asked.
"Mmmm, it's hard to tell... It purifies both the sea and atmosphere, but the terms of purification are subjective to the caster, in this case... I think it's Aragorn."- Yelena.
"...Which means?"- Steve asked in confusion.
"It means that what will be purified depends on the caster, for example, Hydrocarbons, Dioxins, Heavy Metal, Mycotoxins, Nitrates, Nitrites, Arsenic, and in this case radiation as well."- Bucky answered.
"Huh? How did you figure it out? I can't get a read on the spell."- Yelena.
"You have to cast the identification on the roots at the sea and the leaves instead of the magic equation, the spell matrix is too complicated."- Irina explained.
"Oh!... I see it now. It probably purifies other stuff that is not currently present at that part of the sea."- Yelena.
Irina nodded in support.
"Can you make that shelter that Spark talked about?"- Peggy.
"Yeah, it's probably easier than how it normally is, since we share the same energy signature as the tree."- Bucky.
"Any requests?"- Yelena.
"... 5 bedrooms, living room, kitchen, laundry room, and a bathroom?"- Peggy.
"Sounds good to me... Please add a balcony, I bet the sunset is magnificent from here."- Steve agreed.
"The Kitchen and the laundry room are not needed. Cleaning spells and the organic replicator can take care of it."- Irina.
"... Right, I tend to forget about those."- Peggy.
"Do we need to build a roof over Lady Gaea?"- Steve asked while pointing at the sleeping beauty on the bed of moss.
"No. If our Goddess doesn't want to get wet then there will be no rain. The same with sunlight."- Irina
"That's convenient."- Peggy.
"Bucky, Do you think we should build a room for when our goddess awakens?"- Yelena.
"Mmmm, no. I don't think so."- Bucky.
"We don't know when she'll wake up and she is better than us at Viridis Magic."- Irina.
With that, the three casters got to work on their temporary shelter, under the supervision of Steve and Peggy.
Most of the furniture was shapen out of the bark of the tree, and due to the crystal-like nature of the trunk, there was no need to worry about the glass for the windows.
Lighting was not an issue either, since casting a small light orb where needed was more than enough. Magic was also used for water, while waste disposal was fed to the tree.
Since each of them carried a P-Link no other entertainment devices were needed.
It was around time for sunset and they were on the balcony, aiming to earn the bragging rights about enjoying the first sunset at the Arbor Mundi.
"So... Each of you carries around their personalized seat in your storage?"- Peggy asked.
While most of the furniture was made out of the tree itself, when they gathered at the balcony to enjoy the sunset they also pulled out bean bags, beach chairs, and reclinable sofas.
"Our work consists of assisting the Young Master... He's not a very active dragon, he normally spends time creating, fixing, or designing stuff, when he is not working on his systems. So we spend a lot of time seated."- Irina said from her bean bag.
"And when he is moving around it's usually while sparring with us or training Jean, we spar about once a week only. So there's a lot of downtime."- Yelena said from her beach chair.
"I like to be prepared for every occasion."- Bucky answered, unaware that this was part of the butler instinct that was ingrained in him during his time in the training room.
It is not that Aragorn was brainwashing him, or any of the girls for that matter, it is that repeating actions with the objective of understanding, while in the learning room, speeds up the normal learning process.
The breathtaking scenery imposed a pensive silence, there was no other place on Earth where you could experience something like it.
At the front, west of the tree, the mountains cast a shadow over what used to be Santiago, what now is the base of the Arbor Mundi. Behind these mountains, The South Pacific Ocean functions as the bed where the sun sets. Above the setting sun, the elongated branches of the tree serve as a roof to protect the sun.
That is how December 30th, 1999 ended. In contrast to the peaceful atmosphere present here, the rest of the world was in chaos. A capital city was lost two days ago, the unidentified life form AKA The Dragon of the End returned, a world tree was planted and grown in a day, and a woman was spotted riding the dragon.
Most South American countries decreed a curfew and in a few, Martial Law was enacted.
_____________________________
The next morning when the five of them were up and about, Gaea woke up.
She opened her electric blue eyes and willed the moss blanket to recede to the bed. She combed her silver-white hair with her finger three times and that was enough to set it right.
"Dear... You can let go now. I will impose on you later when I return to bed."- She said as she patted the tentacle that was still 'protecting' her belly and feeding her energy.
The tentacle wriggled back into the 'floor' and she rubbed her exposed belly.
"This will be the highest maintenance baby I've ever mothered."- She said with a motherly smile.
"*GASP!*"x3- The three Homobestialis Magicae with sensitive ears heard her.
"Na-AH! He didn't!"- Yelena cried in refusal.
"Fuck! The madame is gonna kill them!"- Bucky was sweating bullets.
"W-What sho-uld we do? I don't think we can fight on either side!"- Irina was trembling.
"What's going on?!"- Steve asked while trying to shake Bucky from the shock.
"Girl! What's wrong?!"- Peggy shouted while trying to appease Irina.
Gaea recognized that she was not alone when she heard the shouting and started panicking.
"Oh no! What should I do? It was supposed to be a secret!"
Gaea is used to the oversensitiveness of Aragorn, so she was not paying attention to her surroundings because she trusts him. Unfortunately, Aragorn was not in the best shape at the moment.
She hurriedly floated to the balcony where they were.
"Shush, you didn't hear anything! Alright? Nothing!"- She said to the trio with her most motherly smile.
"My goddess, the madame will find out eventually! What will you do?"- Irina.
"Noona? Of course, she already knows."- She said in puzzlement.
"WHAT?!"x3
"It's her baby as much as it's mine, Why wouldn't she know?"
Disbelief and confusion were written all over their faces.
"... The Madame is the... father?"- Bucky.
"... The Madame recognized as hers the fruit of the infidelity?"- Irina.
"Did she start a harem with both Gaea and Aragorn? I always thought something was going on between the three of them. Did she impregnate Aragorn too? Clearly the Madame is the man in the harem, so if she is knocking up Gaea I bet she'll do Aragorn as well. Maybe she let Aragorn impregnate her. Maybe the three are pregnant..."- Yelena murmured.
"Eh? NO! Aragorn is the father but Noona and I are the mothers... Were you thinking that Aragorn went behind Noona's back and sexed me? Hahahahaha! You silly children! Aragorn and I are not suicidal. And what the hell was that Yelena?"- She said as she went back to laugh out loud.
Yelena had the decency to show a blush, just a minor one.
"Excuse me, Lady Gaea... Three parents? How is that possible?"- Steve asked after piecing together the situation.
"Emmm. It's a pretty normal thing among the divine. In our case, Aragorn split off a piece of his soul, and Noona and I filled it with our essence, I then set to rest in my womb. Aragorn also provides me with energy for the baby's nourishment."- Gaea made the tree grow a seat for her and sat down among them.
"When did this happen?"- Irina.
"When we first met. I wanted to mother a child between Aragorn and me, but he was already in love with Noona so he proposed this idea, given that Noona can't house 'Life' within her."
"That was almost three years ago!"- Bucky exclaimed as he eyed her bumpless belly.
"Not to mention, and I'm not judging, that our goddess wanted to have a child after the first meeting. What happened to logic and the order of things?"- Yelena.
"Hehehe! I wanted a strong child as a guarantee that I would have a backup for the universe's protection."- Gaea laughed at their surprise.
"If you don't mind me asking, Lady Gaea, When are you due?"- Peggy.
"I don't mind at all, my child. Especially not coming from you. I'm happy that you are getting your happy ending. You deserve it."- Gaea smiled at Peggy and caressed her cheek tenderly, this left Peggy confused.
"This baby has 7 years left of tenancy in my divine belly!"
"10 years of pregnancy!?"- Yelena exclaimed.
"It was supposed to be ten times more, but Aragorn's help with the energy supply is speeding things up."
"Things are so... different, ever since my soldier returned."- Peggy mused out loud.
Steve, supportively, wrapped his arm around her shoulder. An action that he would not have dared to take during their times, but after the months of adaptation in the learning room and the life that Peggy lived, the two of them could no longer be restrained by previous social dogma.
"Lady Gaea, this is not your first pregnancy, right?"- Peggy.
"No, it isn't. You can consider most myths somewhat veridic. I'm not a mother goddess only in name."- Gaea said with a smug smile.
"My first child came about roughly 4 billion years ago, maybe a little bit less than that. He was known by different names, Atum, Amon Ra, Demogorge, and the God-Eater, among others. It was the first birth resulting from the actions between two different 'genders' on the planet!"
"... 4 billion years..."- Steve said in obvious astoundment.
"Was there even life around that time?"- Peggy exclaimed.
"... Oh! I see. You guys haven't been introduced to Aragorn's complete 'Truth'. Let me give you a short recapitulation of my kind, The Elder Gods."- Gaea said in a teaching tone to Peggy and Steve.
"We were spawned by the Demiurge's energies soon after the Earth's formation, approximately 4 billion years ago. Ah! Right! You don't know who that is!... Demiurge Primordial was/is the sentient life force of Earth's biosphere."- Demiurge could be considered a title that is passed, but Demiurge Primordial was the first, the one that seeded Earth with life.
"Things were going well for a few millennia and each of us kept to our metier. I was working on cooling down the planet and making possible the conditions for life, creating water, stabilizing the atmosphere, and such. I was very content with my work and was elated when the first sprouts of life were born in the oceans."- Gaea made the floor take on the shape of the world of the past and made it a visual aid to her story.
She added water for the seas, a mist for the atmosphere, and miniature models of her and her siblings.
"But then Set discovered that he could increase his powers by eating our siblings, and he became the Earth's first murderer."- She made a representation of a serpent eating the centaurian Hyppus.
