Ice Princess

27

Melinoe fell asleep reading the third book she was working on, Strange eventually noticed her and put a throw over her lap as she sat in front of the fire with the current book she was reading open. Moving the book, he sat it open on the end table next to her. About a half hour later, he heard a knock at the door and went to answer it.

"Is Melinoe here?" Thor asked.

"Why do you need to know?" Strange responded.

"She quit unexpectedly after finding her parents and it's all rather complicated and Bucky made a mess of it all." Thor started.

"How about we say, she's not here until tomorrow afternoon." Strange told him.

"Tomorrow afternoon?"

"I want to decomplicate things first before she leaves here, ok?" Strange told him.

"One o'clock tomorrow, I will be back for her." Thor said. Melinoe was standing on the other side of the vestibule behind a door. Strange waited a few minutes after the door shut before turning to her.

"So what's the story?"

"First, I'm sorry to barge in on you like this. Second, thank you for sending them away."

"Let's get some tea and talk. I need to hear the entire story."

For the next two hours, they ate and drank as she recounted the tale.

"There is something about Doom, I can't put my finger on it, but I don't like him. And Bruce wants me on this project to keep him interested while they research him." She told Strange.

"So, you're being used."

"Yes, then Bucky keeps running hot and cold. Like he's literally all over me one moment, stalking me the next, then tossing me aside like I'm trash. I can't keep up with his mood swings." She rubbed her face.

"Meanwhile, you find out the truth and who your parents are and are now bound to this once monthly visit with them and they told you to find someone to train you here as well."

"Sorry, but you're the only sorcerer I know." Rubbing her temples, "And I'm so tired of that word 'sorry', I hate having to use it so often when things aren't even in my control and aren't my fault."

"You shouldn't have to. But how about this, what if there was another sorcerer you could go to? I trust Wong and he's a good teacher. There place where we go to train. It would be good for you to go there. You'd be off everyone's radar, so to speak, and be able to get yourself together." She yawned. "We will leave first thing in the morning, you look like you are ready to pass out."

"The funny thing is, I've had bad insomnia my entire life. I'm finally getting full night's sleep now with barely any dreams, let alone, nightmares." Her forehead started tingling again, Melinoe rubbed it.

"Up the stairs, third door on the left is a room you can use. I'm sure if you head back to your apartment, they will probably be there."

"Thank you, I really appreciate it." She said as she started towards the steps slowly climbing it.

The bed was so comfortable looking that as she collapsed into it, she was immediately asleep.

-----

Melinoe wrote a text and set it to be sent out at 1 pm. Strange is not to blame. I need space and time. I'm going to get neither if I stay in New York. If you do look for me and find me before I'm ready to come back, I'll leave the planet. Then she wrote a second one. Matt, you've been an anchor but something has come up and I'd hate to put you in danger. Sell my car and the items in my apartment and use them to help find the good fight. I'm safe. I need to find myself and can't do that in New York. It hurts my heart to leave my friend behind. Be safe, take care of yourself. I emailed a buyer for my paintings, they will be in contact with you and they should fetch an excellent price.

It did truly hurt her to leave Matt, friendship was the closest thing she'd ever felt towards a man that was like love. Strange opened a portal and introduced her to Wong. He then left to await the arrival of Thor and the others.

______

"So where is she?" Thor asked, Bucky and Bruce were there as well.

"She left. Apparently, she found something in one of the books she was reading before I returned and she left." Strange didn't tell them that he was the one that helped her leave. "Besides, what crime has she committed?" Bucky's jaw ticked.

"She hasn't, we're just concerned is all. We were hoping to convince her to come back to finish a project she was working on." Bruce told him.

"Why, what's to important about this project?"

"Doom is up to something, we just don't know what it is." Thor added.

"We can do what we can to delay the project, but I'm worried Doom will do something in the meantime." Bruce interjected.

"Barnes, you're being more unusually quiet than normal." Strange noticed. "Why are you here?"

"If she refused to come back, the three of us were prepared to force her. Despite her looks, she is very skilled in combat." Bucky told him.

"But why? To what end?"

"She's bait." Bucky told Strange. Strange was now glad he had ferreted her off to Kamar Taj.

"Well, feel free to look around, you'll see she's not here." Strange informed them. The trio did just that, but they found no sign of her.

_______

"The full moon is two weeks away. I am not sure how long you will be here." Wong said as he guided her to a room.

"Neither am I." Melinoe told him.

"The portal you told me about won't bring others with you, will it?"

"Not that I'm aware of. When it opened at Omnipotence City, it was small enough for just me to fall through. They said it would open at sundown wherever I was."

"Well, that's good to know. Strange mentioned that you will need to study more than learn combat. However, some of the ways we use magic is in how we fight."

"I understand." She told him, "I was hoping to live a more peaceful life."