[3] Just A Mortal Girl | Avallone the Avenger [DISCONTINUED]

CHAPTER TWENTY SIX

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- INFINITY WAR SPOILERS FROM THIS POINT ONWARDS -

If you have not seen Avengers: Infinity War, do not continue to read this. I'm talking about major MAJOR spoilers

You have been warned

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Perhaps it was cliche to say that time slowed down in that moment, but sometimes life throws completely cliche and overused things at you.

Sif's brown eyes widened but she retained her composure. "Her name is Mystique? How do you know who she is?"

It was a question that I left Phil to answer. My throat had returned with determined fever to be as scratchy and irritated as possible. It's not like I had screamed myself completely deaf.

"Have you heard of genetic mutation? Oh, good. I wasn't exactly sure what they taught you in Asgard. Anyway, every few hundred millennia, evolution leaps forward. In other words, mutations occur in a fair amount of individuals. Mystique is one of them, capable of breath taking things. What you saw was her true form, a blue, alien-looking creature with bright yellow eyes. But she can take on the form of any person, voice, and even their abilities."

I capped the water bottle and placed it back on the rickety table. The wheels in my mind were turning quicker, probably faster than they should have been after having been unconscious. But it felt like I was on the verge of something.

And then it clicked.

"That's why they had her locked up. They were using her powers!"

Coulson and Sif turned to me, slightly surprised, but neither disagreed with me. "That makes sense. Mystique is one of the most powerful mutants."

Silence fell over the three of us as we all pondered exactly what her imprisonment had meant. For myself, I was dwelling on the fact that she had probably been there for quite some time, much longer than the rest of us. It must have been achingly horrific, to spend so long in such a terrible place.

We had been perhaps months in those machines, but what if she had been there for a year? Two years? How long had this devilish work been happening?

I shuddered and shook my head. The thoughts swirled around my brain until my vision turned hazy. "We need to get back to the others, to warn them. We couldn't have stopped it by killing a few people. Something just doesn't feel right."

Sif nodded. Perhaps we both had some strange sixth sense. Coulson agreed also, and announced that he was going to make his way to the nearest village to find us some food.

"We will need new clothes. I'll see if I can rob any houses nearby for something," Sif stated, pushing away from the rickety bench and starting towards the door.

I felt a brief moment of panic. "Are you just going to leave me here to do nothing?"

Sif turned and frowned. "You need to rest, Avallone. Your actions took a great deal of strength from you, and we need all the power we can get.

"And what of Phil? He's slowly dying from the poison. You think sending him to a nearby village would somehow magically prolong his life?"

Her body stiffened, and she slowly turned her head towards Coulson. His face was a sickly green shade, and beads of sweat rolled down his cheeks like it was raining on his face. It would be a miracle if he could even make it to the nearest village. "I'll be fine," he murmured, unable to even raise his voice to a normal volume.

It was as if we had both been blind to how terrible he had really looked until it had been said aloud. Phil Coulson was near death, and there was nothing we could do to stop it.

"We can arrange food and clothes during our travels, but our safest bet is to leave now, while Coulson has yet a change of surviving."

Sif made a face, like it was the last thing she wanted to hear. Perhaps she hated being wrong, or maybe the idea of rest and recuperation sounded pleasant. But we needed to hasten, or our friend would not be with us much longer.

The thought wanted to rip me apart, but I forced it to the back of my mind. I was getting rather good at pushing away the pain that threatened to undo me. My mind had barely even thought of Loki. It was the elephant in my head.

"I think Avallone might be right," Phil offered, sending a sickly smile toward the two of us. His body rested completely against the doorframe, bent at an almost broken angle, just to make it possible to remove as much weight from his legs. My stomach rolled just looking at him. "I am not sure if I'll make the end of the week."

Sif sighed deeply and closed her eyes. When her face was fully relaxed, I could do away with the horrific screams that so burned through my mind, if but for a moment. It was the only time it didn't play over and over in my head; a moment of twilit peace. "We will leave immediately. Too much time has been wasted, and it could cost us a life. I'm sorry to have doubted you, Avallone."

I nodded and tried my best to think no more of it, but my brain was insistent. Perhaps it was all just a mirage in my head, but it always felt as if I was the problem solver, the one who figured out how to make things work. Just for once, I would have liked to step away and let someone else be that person - just once.

The door clanged shut behind us, and I gave Coulson a small smile. His left arm was draped across my shoulders, and my right was around his waist. Already, it felt as if I was gripping a skeleton, dangling only by my ability to keep it upright.

Our dance with death had begun. Surely a long trek to find our friends would kill him, but we were going to push it until death gave us the upper hand. Coulson was terribly near, and I shuddered at the sweeping thought of losing someone so close to me.

Thankfully, Sif directed us and took the lead. It was unspoken that I would just follow, and Coulson would also, though he had no choice.

"Sif, I have a burning question."

She angled her head slightly so she could see the two of us. "Ask away. We have much time to talk."

I took a deep breath and just plunged. "Do you think something has happened? Nothing feels right." There was a hungry emptiness within me that just kept building and I couldn't shake it. Maybe I was just mistaking it for another feeling, but I wasn't sure.

Silence hung between us all as we trudged along. It certainly wasn't a happy party.

"I've felt it too, a sort of disturbance in the atmosphere. Something feels empty." The last word came out as a whisper and even with my enhanced hearing I could barely make out what she said. "Something terrible has happened - is happening."

My stomach rolled again, twisting into a tight not at the end. Bile rose up in my throat and I fought down everything threatening to overwhelm me. What if Loki wasn't safe? What if something had happened to him? What if those things had done something? What if everyone was gone?

A small squeeze of my right shoulder brought me back from my hurricane thoughts. "We need to focus on saving ourselves first, Avallone. Then we can worry about saving those we love. Allow yourself this one moment of selfishness."

Fighting back unwanted tears, I nodded profusely. Phil was right in saying there wasn't time to worry about others at this point. There was only time to worry after ourselves.

I started forward once more and Sif took that as my not having a mental breakdown, and continued to lead us. It was going to be a long journey.