"In the process, he became a Demon, and consequently the degeneration of the Elder Gods began. My siblings started to imitate him and ate at each other, some out of fear, some out of greed, some in self-defense, but, regardless of the motive, every single one that ate became a demon."- The miniature figures battled each other while Gaea was working on Life.
"Horrified that the demons might threaten my sprouts of life, I called upon the Demiurge to produce me a savior that could wipe out the Elder God demons, this savior was born after I mated with it and I gave birth to my first son, the sun-god Atum"
"My son, in his form of Demogorge the God-Eater, devoured all the demons, except those that escaped, such as Set and Chthon. These two realized that it was futile to fight my son, so they created their planes of existence adjacent to Earth and decided to exert their influence from their realms."- She said with a tone of regret.
"After the fight, my son released the energies that he had obtained from the demons into the heavens and he seeded it with this 'Godstuff', he then took to the skies and merged with the Sun, awaiting the time when his role would be needed to be fulfilled once again."
"I then merged with the Earth itself, to help it heal after the fight cracked the surface apart into the tectonic plates, and dedicated myself to guiding evolution. Out of the whole conflict, only four of us survived, Set and Chthon the Elder God Demons, and Oshtur and me the Elder Goddesses. Oh! I forgot to tell you that Oshtur had left Earth tens of thousands of years before the conflict started."- Oshtur was curious about the stars.
"She was very surprised about what happened and since my sister is a good sister she decided to create her own plane adjacent to Earth, like Set and Chthon, since she didn't want to leave me alone. She later created the Vishanti to keep away entities that threaten to harm Earth and consequentially me, which are the patrons of the Sorcerer Supreme"- Gaea smiled lovingly at this.
"I also created my own plane, Avalon (Otherworld). Which is the place where Aragorn went to collect samples and specimens, the ones that helped in the birth of your species."- She said to the Homobestialis Magicae trio.
"My Lady, What were the planes that your siblings created? I think that is part of the advanced courses so probably only Kitty or the Queen know about it-Oh! And Master (Yao)."- Yelena asked.
"My sister created The Astral Plane, Chthon the Flickering Realms, and Set the Serpent's Sea... Going back to the story... I then used the energies left by my son in addition to my own to bring to life what you know as the Gods of Earth. Years later I also mated with many of them under different identities thus becoming the 'Mother-Goddess' mentioned in several of your myths."- Many of these gods' names are no longer known after the Celestial brought an era to an end with the Great Cataclysm, but Titans, Olympians, Asgardians, and the Ennead are some of these famous names.
"That's... a lot."- Peggy said.
"Yes, it was..."- Steve.
"That's why she is our favorite Goddess!"- Yelena said with pride overflowing.
"Indeed. The Young Master once said that without Gaea there's no fluff, I think he meant something more profound, like how there wouldn't be any of the life that there is without our Goddess."- Irina said with satisfaction.
"No, Irina... I think he meant that literally. I don't think there was any profound meaning to it."- Bucky knows that Fluff, Shine, Noona, Gaea, Spark, and Seraph occupy about 99% of Aragorn's mind, luckily they are included under 'Fluff', and he suspects that Jean Grey in under 'Shine'.
"... Maybe..."- Irina said in mortification.
"~Hahahahah! James is right, Irina. Aragorn thanked me because he said that without me there wouldn't be any Fluff in his life."- Gaea laughed as she remembered one of the absurd conversations she had with Aragorn.
"That sounds about right."- Yelena agreed.
As they talked and joked midday arrived and Aragorn woke up.
He materialized a psionic clone on the balcony and shaped Gaea's seat to accommodate the two of them.
"Hello. Long time no see."- He said in a somewhat robotic manner.
Irina and Yelena smiled at this, there was no doubt in their hearts that their 'Daddy' would recover.
Bucky felt relief in abundance. He won't say it, because he is a manly man, but his emotions (Which were for all the empath girls to feel) were mostly stress, worry, and fear.
"You can talk now!"- Gaea said as she leaned her head on his shoulder.
"The communication centers are mostly healed."- He nodded while lowering his head to rest it on Gaea's own.
"Hello. Ms. Carter. Nice to meet you. Pressing circumstances thwarted our meeting."
"Nice to meet you, Mr. Abner. Thank you for what you did for me and what you did for the world. I spent most of my life fighting the good fight, to protect this planet, and it all almost went to hell in just one day."- Peggy lamented.
"The responsible parties will be dealt with accordingly."- He promised.
"What are the circumstances of the kidnappers?"- He asked Irina and Yelena.
"We captured them."- Yelena answered while her eyes gained a feral gleam for a moment.
"They never made contact with the one that sacrificed the baby to the Green Door, but they referred to someone named 'Dark Witch' whom they contacted through a third party that was interested in Jean's blood and cerebrospinal fluid, we suspected this person to be Essex."- Irina.
"They believe it to be in their rights to claim the host of the Phoenix, but they were not entirely malicious towards us. As stupid as that may sound! They thought that they could make amends afterward and strong-arm you into diplomacy."- Yelena.
"They also promised Xavier that they would not harm Jean, and they were truthful in their belief... It just so happens that the term 'harm' meant something different to them than to Xavier."- Bucky.
"Time travel to uncover the Dark Witch's identity is needed. After the healing's completion."- Aragorn said in his mechanical tone.
"Will you revive Xavier?"- Bucky asked because he saw the anguish on his friend, Logan.
"... He is not liked."- Aragorn.
"~You don't have to like him, my Love. I saved his soul in case you wanted to bring him back."- Death materialized in Aragorn's lap with her legs over Gaea.
"Noona!"x2- Aragorn and Gaea exclaimed in glee.
Aragorn circled his arms around Death's waist and rubbed his head on hers.
"I see that you're getting better. *Muah*"- Death commented while using her free hand to pet Gaea's head and dropping a few kisses on Aragorn's lips.
"It is the communication centers. Unable to return to a humanoid form nor use the more delicate aspects of psychokinesis and energy control. The emotion, restrain, impulse, and processing centers are damaged. Erratic behavior is observed. Not detrimental enough to warrant care. Rest is recommended and expected."- Aragorn briefed as if doing the damage report of a machine.
"Jeez! When Spark said that your masterful plan was to blow your soul up, I didn't know if to cry in despair or commend your bravery. You utter fool! How much time did you spend on The Outside?"- Death 'playfully' hit his chest a few times with enough force to pulverize adamantium.
"Between seven to twelve billion years. State of semi-consciousness."- Aragorn mitigated the kinetic energy so probably only Gaea understood how much force those playful punches carried.
"Agh! So reckless! You should have let this universe die. There's an infinite amount of universes such as this, but there's only one of you! What was I supposed to do if you didn't return? Or our baby? Or our family? Did you think of that before you went and blew yourself up?"- Death asked with some vitriol in her voice.
"You are Mine, and so is your life! Mine and only Mine. MINE! Your priority shall always be me and our family! Not this doomed universe! Get it through your head! Everything you are and will be is MINE! So don't throw away what isn't yours!"- Death ordered maniacally.
"A link was established with the heart previous to the v-Energy Core detonation. Return was an absolute condition. Only two possible outcomes were part of actuality. #1 Failure = Death is brought upon the world, and the family evacuates to Earth-Z for refuge and to await my return. #2 Success = Return by following the link to the heart, evacuation unneeded."
"I know, I know! Spark already explained it to me... BUT still! *Sigh* What will I do with you?"- Death said in exasperation.
"Love me."- Aragorn answered factually to the rhetorical question.
"No doofus! That was rhetorical. I see what you meant when you said that you were still healing."- Death said while smiling lovingly at the idiotic behavior.
"Anyway! Tribunal and Eternity are very impressed with your results, you're expected to report to Tribunal when you're done healing. You're also expected to report to my chambers for some punishment or reward, I haven't decided yet."
"New injuries could be detrimental to optimal performance. A reward is recommended."- Aragorn said.
Irina, Bucky, and Yelena facepalmed in the background. Peggy let out a small giggle and Steve was having a hard time keeping a straight face.
"Don't you worry, Dear! I will help you heal afterward!"- Gaea gave him a thumbs-up while giggling a little.
"Acceptable."- Everything made sense to Aragorn, so, of course, it was deemed acceptable.
"~We will see. I have to go now. Will the New Year's party be canceled?"- Death smiled at the goofy behavior of her dragon and her Gaea.
"We thought so."- Yelena nodded.
"Why don't we just have it here?"- Gaea asked.
Given their guarding duty, and Gaea and Aragorn's unavailability, they thought that the party would be canceled.
"It doesn't sound like such a bad idea, it's not like we will invite someone we don't trust so I don't think anyone will have any problems with the Master's behavior."- Irina said after thinking about it.
"It should also work as a celebration party for Aragorn's return."- Bucky.
"And the fact that the world didn't end."- Steve.
"It's decided then! I will modify our tree house! I should make something pretty and amazing!"- Gaea confirmed her support.
"I'll help! I want to see how you use your divinity!"- Yelena expresses her desire to learn.
"I'll stay guarding."- Bucky.
"Then I'll go to Halo and work things out."- Irina.
"See you later, my dragon."- Death told Aragorn after she kissed him possessively and went away.
Gaea got to work, slowly so that Yelena could understand what she was doing, and in a few hours, she had a mansion with tall windows built in the tree.
Steve, Bucky, and Peggy were observing as the goddess and fox girl changed this portion of the west face of the tree.
"It's strange how this is your new normal, Bucky."- Peggy said as she signaled to the spectacle of plant life manipulation.
