Ragnarök (CANCELLED)

The Lesson and the Discovery

Jane

Whoosh! The blade slices past my ear barely missing. I know Raven is taunting me, playing a game she could easily win. Each time I make a move, she sidesteps leaving my own weapon to land on empty air.

My hair is plastered to my forehead. The sweat dripping off me, making my grip fail and my limps leaden.

She's left the severity of her bun behind and wears her hair in a simple ponytail. She whips it as she turns and it hits me square in the face. My legs are swept from under me. I go down heavy on my back. Beneath my back is a pillow of Raven's jacket. She laughs at her genius. I fell exactly where she wanted me to.

I huff, blowing a strand from my face. Red creeps across my cheeks.

Thor laughs. "Oh, you think you could do better?" I ask.

He shrugs.

"Well then, give it a try" I get to my feet and offer him the golden sword, a match to his opponent's.

He picks himself off the grass leaving behind his red cape. I marvel at the muscles in his arms, the tightness of his chest. He beats Raven in strength no question. At over six feet, he overtakes her in height. With all respect to my teacher, I would like him to best her.

Raven in comparison is solid, not quite muscular, not quite slim. She could blend easily into a crowd and probably do better running from a fight than being in one. I've experienced the way she fights though and Thor has seen it. Will he be able to beat her?

I take Thor's spot on the lawn pulling his cape around me against the chill of the wind. They circle each other on the driveway.

Thor makes the first move attacking with a burst. Like lightning, Raven blocks the blow and slams the back of her hand against his ear. He staggers, his equilibrium off. She deals him a series of blitz attacks aimed at his arms, his legs.

I lean back and simply watch for a few minutes. Thor recovers quickly and follows Raven's jabs with his own well timed hits. She catches them on her blade with brilliant precision.

The front door slams and Eric walks out balancing a newspaper and two cups of coffee. "I was wondering when those two would be at it" he says inclining his head in their direction. I take one of the offered cups. He sits beside me. "Have you seen this?" He hands me the newspaper. The front reads, 'Eiffel Tower Under Attack' A figure in green is shown at the top.

"Loki"

"He isn't hiding"

"Do you think this will turn into another Battle of New York?" I ask.

"No, I don't. It's going to be much worse"

"Why would he be in Paris? That doesn't make any sense. Why would he even be on earth for that matter?"

Eric shakes his head not willing to continue the conversation.

I turn my attention back to Thor, a gash across his cheek bleeds. "Raven's going to win" Eric announces before she disarms Thor and sends him to the pavement. I wince but smile at the god being so humbled. He takes the defeat with amusement and clasps Raven's arm. Her face glows with the heat of the battle. A pang of jealously hits my heart. I want to be able to do that, to be strong, to hold my own.

The muscles in my arms sigh with the rigorous exercise they've received. Thor drops beside flipping his blonde hair behind him. "I have a whole new respect for you" he whispers into my ear, his lips grazing the skin. Pride fills my chest.

Raven leans on her sword only slightly winded. "I'll have you beating that boyfriend of yours in no time, Jane"

"I look forward to that day" Thor smirks.

A shriek of tires echoes along the street. We look up as my car takes the turn and comes to a stop at the end of the driveway. "Jane!" Darcy jumps from the car. Ian runs after her struggling to catch up with a massive tome under his arm.

"We found this at the library" Darcy grabs the volume and heaves it into my arms. I gasp at the weight. It must weigh close to fifty pounds. The cover is leather but time has made it brittle and cracks run around the edges.

"Wait, did you steal this?" I exclaim.

"Borrowed" Ian interjects before Darcy can say anything, "It was a great plan on Darcy's part"

She flushes. "You can't just steal an artefact like this! It must be hundreds of years old!" I cry.

"Considering what we're up against" Raven says, "I think Darcy and Ian were in the right. We need information. Nice job by the way"

Darcy lets a small smile lift up her face. Everyone seems to have warmed to this stranger who just entered our lives.

"Alright, what does it say?" I grumble.

Ian opens the book to a page bookmarked with a parking ticket. I raise an eyebrow at him. He blushes and points to the page. We all lean closer.

A figure of a woman surrounded by a halo of gold takes up the page. In one outstretched arm she holds a sword, in the other a branch covered in cherry blossoms. A raven hovers above her left shoulder and two books lie at her feet.

"Who is this?" I see Raven tense but ignore it.

"That's Raventium, one of the six infinity stones"

"I thought the infinity stones were objects of power like the Aether"

"Not quite" Thor says quietly, "If you believe the old stories, they were six beings of infinite power. They had true immortality but their power was stolen from them and trapped within six stones. These stones were cast across the universe so they would never be able to find them. The six were called Tesseractia, Aether, Hunterion, Carlation, Damerion and Raventium"

"So what does Raventium have to do with Ragnarök?"

"According to the translation, Damerion -the original owner of the Time Stone- predicted the future events known as Ragnarök for the Asgardians and they inscribed them into two books. Raventium was the keeper of these books and she kept them on Midgard. The first volume told of the events, the second told how to bring them about" Ian explains.

"So where is the second volume?"

"It was on exhibit in Paris at the Louvre"

I exchange a horrified look with Eric. He shows the newspaper article to the others.

"We have to get that book" Thor states, anger spreads across his face.

"And your brother with it" Raven adds. She twirls her weapon between her fingers, the sunlight glinting off it. Loki doesn't realize what he got into when he angered her. I smile.