Revenge| Book 6| A novel in the Blue Moon series| An Avengers fan fiction series |

18- The Fear in His Eyes

 I HAVE TO RUN!

OKAY

LOVE YOU

HAPPY NEW YEAR'S EVE AND HAPPY NEW YEAR WHOOOO 2016!!

This chapter took forever, but I think it turned out pretty well done. 

:) 

xSierrax

Chapter 18:

But as February comes to a close, even the sun-kissed beaches of Wilowoa Island can't hide what's at stake.

Both Videl and Loki have been transient guests at the Avengers' beach house. Videl, more than Loki, has been away, ruling Ardhigiza. Jijah and Amara have only been at the house two times- other than these rare occasions, they are always with Videl and helping him. From what Thea has heard, Videl's rule is going fairly smoothly, although if that's because of Loki's overlording shadow, it's hard to say.

Loki has had somewhat less luck in Asgard. Even though he'd told his daughter he would be able to find Marjoy and discover the truth about Eala and the Mountain's armies, every time he comes back to Wilawoa, he's more and more restless and irritated. It's only because he seems so upset that stops Thea from gloating that she'd told him so.

It seems Marjoy doesn't want to be sound, and not even Loki's skills can track her down. At one point, he engages Videl to hunt down the assassin, but Marjoy's expertise overpowers Videl's. He finds signs of one of her temporary camps in the Forest of Gor, but nothing else. No more bodies, no more arrows. After the attack at the Asgardian palace, Marjoy seems to have simply drifted into thin air.

As for the palace, things have quieted down. Fjodr, after discovering Loki and Thea had escaped, had apparently drawn back his soldiers. What had been left in his wake were flames, bodies, and blood. It had taken a week to clean and re-build, and Loki had re-fortified the soldiers guarding the palace. He now regrets pledging some of his men to the Velah in Ardhigiza, who seem perfectly safe.

In the meanwhile, Thea has been splitting her time at the beach house: studying with Jack, exploring the island with Jack, Peter, and Angelique (and Videl when he's there), practicing fighting, and talking with Loki about Asgard. Even though she's asked a dozen times, he refuses to take her to Asgard until he's sure it's completely safe.

However, with the threat of the still-silent Neidra looming around them all like the ghost of a poem by Edgar Allen Poe, Thea is having a hard time concentrating on schoolwork. Kyle and Bruce are patient teachers (Tony still keeps to helping Jack with advanced calculus and engineering), but Thea starts to simply take her work out onto the balcony and puzzle through it herself. She's become extraordinary independent, and even more distracted.

When she's not studying and walking on the beach with Jack, she's practicing with her emerald dagger, a slender rapier Loki had lent her, and even Clint's bow and arrows when he stops by. She also works on jiu-jitsu with Steve, Bucky, and Sam, and has grown so adept at it, she beats Sam at it every time, and Steve and Bucky at least half the time. Even when she goes against Steve and Bucky, it's hard to bring her down.

In fact, there are few people that manage to get a hit on Thea these days. Jack and Peter might be strong in their own ways, but both of them are useless against Asgardian steel and strength. Natasha and Clint, who used to beat Thea on a regular basis, now struggle to provide a competition. Only Loki gives Thea a challenge, but he's rarely at the house.

Desperate to give Thea something to work with (and to work off her steam), Tony and Bruce start having her fight Pietro, Wanda, and Videl simultaneously. At first, Thea surrenders to Pietro's inconsistent, arrow-like attacks, Wanda's telekinesis, and Videl's strength and Jaunting. But then, she quickly figures out how to put up a ward against Pietro, to combat Wanda's movements with her own (and Wanda's mind control is useless against her), and to expect Videl's random appearances.