"It's your new normal as well."- Bucky.
This was a truth that neither of them could deny.
"Bucks... Do you think that he will bring the councilman back?"- Steve asked.
"If it was up to Aragorn? No. Aragorn is fiercely protective of us, especially of Jean, Seraph, and Kitty, it was already amazing that he was tolerating Xavier after what he did to Jean."- Bucky.
"What did he do? I thought he was only involved in the kidnapping incident."- Steve.
"He edited her memory and sealed parts of it away. In doing so he almost killed the girl's sense of self and nearly destroyed the world."- Bucky.
"Jesus! How many times has this man put the world at risk?"- Steve exclaimed.
"To be fair, he didn't know what he was doing the first time. So Aragorn only warned him. The second time... I would also have killed him if I was in Aragorn's shoes."- Bucky would have sent him through the Green Door if it had been up to him.
"There's only so much that ignorance can excuse! This time more than five million people died, and apparently the entire universe was at risk."- Peggy said. Peggy was at some point in her life Director of SHIELD, she understood better than most how actions have consequences, and how accountability works.
"That's why I said that if it was up to him he wouldn't revive him."
"And if it wasn't?"- Peggy asked, she was interested in the personality of her savior. Although she has heard recounts of his quirks and personality, what you can witness is usually better understood.
"That's the tricky part. Jean didn't want him dead because some of her friends depended on Xavier, whether financially, emotionally, or legally speaking. So she asked Aragorn to leave his life in her hands, Kitty supported her idea, and Aragorn was aware that there was some truth in their words, mutants needed Xavier."- Bucky.
"But look where that got us..."- Peggy.
"Yes, I agree. That's why I also think that that man shouldn't be brought back. But if I know my boss and friend as well as I do, I think he will leave the decision in the girls' hands, once more."- He commented while looking at the giant serpent head coiled around the tree.
Approximately 45 minutes ago, Aragorn had dispersed the psionic clone and went back to sleep.
"Why? Even to me, it seems like that man had enough chances already."- Steve was always a supporter of life, but that doesn't mean he was a fool.
"I think he wants Jean to get rid of Xavier."- Bucky shared his conclusions.
"How come? That sounds unlike him. I wouldn't want my loved ones to stain their hands with blood, much less the blood of someone that they valued."- Steve.
"It's for her growth... right?"- Peggy asked.
"Yes, Peggy is right. But I also agree with you, Steve. I think that Jean's patron asked him to do this."
As the trio kept talking, a portal opened and the redhead of their conversation walked through.
She waved at them from the distance and then floated to Aragorn's head. They went back to their business and gave the two some privacy... Not that that was possible with Bucky's sharp ears.
Jean floated to his forehead and laid down on top, the previous link that they shared was severed when he entered the Green Door because there was the chance of TOBA flooding his mind with Destruction and for it to affect Jean. So Jean reconnected their minds and... fell asleep.
Habits are some of the strongest traits that identify sapient life. Jean hasn't been able to sleep since she woke up after the Shi'ar locked her ego.
Aragorn opened one eye and secured her with his TK, before going back to sleep.
_______________________
Earth, Chile, Formerly Santiago.
Outside the Barrier.
"Yes, Sir!... A psychokinetic mutant, Sir... He only asked for the right to do business... No, Sir, he is not crazy... Yes, Sir, I trust him... Aragorn Abner, Sir... I looked for him, Sir, he didn't come to me... Yes, Sir, he worked with me on a few cases... Off the record, Sir... Thank you for your trust, Sir!"- Secretary Hydra Pierce bitch! I already have a 50cal bullet with your ass' name on it.
"You're thinking about putting a bullet through his asshole, are you not?"- Spark asked with a knowing and teasing smile.
"Shut up, Spark! And no! I'm thinking about putting the whole magazine through Pierce's asshole."- The bitch dared to say that he trusted me! Of course, I want to fuck him up!
"~Kinky, but I don't judge. Stimulating the nerves attached to the prostate can be pleasurable."- This dirty motherfucking robot!
"Shut it! Aren't you supposed to be acting like a conceited rich kid?"- I asked Spark who was inhabiting an Aragorn Abner android... What I wouldn't give for a few hundred of those...
"Yeah, don't worry. I'll get on my role once we land. This Quinjet is very stable, by the way, you should commend your engineers."
"I will not! Most of them were Hydra. Fucking squids have the best of everything. They only released this design after they saw one of your aircraft."
"... Pff! HAHAHAHA! Sorry, Fury. I didn't mean to laugh, it's just that the whole situation is so stupid. They try to compete with our tech by supplying you with their tech while you are on our side. Hahahah!"
"I don't see how that's funny!"- Bitch robot!
"I know, I know! Sorry. It's just so ironic. You fed them fat all these years and now they are feeding you fat."
"Tell me about i- What the hell is that?!"- I point to the river that is floating at our 9 o'clock (Left).
"It's water."
"Oh really?! Here I was thinking that it was a densely packed cloud of flying fucks!"- This robot will be the death of me! I prefer working with the girl, she is cute, a little bit derpy but cute.
"Fine! So grumpy! Maybe you are the one with a magazine up his asshole!... The tree grew out of the hole left behind by the collapse of space, the tree filled the hole but not all of it. The water is supposed to fill it up and cool down the heat that the roots expel. Aragorn is extracting desalinized water from the Pacific."
"The heat? Since when do trees expel heat?"- I bet this is the result of the advent of insanity incarnate.
"Most of the nutritional quota is extracted from the mantle, which is filled with magma."-Excuse me, What?
"First of all, What the hell was wrong with the normal way of the normal trees gathering normal nutrients? Second of all, Is that motherfucker still growing?"- They can't do anything normal, they always have to go the extra mile! The insanity mile!
I mean, the shadow of that tree at noon already covers the whole fucking city ruin! 650 square kilometers of shadow. (250.966 Square miles)
"The normal way would have ruined the soil, and yes, it's still growing, it's supposed to reach the Stratosphere."- Are these idiots crazy?... That's a stupid question! Of course, they are!
For the sake of my sanity, I decided not to ask questions. Not long after, we landed in the base camp on this side of the barrier. My guy, Coulson, is on the other side with a team of specialists who were monitoring the situation with the EGR before Aragorn erected the barrier.
"Director, Sir!"- Maria Hill awaits me at the landing pad.
"At ease, Agent. I brought the consultant that will bring us inside."- I signal to Mr. Aragorn Abner (Spark in Aragorn's human form, no horns, no space eyes, yes titanium rainbow quartz nails, slightly pointed ears, biforked tongue, etc.)
"Sir... Is it okay to bring a high-profile civilian like him here?"- Hill asks.
"So far, he is the only one that has brought a solution to getting in and out. The only thing he asked was the rights to conduct business with the Dragon, and what's left of Chile was more than happy to comply with the requests of this high-profile civilian... after he donated billions and made some promises."
Their country is falling apart, obviously, they would accept the helping hand of the billionaire.
"Sir, that's my concern. Who in their right mind would think about doing business with that monster?"- If only you knew how stupid this situation is.
"Why, me, of course, my lovely agent. Fury! You didn't tell me that you hired supermodels. Do you have an opening? I think I would be a great addition to your front-page team. It would also do wonders to your inclusivity numbers, you know me being a mutant and all of that."- I wonder how Aragorn is going to keep up with this act when he returns.
"Abner, stop messing with my agents. Let's see if you can put your money where your mouth is! Follow me!"- I motion for him to follow after and I move to the entry point.
"Sir! Yes, Sir! Mi Capitán!"- Spark. Pfff! Aragorn is going to be annoyed. Serves him right.
We walked to the edge of the barrier, on the other side my guy was waiting for us with an aircraft to take us to the base of the tree.
"Show me what you can do, Abner!"- I signaled at the barrier.
"Right on it!"- Spark walked to the barrier and passed right through.
A commotion spread through the crowd witnessing the event.
"That's easy!"- He shouted from the other side.
"How did you do it?"- Hill.
"It's not much of a secret. I just asked the dragon to let me in, by the way, its name is Alduin. I'm not sure about the gender, though."- Alduin my black ass.
"You asked?"- Hill.
"Yes, Covergirl. While I was watching the tragedy through one of my satellites, I got a reading for psion traces, those readings spiked yesterday when Alduin returned. I knew then that it had to have some psionic aspect to it. When we landed I felt the field that is constantly monitoring around here so I just connected to my own and asked very nicely for an audience. Simple."
"You said it's monitoring this camp?"- I asked sternly. I have to keep up my role, I already knew he was monitoring everything, not just the camp.
"Yes, I would normally recommend a psion scrambler or a psionic damper. But in this case, I don't know how Alduin would take it, so it is best to keep it as it is. Alas, I'm not the supermodel agent here—Don't get me wrong! I could be one if you ask nicely. I totally qualify for the position."- He ran a hand through his white mane.
"*Sigh* Just ignore him. Hill, I leave you in command."- I said as I passed through the barrier to meet Spark and Coulson on the other side.
"Sir. It's reassuring to have you here."- Coulson.
"Him?! What about me? I was the one that got us free passage."- Spark is having a blast messing with Aragorn's image.
"He likes to talk, Coulson. You don't have to pay attention to everything that comes out of his mouth."
"Hah! Keep telling yourself that, everything that comes out of my mouth is filled with eras of wisdom. Let's get on this bird, I have a possible multibillion-dollar appointment, and I won't allow any more delays."
We boarded the Quinjet and Coulson flew us to the temporary camp that my team set at the base of the tree.
I could finally see the difference in level that Spark said Aragorn was filling up. By the end, I expect a shallow lake to surround the tree.
