The Bracelet of Bonds ~ An Avengers Soulmate AU

Chapter 30: A Sinking Feeling

"Psyche!" Stephen called out from the top floor of the library, his eyes rapidly darting through the spaces below him, hoping to find any evidence of the blue eyed witch.

"Where are you?!" Loki completed Stephen's thoughts as he ran around the ground floor, shooting a concerned look at the Scarlet Witch who seemed to be in deep, disturbing thoughts.

Indeed, Wanda's mind was fragmented chaos as she listened to Stephen and Loki's exclamations. She clutched her hair in her hands, frustrated tears springing to her eyes. She tried to use her powers to hear Psyche's thoughts as an indicator to her location. She heard nothing. Her soulmate was nowhere nearby.

Finally, Stephen floated down onto the ground floor to join his two soulmates and the librarian. He let out a shaky sigh, his eyes doing once last scan over the place before turning to the others.

"Maybe she left? Loki mentioned that she seemed in low spirits."

Loki nodded in agreement, "The last I spoke to her she turned away from me, not angrily, but something seemed off. Perhaps she was upset, and left."

"No. No matter how upset Psyche would be with us or anybody else, she wouldn't just leave without saying anything. Something's wrong, I can feel it." Wanda argued.

"I never even saw the young miss leave, I was here the whole time. It's rather odd." Erin chimed in helpfully from her place behind the library desk.

Loki, Stephen and Wanda pondered her words. It was very odd indeed. Erin saw everyone who entered and left the library. Hell, she even had views on most places in the library from where she sat. She definitely would've noticed anybody leaving.

"Teleportation is not beyond her abilities, perhaps we should return to the tower. We have the best chances of finding her there." Loki tried to persuade the others.

Reluctantly, Wanda and Stephen agreed, and the three Avengers set off to return back to the tower with heavy hearts and racing thoughts. The door to the library shut loudly behind them, but Erin was not disturbed, instead, she was focused deeply on a dark corner of the library.

"I need to get better lighting in that area, one can barely see it..."

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The walk back to the tower was heavy and tense for the three magic users. Would Psyche even be there? If not, what had happened? Had they failed their duties as soulmates? What state must she be in right now?

The finally approached the large, looming Avengers tower. However, just before they could step through the doors, Wanda skidded to a sudden halt in alarm. The two sorcerers following behind her also stopped.

"Wanda, what's wrong?" Stephen asked, his tone laced with concern.

Wanda slowly turned around, "The others don't even know that dark magic's been used on Psyche yet... if she's not there-"

"She will be." Stephen interjected, trying to be optimistic.

"But if she's not... we have to tell everyone everything. Even Phil, Maria and Nick." Wanda finished.

Loki sighed, "We'll have to tell them regardless. This isn't information we should keep from them."

"But we're so dead if she isn't up there... we couldn't protect her at the library, and surely we'll face the consequences for that." The witch uttered guiltily.

"If Psyche's unsafe due to my carelessness, I'll gladly punish myself without anybody else needing to." Loki stated, and Wanda mumbled in agreement.

"Be positive! She most likely will be up there, and if she's not, she's likely somewhere else, safe and happy... God, you two are acting like she got kidnapped." Stephen tried to console.

Wanda panicked at his words, "What if she did get kidnapped?!"

"I'm sure she's alright. She can take care of herself." The sorcerer supreme ended the conversation with that final statement, but even he sounded unsure.

They all trudged into the tower reluctantly and piled into the elevator. Jarvis automatically started the ride up, taking the trio to the penthouse which they so dreaded entering. When the elevator bell chimed, signaling they had arrived, the knot in their stomachs only grew tighter. They slowly stepped out, anticipating the peace to break at any moment.

"You're back!" Peter was the first one to excitedly call out, "Want to watch a movie?"

When there was no response, Peter paused the disney movie that was playing on the cinematic TV and turned around to face the elevator. Instantly, he sensed the somber mood as he looked at his three soulmates frozen in their spots, the gravity of the situation only just hitting them.

"Where's Psyche?" Peter inquired, noting that out of the four magical soulmates he had seen off that morning, only three had returned.

Wanda gulped, being the first of the three to break out of her turbulent thoughts, "We hoped that you'd know..." She nervously started, watching Peter's eyes widen.

"Psyche!" A voice rang out from deeper within the penthouse, "Are you back? I need you to be my date to a corporate gala. The rest of the people in this house are formal event haters."

Oh no. Tony was here. The three magic users frantically looked at each other. If Tony found out that Psyche's whereabouts were unknown, he'd spill the beans to everybody in an instant, exaggerating every part of the story to make it sound worse than it was. Then everyone would panic.

Tony finally emerged into the spacious living room, and practically flew to his newly arrived soulmates to greet them with flamboyant kisses. He seemed very content and joyous... if only it would stay that way. However, the billionaire soon pulled away.

"Where's Psyche?" He repeated Peter's question from earlier.

"They don't know." Peter informed his mentor as casually as possible, only to watch him enter a frenzy.

"Wait... what? What does that mean?" Tony demanded nobody in particular. When nobody answered, he dramatically threw himself onto the floor in a heap.

"They lost my baby!" He cried.

"Tony, get up." Loki pleaded, but the man on the floor did not comply. He was as pessimistic as ever, thinking the worst and panicking. 

"Who's screaming?" Demanded Sam, who quickly ran into the living room after hearing Tony's exclamation. He got his answer after seeing the responsible man on the floor.

"What happened?" He asked, quickly approaching Tony who was now joined by Loki, Stephen, Wanda and Peter on the floor, all trying to console him.

"Who else is home right now?" Wanda questioned in return.

"It was just Tony, Peter and I." Sam confusedly informed her.

"So you haven't seen Psyche at all?" Stephen asked, not looking up from Tony who was now crying in his lap.

"No... why?" Sam suspiciously questioned.

The three magicians opened and closed their mouths like fishes, desperately looking at each other to explain everything.

"Someone say something, please." Peter now begged, and finally, Stephen gave in.

"I think it's best if you call the others home. Nick, Phil, and Maria as well. Tell them it's a highly urgent matter and cannot be delayed."