"Sir. There was no activity yesterday, but today, about one hour ago, the dragon started to water the tree."- Coulson pointed at 12 o'clock, where the river was pouring like a waterfall on some of the superficial roots of the tree.
"How do you know Alduin is behind it? It could be the chocolate goddess that was riding him."- Spark.
"Goddess? You say? Why do you refer to the rider as a goddess? Some of the guys in the camp said that she was a witch or a demon."- Coulson. It is a goddess, she always reminds me of my mother.
"Witch?! That's not possible! Demon? Mmmmm Maybe a chocolate-skinned succubus, otherwise it's an offense! Because tell me, if this is not a goddess then what is?"- Spark tapped on his 'Smartwatch' and a short holograph of Goddess Gaea appeared. It was a close-up that left no detail to the imagination, none of that blurry shit 'my' technicians give me.
I have to get myself one of those satellites. I would probably have it on Ross 24/7-Argh! But there's also Striker, and Roxxon, and Essex, so many targets!
"That some pretty high tech. I didn't know that you were venturing into the tech market."- Sometimes the habits of a spy can't be stopped, he is even trying to extract information from our 'temporary' ally... I'm so proud.
"Not yet, next quarter a new line of smart devices should be launched under a new baby company named N-Tek. I'll leave that venture under one of my people, but personally, I should be handling the new Umbrella Corporation."- Spark.
"What's the focus of that one?"- Coulson.
"Preserving the health of the people. Mostly pharmaceuticals. My gut is telling me that I should be able to get something groundbreaking from this magnificent tree!"- More like your Master told you.
"We shall see."- I comment.
"Mr. Coulson, land us on the west side of the trunk."- Spark.
Coulson looked at me for confirmation and I nodded.
The Quinjet landed and then we got out. Up, high above, the form of Aragorn coiled around the trunk could barely be made out.
"I hope you don't expect us to climb all the way up there. We had some climbing equipment in one of the birds but we couldn't pierce the bark. After some crystallographic tests, we were able to determine that we were dealing with a molecular crystal with an abnormally high intermolecular binding. It might as well be the new strongest substance in the world."- Coulson.
"My dear Agent Coulson, What's your first name?"
"That's classified, Mr. Abner."
"Do you trust me?"
"Of course not, Mr. Abner. We've just met."
"Fine! Have it your way! You shall henceforth be known as Agent Coulson! But know that you hurt my poor heart. I was gonna give you advice about some investment and love business, but now I won't!"
"Get to the point, Abner."- I said.
"Don't rush me, Fury! But, Oh well! Now you both don't deserve a heads-up!"
"A He-"
Coulson couldn't finish because this bitch, Aragorn, launched us to his position...
Yeah, he launched us. I'm sure we didn't feel the whiplash effect because he countered it, but we did feel lots of Gs. I gotta give it to Coulson, he didn't utter a-
"HAHAHAHA FURY! I THINK HE PASSED OUT!"-... I gotta give more training to Coulson. He's still green.
We kept flying up until we arrived in front of Aragorn's massive draconic face.
I can't believe this no longer surprises me.
Coulson woke up and the first thing he did was glare at Spark, who responded with a sheepish grin. Then he was shocked by the sheer insanity of Aragorn's draconic mug.
Spark took a kneeling position and said:
"Lord Alduin. Aragorn Abner, Nicholas Fury, and Agent Coulson present their humble selves. We extend our belated greetings after intruding into your domain. We are most contented for allowing us this meeting, my lord."
Coulson and I couldn't help but stare at him.
'Greetings accepted.'- We heard a non-binary voice in our minds.
"My lord. Today I come to your rightful domain to extend an offer of possible assistance. It is my prudent assumption that one so esteemed as yourself would only show his glorious visage to us, lowly mortals, during times of great peril. In the face of such noble sacrifice, it is my onerous duty to extend, on behalf of humankind, our appreciation and gratefulness to your draconic self. I stand before you to offer myself, one psychokinetic human mutant, as a helper, assistant, and possible bridge for your righteous dealings with my kind."
How can neither of the two cringe at this play?
And is this how they planned to steal this country? They called it his rightful domain... The nerve these two have to rewrite international borders!
There was a seemingly loaded silence that saturated the atmosphere, but I knew that it all was theatrics... Poor Coulson is sweating his ass off.
'The need for a Messenger is recognized.'
"I shall be whatever you desire of me, my lord."
'A lack of might is present in the candidate.'
"I will endeavor to meet your requirements, no sacrifice is immense enough for my resolve, my lord."
'Mettle recognized. A test demanded.'
Where are these bastards going with this performance?
"I shall contend with all of my humble might."
Suddenly Spark was trapped in a crystal and his figure was obscured slowly by a cold light until we could no longer recognize his form under the light.
"Sir?"- Coulson whispered with worry.
"Let's wait."- Not like we could do anything else in front of these clowns.
*Crack* *Crack*
The crystal started to crack and light seemed to be pouring out. More cracks spread and abruptly the whole crystal dispersed.
Spark was kneeling huffing and puffing, but now he wore Aragorn's usual humanoid appearance plus a tail of the same draconic theme...
These fuckers put up this show just so that Aragorn could walk around without having to conceal his draconic features...
I'm impressed.
Though I don't know about the tail, maybe it's a new fashion, to match with the other girls.
"I have received and accepted your will, my lord. With Nicholas Fury and Agent Coulson as my witnesses, I depart from your glorious presence. I shall use your divine gift wisely, my lord."
'Success Anticipated'
"I shall deliver!"- Saying so, Spark, the star of the show, waved his hand and encased us in a barrier not unlike Aragorn's.
He lifted us and then flew us down to the Quinjet.
"Phillip J. Coulson is my full name."- Coulson said to Spark in recognition as we landed, and offered him a handshake.
"Nah! You're mistaken, Mr. Agent Coulson. Lord Alduin is the highest authority on the planet, under his eyes, your Name was coined as Agent Coulson. From this day forth, that is your name. Fury please help him update his employment contract and papers."- Spark said as he shook his hand.
"How is that possible? You introduced us, I didn't say my forename was Agent, you did!"- Coulson complained.
"But I asked for your name, Was I supposed to introduce you as Classified Coulson? Don't be an idiot, even a child would know that 'Classified' is not a name, Mr. Agent Coulson."- Spark let go of my poor Agent's hand and moved inside the Quinjet.
"Let's go! We need to clear this place, I will have to oversee who enters and exists in this spiritual place. I need to summon my people as well, the dollar awaits no one and neither does Lord Alduin!"- Spark shouted as he walked.
"Sir, he is not serious. Right, Sir?"
"*Sigh* I don't know Agent Coulson, we have yet to debrief him about what happened during his test. He could be serious... Agent Coulson."- I can at least appreciate an acceptable joke.
"... Sir... You meant it as my job title... Right, Sir?"
"Let's go... Agent Coulson, fly us to your Temp Camp, and let's debrief Mr. Abner after we move out."-... Heh! Who said Nick Fury didn't have a sense of humor?
___________________________________
(3rd Person)
In a room, on the base camp, outside the psionic barrier protecting The Tree, a debriefing session, more akin to an exclusive press conference whose only recipients were those authorized by the World Security Council and the WSC itself, was about to begin.
In this room loaded with anticipation and a healthy amount of uncertainty, some were looking for answers to questions that plagued the world! Questions like, What the hell is that creature? Who is responsible for the death of more than 5 million lives? What is the purpose of that mountain-like tree? What will the dragon do next?
Some had questions that implied responsibility, some had questions born from greed, and some had questions born from panic. But some... Some had other questions...
'So? Are you coming to the party? It's in 7 hours.'
'Spark... Is this the time for this shit?'- Fury outwardly maintained an expression that would make the beholder believe that he carried the weight of the world on his shoulders.
'Maybe, maybe not, just know that you're expected, also the Master Chief brought you a present.'- Spark kept his nonchalant expression while the different agents set up the equipment that would transmit this debriefing session to the WSC... and Hydra, of course... Maybe those are the same in this case.
'A present? Why? I didn't think that his Insanity would believe in Christmas. He is also overdue by a few days.'
'Don't atheists get and give presents at Christmas as well? As you know he was off-world, most of us already got our presents but you were not available when he returned.'
'Fair enough. My people are almost done, let's get this bitch on the road so that I go collect my well-deserved present.'
'~Have you been a good boy this year?'- Spark asked in a female sultry voice loaded with double meanings.
'... Fuck you, Man! Fuck.You.'
'~Heh... Who said I'm a man?'
"Sir, we are ready."- A technician interrupted Fury from having an aneurysm. A good employee, no doubt... Of course, the employee is Hydra.
"Unauthorized personnel! Clear the room! Agent Coulson and Hill, stay!"- Fury ordered in an uncompromising voice.
The door was closed as the last technician/agent left the room.
"God! That was slow! You guys need an urgent tech upgrade! I think teachers are faster with their TV/VCR car setup. 10 points less!"- Spark complained out loud, and the people in the room were more than happy to ignore him.
"So far your only redeeming quality has been your supermodel agents and their skintight uniforms! I was a little worried about public opinion and sexual harassment complaints when I made my girls dress in a maid outfit- Heck! I was worried that you would have dropped your federal ass on my property due to charges against my honorable persona, but who would have thought that you were a man of culture as well Fury?"- He said with a shit-eating grin.
"Not you, Mr. Agent Coulson. How is it that only you wear a suit? Is it because you have a higher clearance?"- Coulson flinched at the sound of his name.
Saving the people in the room from listening to another witty statement from the AI, the WSC members materialized in their hologram selves from within a transparent panel.
"Oh no! This can't be true! All of this, just to get some primitive hologram going?"- Spark tapped on his watch and a hologram of a selfie with the World Tree on his background was shown.
"Videocall would've been less snobbish, am I right?"- He tapped and the image went away, he tapped and it came back, he repeated this cycle a few times.
'Really, Fury, What's with this holo-tech? How can Hydra be so stingy and not share with you some of their cool tech?'
'Shut it! It's already a miracle that we get this shit.'
"Mr. Abner, please let's start with this meeting. We are not here to amuse you. Lives were lost and answers are demanded."- Pierce said.
"And you are? Why make me go through the hassle of you setting up this snobbishgram and I can't even see your faces? Aren't you too old to be playing the Villain in the Shadows, Mr. Shadow#1?"
'Yeah! Tell that bitch!'
'...'
"I'm Secretary Alexander Pierce, Mr. Abner."- He said with a firm tone and a vain smile.
"Mr. Shadow#1... Do you need me to call you an electrician? Someone who could fix the lighting in that room for you? Maybe if you include your shadow friends you can get a group discount."
"Abner, please! Let's just get to it. I'm sure you're not as free as you seem, I'm a busy person, I want to get this done and possibly not spend New Year's Eve holed up in this room."- Fury said while acting like a role model subordinate.
"Fine! Go ahead! Ask away."- Spark invited from the 'comfort' of his aluminum foldable chair.
"Thanks. Members of the World Security Council, to make sure we are on the same page, each of you got the earliest report from the previous expedition into the supervised zone?"
Various nods and 'Yes' confirmed this to Fury.
"Excellent. Abner, While going through the previous 'test', What information were you given?"
"That's a loaded question, if any. A little bit of history, some explanations of what the cause of the radiation was, some mindblowing revelations, you take a pick and let me know what you want! We have it all!"
"The cause of the incident."
"A human sorceress trying to summon a monster made up of Gamma. A witch. It appears those are real."
"Magic..."- Muttered a council member. To the WSC, magic was not a secret. Fury had dealt with sorcerers before.
"Seems like you knew."- Spark remarked.
"Do we have a name for this witch?"- Fury.
"No, Lord Alduin will take care of it later, but he doesn't know either."
"What about the people that fixed the hole that was left behind?"- Asked Pierce.
"What about them? Want their number or something, Mr. Shadow#1?"
"... How are they related to this?"- Pierce clarified with some chagrin.
"They are an order of legendary sorcerers charged with the protection of the planet. Lord Alduin asked them to fix the hole he left after he ripped the tear from our world."
"Charged by who?"- Fury.
"A triumvirate of god-like beings."
"God-like?"- Pierce asked with an arched eyebrow and a mocking smile.
"God-like, meaning 'Similar to a god', someone get Mr. Shadow#1 some help! His language center is failing!"- Spark teased.
"You know what I meant! Stop clowning Mr. Abner! What made you believe they were God-like?"- Pierce was losing his self-entitled shit.
"He showed me a memory of them and all I can say is that I put those guys in the same category as Lord Alduin and the goddess on his back. Beings of old, born billions of years ago, I don't know their names, though."- Spark answered with a challenging smile.
"What about this so-called goddess you mentioned?"- Pierce.
"What about her? Want her number or something? Get in line, then! She is out of your league, old man."
'Yes! Yeeees! Keep trashing this bitch! Call his momma fat!'- Fury sent Spark through the opened channel.
"Abner! We are not playing around here. Stop antagonizing Secretary Pierce."- Fury.
"Tsk! No one likes a busybody, that's why you're still single."
'... Fucking Robot! I'm single because everyone that gets close to me is a backstab waiting to happen!'
'I bet the baldness and the eye patch don't help either.'
'Go fuck yourself!'
"She is a goddess we all know. Mother Earth, Gaea, The All-Mother, she goes by different names depending on the era."
The shock saturated the room.
"You can't possibly believe that, do you?!"- Exclaimed Chao Yen.
"God and Goddesses! Fury, Did you bring a lunatic as a consultant?"- Ridiculed Jakuna Singh.
"Mr. Abner please don't bring your beliefs into this discussion!"- Pierce mocked.
"PFF! HAHAHAHAHA! You're all so fucking hilarious! HAHAHAHAHA!"- Sparked laughed like a madman.
The council members stopped their ranting and looked at Spark, his behavior made more solid the statement about his questioning sanity.
"Abner! Explain yourself!"- Fury demanded with severity.
'HAHAHAHAHAHA!'- Fury laughed.
"Sorry! Sorry! Hahahaha! It's just that they are supposed to be our world leaders and even after seeing the divine acts of Lord Alduin 3 days ago and the miracle brought to life in the shape of a World Tree yesterday, they get all bothered just because I said the lady was Mother Earth. Fucking hilarious, I tell you!"
"Let me ask you this! If I, a psychokinetic mutant, went to the past and the lesser informed humans of the era saw my 'divine' powers in use, wouldn't I become their 'God' in their minds? Wouldn't I be considered omniscient? Omnipotent? What the fuck do you even know about gods and goddesses you ignorant parasites?!"- Spark asked while shifting his eyes red.
"If I say she is a goddess then she is! What factual knowledge do you have to refute my claim? Huh?! I don't have to sit here and take your mockery, denial, and disbelief! I made a deal with Fury and I have fulfilled my end, Fury fulfilled his, the transaction was completed! I don't need to be here and answer these questions, YOUR questions! I'm doing it because I owe Fury, not because I recognized your flimsy authority, be humble that you get to enjoy some of the pie because of your association with Fury."
"Flimsy?!"- Shouted Pamela Hawley.
"Flimsy! Exactly as you heard. Are you going to try and coerce Lord Alduin under your 'all-mighty' council? Will you try to nuke the being that got rid of more radiation than the total sum of radiation humanity has spread until now? Or maybe will you drag it into a hearing and subjugate him via boredom?"- The ridicule in his voice was backed up with a display in the shape of a smile.
"You, ALL of you, don't seem to understand something very clear here... You have no power over Lord Alduin, so What sort of imaginary power do you think you have over its Messenger?"- Spark said while getting up from his chair and pointing to each of the primitive holograms.
"Get it clear once and get it right, don't forget it. You're not in control, you have no leverage, no power play, no jurisdiction, nada, nothing over Lord Alduin, and by extension ME!"- Spark said while pointing at his chest with both thumbs at the same time twice.
"I currently hold the biggest stick-Nay! You hold sticks, I have a lightsaber. Wanna compare sizes? Wanna fuck around and find out?"- He made a white glowing psionic blade and slashed at the chair with prejudice.
"You treat me like a suspect or someone to answer at your beck and call, yet you should treat me as the leader of a superpower... Because after I was made its Messenger, that is what I became..."- Spark turned off his psionic blade.
"Fury, if I have to sit on another of these chair-shaped slabs of aluminum another minute, I will stop being civil with your pretentious bosses."
"Do you have to act like this, Abner?"- Fury said in exasperation.
'MOOORE! Trash talk these pompous bitches into submission!'
'Jeez, What the hell did they do to you?'
'... They made me bald...'
'... We have actually been wondering how you ended completely bald from 1995 (Captain Marvel) to 1997.'
"Fine! I will behave... if they get the big black dildo out of their assholes. That's not healthy and I am not keen on accepting their petulance for something they did to themselves in the pursuit of deviant pleasure. No judgment."
'HEHEHEHEHE! YES! MOOORE!'
"Hill! Bring us one of the ergonomic chairs from IT. Fast! And you, behave!"- The last part was said while giving Spark a stern gaze.
"We will take a few minutes, council members. To calm everyone down."
'Do you think this little act will seal the deal?'- Spark.
'Damn right, it will! After this, they will only have me deal with 'Aragorn Abner' since only I can 'tame' him.'
'Yeah, this is better than having to mind control whoever Pierce plants to undermine your authority and puppet the Master Chief.'
'Mmhmm. By the way, Why did you tell them about Gaea?'
'It serves us in multiple ways. In the scenario of someone claiming to be a god, their first thought would be to defer to us to validate said claim. In the case that Aragorn has to be revealed as a Hydra-opposed force, they will feel even more pressured if they think that he has the backup of a literal goddess, this is related to an angle we might want to play. We are also trying to build up faith in Gaea since it's possible for her to weaken once we disconnect her from the planet. We are interested in studying how this power works within our goddess. There are other reasons, such as helping us in backup plans, or countermeasures in a similar fashion.'
'Makes some sense.'
A few minutes and an ergonomic chair later...
"Let's restart... Abner, please be on your best behavior."
"I will be, the chair had me cranky, and now I'm a new man, go ahead and ask your question, FURY."- By now the WSC was quiet.
"I speak for everybody when I say that we all have important questions, but what I must ask right now is, What is the objective of the dragon?"
"At the moment? Stabilization of the land and protection of the tree."
"What is considered 'the land' under the dragon's eyes?"
"Quite smart of you to catch on that... Chile. Lord Alduin meant the country."
"Why would it care about the geopolitical borders of humanity?"- Pierce.
"..."
"..."
"... Did you say something, Fury?"
"*Sigh*... Why would the dragon care about Chile?"- Fury asked while internally pleased.
"It appears that dragons are beings of honor. Lord Alduin follows a simple truth... Give and Take. Don't confuse the lack of records in our history as ignorance of my lord in our ways, my lord understands how this disaster spelled the end of the country known as Chile. Although the incident was not my lord's fault and you can factually say that today we breathe thanks to my lord's interference, he/she feels somewhat guilty about the massive loss of life."
"May I?"- Pamela Hawley asked.
"Oh wow! Manners, how delightful. Here I thought that the WSC was composed exclusively of self-entitled fossils. Ask away, Ma'am."
"I assume that your role as a messenger of his is born out of the task of stabilizing Chile, is that correct?"
"You are correct. I have other responsibilities but that's the main task."
"If we, as the major authority that assists world security and peace, decide to support Chile and cut out the middle man, you Mr. Abner, would that entail a change in the position of his messenger? Or an entire removal of the role?"
"Oh my, oh my. And she is direct as well. Fury I like this one, at least one of your bosses has some balls, as ironic as that is."- Spark chuckled.
"The answer is both yes and no. You need a psionic inclined to assume this role, and the position can't be eliminated, you wouldn't be able to communicate with Lord Alduin without a telepath."
"You're not the only telepath in the world, are you?"- Pierce said mirthfully.
"..."
"..."
"Did someone say something?"- Pierce had a mind to disconnect the call and just read the report later.
"We could change you for another telepath."- Pamela Hawley said.
Being a woman at this time was difficult for the women in power, hence it comes as no surprise that she is secretly feeling slightly vindicated. Given that Spark is ignoring the rest of her team, the team which tends to undermine her contributions.
"You could change me for one other telepath, just one, the rest are not qualified."
"What do you mean by that?"- She asked.
"This."- Spark said and made every member of the WSC levitate.
"W-H WHAT!"
"STOP IT!"
"WHAT THE FUCK!"
"FURY, PUT THIS MADMAN DOWN!"
'Are you doing this?'
'No, I'm not. The master chief is using focused by sight TK.'
'Hehehehe! Look at him float like a bitch!'- Fury said while looking at Pierce.
'Don't know how a bitch floats, but he looks stupid.'
"Abner! Stop this!"- Fury pointed at Spark's head with his gun.
"Hey, Hey, Hey! I'm just making a point here! No need to get all jumpy."- Spark set the toys down and Fury put his gun away.
"Ma'am... There's only one other psionic mutant as strong as me on the planet, she could be the only viable replacement, anyone else will die and at best will end up a vegetable if they try to speak to my lord."
'Why are you putting Red on their sights?'
'The Phoenix Force wants her to have some field experience.'
'Damn cosmics are savages! She is barely 18 this year and filled to the brim with innocence.'
'I disagree, I told the Master Chief that he should stop coddling her. She is the only one that doesn't have field experience. Even the toddler maids have a modicum of experience.'
"Who is she?"- Pierce demanded.
"... Fury, Did this thing just ask me to point out at my replacement? Does this thing even have a brain? If it does, Can someone please turn it on?! If I had to deal with this thing daily I would also end up bald, just saying, man!"
"Shut up, Abner! Just answer the idi-question!"
'Shit! I almost fucked it up.'
'Don't worry! I think no one heard you. Maybe Coulson and Hill.'
"*Si~~~~igh* You know her as well, it's the girl that lives in my mansion."
"She is a telepath of your caliber?"
"Yeah, why do you think she lives with me?"
"I thought she was your girl."
"NO, man! She is not. I'm teaching her how to use her powers. I'm also her legal guardian, I can't morally and legally do her."
'Aragorn is her guardian? I thought it was Xavier.'
'We changed it a few years back.'
"Director Fury, care to enlighten the rest of us?"- Hawley asked.
"Her name is Jean Grey."
"Do we have a file on her?"- Jakuna Singh.
"No, Sir."- Fury.
"Why don't we have anything on her?"- Chao Yen asked after searching on his computer.
"Because I covered her tracks. Why else do you think you don't have a file with my supernatural abilities? In fact, if I hadn't made several moves regarding my companies, you wouldn't even know I existed."
"Hacking a protected computer is a federal crime, Mr. Abner."- Pierce.
"Sure... Go ahead and prove it, Mr. Shadow#1."- Spark.
"We have you on record implying so."- Pierce.
"~Hehehe! Do you really? Why don't you check?"- Spark asked with a mocking smile.
"..."- Pierce and every council member felt something wrong and went to check the record of the meeting, but found something else.
"Found anything interesting?"- Spark.
After a silence that no one wanted to acknowledge, Chao Yen put on display what he found on his record.
A selfie of Spark with the World Tree in the background, fingers in a 'L' shape.
Of course, some if not all of them wanted to order Fury to apprehend this man, but do they have the power to do so?
It's not even about proof, everyone knew that the proof is what the stronger claimed it to be. They have fabricated 'truths' before. The problem was the backing Spark had, and the terrifying thought in the back of their heads that kept coming and going... 'What else did he hack? Does he know?'
Everybody has secrets, but some secrets weigh more than others.
"Now that we know you're stuck with my awesome self, we can move on to other unpleasant matters."- Spark said while once more displaying his skill by closing the window with the picture on their PCs.
"There's not much that you need to do about this situation. I will work with the locals and we will fix the broken state of this country. I was already working with the citizens before this even started, as you know my companies all have impeccable rep, so they were more than willing to accept my helping hand. I need nothing except one thing from you, a very easy thing... Get the foreign forces that invaded my lord's country out!"
"That's it! I don't even need funds from you to rebuild this place. I don't need a delay in the payments pertaining to the country's debt, and I will even pay from my pocket whatever losses this nation takes. Just that simple thing, get your armed forces out."
"This is not even a hostile takeover, nothing that attempts at what the UN stands for is happening or will happen. All the parties involved; i.e. Chile, me, and my lord, are and will be in accordance."
"Now, I know I can be irrational sometimes, but I'm not a fool, SHIELD can stay, BUT, and this is a non-negotiable 'but', whoever stays will get mandatory telepathic screening."
"You must be kidding! Do you think we will let you do such a thing? Disregarding the obvious right to privacy that any person has, Do you think we would willingly expose secrets that need to be kept secret from civilians like you?"- Pierce was having a hard time not ordering Brock Rumlow to take his team and storm into Aragorn's mansion and 'secure' Jean Grey.
"Fury, you, Covergirl, and Mr. Agent Coulson are excluded from the psionic screening. Anyone else can get the hell out or get in line if they wish to stay. My lord was displeased with some of the murky minds that were existing in his territory. I will have to do an exhaustive cleansing of this country and I would hate it if some of your agents got mixed with the 'murky' minds and were grouped with the rabble."- Spark ignored Pierce.
"Abner! You will-"- Pierce's connection was cut and his hologram went off with the wave of Spark's hand.
"Fury, if you have any more questions feel free to ask, I reserved a few hours of my time just for this."- Spark nonchalantly said.
'Still thinking about Pierce's ass?'
'Fuck off!'
_________________________
Aragorn's Mindscape.
In a realm of shattering mirrors and exploding stars, of fluff and light, of shine and Death, a lone girl finds herself confused about what once was familiar territory but now stands as broken chaos. Let there be no confusion, she never claimed to begin to understand an iota of this place, but it was what she subconsciously considered familiar.
'This could not have been pleasant.'- She thought as she tried to make out right and wrong. Unsuccessfully.
'LOSS OF EGO, LOGICAL CONSTRUCT, SUBCONSCIOUS PROCESSING, CONSCIOUS THOUGHT GENERATION, INSTINCTUAL RESPONSE, EMOTIONAL ATTACHMENT, AND MUCH, MUCH MORE. IT WAS NOT PLEASANT, JEAN. JUST THE PAIN WOULD HAVE BEEN ENOUGH TO KILL MOST.'- An answer to an unasked question.
'Phoenix? What are you doing here?'- She asked the Jean-shaped fire with wings at her left.
'PAYING WHAT IS OWED.'
'What's that?'
'DEBT. HE PROTECTED YOU WHEN MY ANTITHESIS INVADED YOU. HE PROTECTED LIFE WHEN DESTRUCTION WAS CALLED UPON. VERY FEW ARE AS INDEBTED TO HIM AS YOU AND I ARE. THE GOBLIN FORCE WAS NOT SUPPOSED TO BE HERE, AND THE MAIN REASON THE SHI'AR ACTED THE WAY THEY DID WAS THAT A FAULTY HOST TRIED TO BRING DESTRUCTION UPON THEIR FAULTY EMPIRE AND FAILED AT IT.'
'I know... The girls told me.'
'YOU SHOULD HAVE KILLED THE TELEPATH THE MOMENT HE UNSEALED YOUR MEMORIES.'
'I didn't want to be like her! I didn't want to do what my dark desires demanded!'
'THE DARK/DESTRUCTION IS A PART OF US. SOMETIMES THE CORRECT DECISION IS NOT THE DIFFICULT ONE. SOMETIMES GIVING IN TO YOUR DARKNESS IS ALLOWED. SOMETIMES IT IS NEEDED AND EXPECTED.'
'I-I... I understand.'
'DO YOU? THAT MAN PLAYED YOU LIKE AN ARTISAN DOES WITH IT'S CLAY. THAT MAN ALMOST DESTROYED YOUR WORLD AND CONDEMNED THE REST OF THE UNIVERSE TO A DARK PHOENIX. THAT MAN LUSTED FOR OUR POWER. YET YOU ALLOWED HIM TO LIVE. TO BETRAY THE MINIMUM TRUST THAT WAS PLACED IN HIM. TO BREATH. TO DISOBEY AND COOPERATE WITH YOUR ENEMIES. TO SPEAK. TO STAIN THE REPUTATION OF ARAGORN AMONG YOUR PEOPLE. TO THINK. TO CONSPIRE AGAINST YOUR MOST BELOVED. TO EXIST! HE SHOULD HAVE BATHED IN OUR FLAMES AND HIS MIND CAST TO OBLIVION!'
'He is dead! We don't have to think about him again, okay?!'- Jean shouted.
'NO. YOU HAVEN'T LEARNED. YOU'RE STILL SOFT. HE SHALL LIVE, AND YOU WILL SEE WHAT ARAGORN WILL DO TO HIM. HE WILL LIVE AS A REMINDER TO YOU, ABOUT THE 5.576.695 DEATHS THAT LAY IN YOUR HANDS, DEATHS THAT MIGHT HAVE BEEN PREVENTED BY THE DEATH OF SINGLE ONE. DEATHS THAT COULD HAVE BEEN AVOIDED IF YOU HAD JUST INVADED HIS MIND AND ASCERTAINED HIS INTENTIONS. DEATHS THAT NOW ARE SHARED BETWEEN YOU, THE SHI'AR, ME, HIM, AND THE WITCH.'
*FLAP*
One mighty flap set the whole mindscape on fire. Fire that was eaten, absorbed, repurposed, and used to mend Aragorn's mind and to feed his soul. Food that was used to fill the holes and fix the cracks in the void soul. A quantity of energy similar to the required to spark a BigBang. That sufficed to restore him to his prime.
'THANK YOU.'- One thank you later and the Phoenix went away, to continue with her cosmic duties.
A dragon materialized in front of Jean and the teen, filled with trepidation and relief, couldn't start a conversation. He stayed silent for a second, like he was doing something, and then, after his mind gained a new old addition he spoke.
'I missed you, Jean.'- Aragorn said and a lick from his massive tongue followed it.
'Agh! Nasty!'- Jean exclaimed, forgetting that they were in a mental space.
'I'm sorry. You- all of those people died and I... I'm sorry. You had to do what you did to your soul and-and this was my fault. No! It wasn't but it was, I-I-I just...'- Jean was trying to deal with what the Phoenix told her.
'Jean, calm down. I'm okay. I'll always be okay. Sure it hurt, but pain is something that christened my ascension.'
'But the people! And Xavier! I don't know what to do!'
'I can't tell you what to feel about people for which I have no heart. Their deaths, while tragic and unneeded, bring no weight to my soul. But since I'm not a cold monster I will do what I can to give meaning to their deaths.'
'Meaning?'
'Yes. I will virtually uplift their country and make the future success the meaning behind their deaths. You should help me.'
'Umm Okay.'- She responded, the inner turmoil only settling by a little.
With that, the two went out and Aragorn left a psionic clone of his serpent form to take his place before assuming his humanoid form. This would be the clone that talked to Spark when he visited as Aragorn Abner.
"*Yaawn* Senior Sister's fire is the best food there is! Oh! Did I get a tail now? Ummmm, no wings. That's good, those tend to be uncomfortable for daily life."- Aragorn said as he wiggled his tail, as long as he is tall, while appreciating the crystal-like nature, same as his horns, and taking a look at the blade at the tip, as long as his forearm, the same blade that his dragon form has.
"Check it out, Jean!"- He excitedly exclaimed as he roped Jean with it.
"Ah! Stop it! I'm checking it out just fine! I don't need you to trap me with it!"- She complained as she tried to use her powers to break free. Unsuccessfully.
Bickering they floated to the mansion built within the trunk.
When they arrived the others were waiting for them.
"Well~Hello there, l can speak now! Thank the Senior Sister!"- Aragorn walked to each woman, but Peggy, and planted a kiss on their heads and strangled them in a hug.
Bucky, obviously, received a very macho hug, and Steve got a handshake. Lots of testosterone. Anyone who says that the hug with Bucky lasted longer is lying. For sure Aragorn didn't pet his ears, definitely there wasn't any wiggling.
"So now we don't have to stay here a month?"- Yelena asked.
"We do. This baby is not ready for independence yet."- Aragorn tapped his tail on the floor, which was the tree itself.
"I will also play Civilization with this country. So we will stay down here for a while."- He swung his tail from side to side while the audience followed it almost hypnotically.
"What about the Shi'ar, Young Master?"- Irina asked.
"We will wait. Once Jean has mastered her Phoenix Force that empire's extinction shall become her first task."- Aragorn said while patting on the shoulder the girl to reassure her.
"But for now... We have some unpleasant business to attend to."
Aragorn reached his right hand to the skies and when he pulled down he had two spheres the size of a fist floating above his open palm.
"What was that? I didn't sense the usual spatial movement."- Bucky asked.
"This is my new skill! I can ignore distance now, I learned it when I was returning."- Aragorn had extended his hand to his lab and, after encasing the needed equipment in two barriers, he had brought the marbles to him.
In the same way as one reaches for a cell phone, a pen, or any object within reach for that matter.
"Can you teach me that?"- Yelena.
"Nope. This has to do with the way I move through space and how I use my void to nullify the concept of 'Distance' temporarily."
"Aragorn, how temporary are we talking here?"- Gaea asked because she was not seeing the bubbles return to their original position; if she understood Aragorn correctly.
"Like this."- Aragorn opened his arms and before anyone knew it Gaea was in his embrace, but a few seconds later she appeared back in her original position.
"If I want to displace you permanently then..."- Aragorn repeated the same action but this time he encased her in a barrier and moved her before releasing the barrier and hugging her.
"Do you understand?"- He asked Gaea who was enjoying the show of affection.
"You ignored 'Distance' temporarily the first time and then reality snapped me back into place. The second time you ignored 'Distance' and then switched the space between your arms with the barrier I inhabited, so reality snapped back the space and not me this time... Not very combat efficient, right?"- she asked while looking up from his embrace.
"No, it is not. It requires too many steps and you could have stepped aside, it's more of a utilitarian skill, for movement and transport."- He patted Gaea who looked like a student awaiting the compliments of the teacher.
"I don't know about you but, if I understood this correctly, if you can entrap someone in the barrier you can displace them instantaneously... I don't see myself avoiding the entrapment on time."- Yelena.
"Me neither."- Bucky.
"Ah... Well, we meant combat within our definition of combat to the death, not sparring."- Bucky and Yelena nodded to this.
"What about movement of your self?"- Irina asked.
"In that aspect, it is very combat-orientated, since I can move by myself and ignore distance just fine, I even carry the momentum over, so technically I could build speed and then punch someone's brains out... But I could already do that before, so nothing changes. Well, I can now visit The Void in under an hour!"
{A/N: #1 If it's about bringing and sending stuff, as long as he encases the items in a barrier then he can permanently displace them to him or a desired distance from him. (This works on anything and anyone he can encase in a barrier.) #2 If it's about moving himself, then you can imagine the way that Jumpers move in the movie Jumper. Limitations: Within the same space-time plane, so as long as he is not crossing over a barrier of space-time then he is good. If he has to cross over dimensions, realms, universes, and such, he uses the Astral Paths that Death taught him during the first chapters of the FF, he can ignore distance within the astral path, which is what he did when he returned.}
"Sir, Could you bring the enemy to you and harm them before they return if you don't do it the permanent way?"- Steve asked.
"Yes, that's a good idea. It's faster than using my barriers, but still slower than our reaction time. I would have to work some smokescreens and mirrors here and there, but it could potentially work."- Aragorn approved of Steve's idea after running a few scenarios in his mind.
"Mr. Abner, what did you mean by unpleasant business?"- Peggy asked.
"Bringing Xavier back... it won't be pleasant so if you don't want to watch you can leave."- Aragorn aimed at everyone but Jean with this question.
Before anyone could answer a panicky blue girl came through a portal.
"FATHER! You idiot! Why did you retrieve your heart without telling me?! I was panicking! I thought someone stole the SurfaceFather from me! IDIOT!"- Seraph jumped at supersonic speeds to her father, she leg locked him and started to punch and elbow his face with enough force to crack vibranium.
They were trained punches, backed by skill and a monstrous body, not the playful type, more like the lethal type.
Large tears were dropping from her eyes and from the other side of the portal, Stark and Pepper were looking at the destruction the AI left in her wake; in the shape of her feet marked in the floor and cracks and broken glass.
Aragorn was obviously buffering the aftereffects of her movement and hits, the same as he does with her stepmother, since he didn't want Peggy to fly away due to impacts and sonic booms.
"I missed you, my daughter. I love you more than you know."- After tanking a few hits, Aragorn skillfully moved his face out of the way and laden her face with kisses while holding her weapons of mass destruction with his hands, also known as her arms.
"Ugh! Fine! But I want some compensation for my emotional damage!"- She said while resigning to her destiny and letting herself be kissed, hugged, and pampered. She was a pleased girl now.
"We can negotiate about it."- Aragorn said as he freed one of his hands and aimed it at Stark's lab. A green magic circle later and all damage was undone. He waved his hand once more and closed the portal.
With practice, he shapeshifted his body until Seraph ended up on his back while resting her head on his left shoulder.
"Right, let's get it over."
He opened the barriers and a vial with blood was on one end and a Med-Pod was on the other. He carefully extracted less than one drop of blood and levitated it inside the pod.
He made a vine of the Arbor Mundi grow from beneath the pod and connected it to it, to supply organic material.
He placed his hand above the drop and after a second or two, a fetus starts to grow... and grows... and then more... until a naked Xavier is floating in the pod. He makes some clothes using the organic fiber of the vine and then the vine goes back to the tree.
He removes Xavier's body from the pod and then sends both the vial and it back to his lab in Halo.
He takes a breath and then he says:
"𝐼𝓃 𝓈𝒽𝒶𝒹𝑜𝓌𝓈 𝒹𝑒𝑒𝓅 𝓌𝒽𝑒𝓇𝑒 𝓂𝑜𝑜𝓃𝓁𝒾𝑔𝒽𝓉 𝓌𝒶𝓃𝑒𝓈, 𝒯𝒽𝑒𝓇𝑒 𝒹𝓌𝑒𝓁𝓁𝓈 𝒶 𝓁𝑜𝓋𝑒 𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝒹𝑒𝒶𝓉𝒽 𝓈𝓊𝓈𝓉𝒶𝒾𝓃𝓈. 𝒪𝒽, 𝓁𝒶𝒹𝓎 𝒻𝒶𝒾𝓇 𝓌𝒾𝓉𝒽 𝓈𝑜𝓂𝒷𝑒𝓇 𝑔𝓇𝒶𝒸𝑒, 𝒴𝑜𝓊𝓇 𝓉𝑜𝓊𝒸𝒽, 𝒶 𝒸𝒽𝒾𝓁𝓁, 𝓎𝑒𝓉 𝓌𝒶𝓇𝓂 𝑒𝓂𝒷𝓇𝒶𝒸𝑒.
𝐼𝓃 𝓇𝑒𝒶𝓁𝓂𝓈 𝓌𝒽𝑒𝓇𝑒 𝓉𝒾𝓂𝑒 𝓂𝑒𝑒𝓉𝓈 𝒾𝓉𝓈 𝓇𝑒𝓅𝑜𝓈𝑒, 𝒴𝑜𝓊𝓇 𝓅𝓇𝑒𝓈𝑒𝓃𝒸𝑒 𝓁𝒾𝓃𝑔𝑒𝓇𝓈, 𝒶 𝓈𝑜𝒻𝓉 𝑒𝒸𝒽𝑜 𝑔𝓇𝑜𝓌𝓈. 𝒲𝒾𝓉𝒽 𝑔𝑒𝓃𝓉𝓁𝑒 𝒽𝒶𝓃𝒹𝓈 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝑒𝓎𝑒𝓈 𝑜𝒻 𝓃𝒾𝑔𝒽𝓉, 𝒴𝑜𝓊 𝑔𝓊𝒾𝒹𝑒 𝓊𝓈 𝓉𝒽𝓇𝑜𝓊𝑔𝒽 𝑒𝓉𝑒𝓇𝓃𝒶𝓁 𝒻𝓁𝒾𝑔𝒽𝓉.
𝒯𝒽𝑜𝓊𝑔𝒽 𝓂𝑜𝓇𝓉𝒶𝓁 𝒽𝑒𝒶𝓇𝓉𝓈 𝓂𝒶𝓎 𝓆𝓊𝒾𝓋𝑒𝓇 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝒻𝑒𝒶𝓇, 𝐼𝓃 𝓎𝑜𝓊𝓇 𝑒𝓂𝒷𝓇𝒶𝒸𝑒, 𝓉𝒽𝑒𝓇𝑒'𝓈 𝓃𝒶𝓊𝑔𝒽𝓉 𝓉𝑜 𝒿𝑒𝑒𝓇. 𝐹𝑜𝓇 𝒾𝓃 𝓎𝑜𝓊𝓇 𝑔𝒶𝓏𝑒, 𝒶 𝓉𝓇𝓊𝓉𝒽 𝒾𝓈 𝒻𝑜𝓊𝓃𝒹, 𝐼𝓃 𝑒𝓋𝑒𝓇𝓎 𝓈𝑜𝓊𝓁, 𝓎𝑜𝓊𝓇 𝒸𝒶𝓇𝑒 𝒾𝓈 𝒷𝑜𝓊𝓃𝒹.
𝒲𝒾𝓉𝒽 𝓌𝒽𝒾𝓈𝓅𝑒𝓇𝑒𝒹 𝓌𝑜𝓇𝒹𝓈, 𝒶 𝓈𝒾𝓁𝑒𝓃𝓉 𝓋𝑜𝓌, 𝐼 𝓅𝓁𝑒𝒹𝑔𝑒 𝓂𝓎 𝓁𝑜𝓋𝑒 𝓉𝑜 𝓎𝑜𝓊, 𝒟𝑒𝒶𝓉𝒽, 𝓃𝑜𝓌. 𝐹𝑜𝓇 𝒾𝓃 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝒹𝒶𝓃𝒸𝑒 𝑜𝒻 𝓁𝒾𝒻𝑒'𝓈 𝒷𝒶𝓁𝓁𝑒𝓉, 𝒴𝑜𝓊 𝒶𝓇𝑒 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝓅𝒶𝓇𝓉𝓃𝑒𝓇 𝓌𝒽𝑜 𝓁𝑒𝒶𝒹𝓈 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝓌𝒶𝓎.
𝐼𝓃 𝓉𝓌𝒾𝓁𝒾𝑔𝒽𝓉'𝓈 𝑔𝓁𝑜𝓌, 𝓌𝑒'𝓁𝓁 𝒹𝒶𝓃𝒸𝑒 𝒶𝓈 𝑜𝓃𝑒, 𝒰𝓃𝒹𝑒𝓇𝓃𝑒𝒶𝓉𝒽 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝓈𝑒𝓉𝓉𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝓈𝓊𝓃. 𝒯𝒽𝓇𝑜𝓊𝑔𝒽 𝑒𝓃𝒹𝓁𝑒𝓈𝓈 𝓇𝑒𝒶𝓁𝓂𝓈, 𝓌𝑒'𝓁𝓁 𝓇𝑜𝒶𝓂 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝓈𝑜𝒶𝓇, 𝐼𝓃 𝓁𝑜𝓋𝑒'𝓈 𝑒𝓂𝒷𝓇𝒶𝒸𝑒, 𝒻𝑜𝓇𝑒𝓋𝑒𝓇𝓂𝑜𝓇𝑒.
𝒮𝑜 𝒽𝑒𝓇𝑒 𝐼 𝓈𝓉𝒶𝓃𝒹, 𝓂𝓎 𝒽𝑒𝒶𝓇𝓉 𝓁𝒶𝒾𝒹 𝒷𝒶𝓇𝑒, 𝒯𝑜 𝓁𝑜𝓋𝑒 𝓎𝑜𝓊, 𝒟𝑒𝒶𝓉𝒽, 𝒷𝑒𝓎𝑜𝓃𝒹 𝒸𝑜𝓂𝓅𝒶𝓇𝑒. 𝐹𝑜𝓇 𝒾𝓃 𝓎𝑜𝓊𝓇 𝒶𝓇𝓂𝓈, 𝐼 𝒻𝒾𝓃𝒹 𝓂𝓎 𝓇𝑒𝓈𝓉, 𝐸𝓉𝑒𝓇𝓃𝒶𝓁𝓁𝓎, 𝒾𝓃 𝓁𝑜𝓋𝑒'𝓈 𝓈𝓌𝑒𝑒𝓉 𝓃𝑒𝓈𝓉."
"That didn't sound like a spell."- Peggy whispers to Steve.
"I thought so."- Steve whispers back.
"It wasn't."- Bucky adds.
"It's a love poem."- Yelena comments.
"Definitely for the Madame."- Irina nods.
"~Ah! You remember my love for poems.~"- Death appears over Xavier's body and pushes a speck of light into his chest. She moved to Aragorn and gave him a smoldering kiss.
"Of course! I will never forget."- Aragorn says after he signed her lips with a second smaller kiss.
She pecks Seraph on the cheek and then returns to her realm, back to her work.
Aragorn moves to the floating form of the waking Xavier, confusion, panic, phantom pain, regret, hate, and anger, are among the feelings that he is broadcasting to the telepaths in the room.
Before recognition could flicker in his profile, Aragorn grabbed him by the face and changed him...
He changed his mind, his ego, his sense of self, and being, to his liking. He moved back and let Xavier go from his telekinetic grasp. Xavier stood up by the power of his now working legs and looked around, once more, but this time none of the previous emotions were present.
"I see... I supposed, in a way, I should be thankful to my previous iteration. I can't say if you're deplorable or not, but I'm thankful for this opportunity. I can imagine that you already know that, given that you made me... I should find a new appearance to serve my master, is that correct?"- He asked while looking at Aragorn. To which he nodded.
"Any suggestions, my lady?"- He asked this time while looking at Jean.
She looked back at Aragorn and tears streamed down, there was abundant anger but not directed at Aragorn, directed at her, at Phoenix, at the Shi'ar, and at whoever summoned the monster.
She looked back at her servant and asked:
"W-What d-do you feel comfortable with?"- Her voice cracking and her tears nonstop.
"Whatever you desire, my lady. I was made to assist you, what appearance would please you the most? I can also change genders if needed, but Aragorn would have to help us with that, I can only shapeshift within my current gender."
"Oh god! This is... This feels so disgusting."- Peggy said in a low voice.
"The gender-bending?"- Asked Yelena, a little bit confrontational since her dragon could change his gender.
"No... It's like he is giving her a toy."- Peggy explained.
"Can't he stay like that?"- Jean asked Aragorn, but it sounded more like a plea.
"No, he can't. Charles Xavier is dead, it will remain that way."- Aragorn shook his head in denial.
After a while of thinking she implored.
"Can you help me?"
"Sure, Jean. I don't like this any more than you do, the sooner we get this done the better."
Like this, the dragon, the daughter on his back, and Jean moved to another room, followed by the servant who once was known as Charles Xavier.
_______________________
{A/N:
Of course, I ChatGPT'd the poem. I can't do poems in my mother tongue, please don't expect me to do so in English.
The chapter ended way bigger than expected, Part 1 has about 15k words. That's why I got delayed.
The second part will come sometime this week.
There's a lot of pics if you got to this point but found none.
}