Book 2: Phantasm [Thor]

Chapter 37

Anya found herself more than pleased to be sparing again. And thankfully, Sif didn't hesitate to face off after their last encounter. Usually if agents at S.H.I.E.L.D. hurt each other in a very painful manner they would have reservations about going at it anytime soon. But the young woman could care less about the fact that a similar incident could happen again. It only helped her focus further, dodging a kick and swiping one of the quarterstaffs Thor made in the garage for them to use instead of shifting to swords. Sif met the attack, causing the weapons to bounce off each other before they slightly backed up from each other. But she wasn't the only opponent the young woman had to deal with today. Thor stepped up, taking the quarterstaff from Sif, but he had a request.

"Use your mirages so I am fighting multiples of you," he directed.

She complied, the five at the ready for a frontal attack when the god rushed forward. She tricked him at times, while he would keep the young woman on her toes once it was discovered which was the real Anya for a brief period of time. This kept up for nearly twenty minutes when the mirages seemed to all converge on him at once. Meaning his opponent would try for a sneak attack. To ward them all away and cut through, Thor threw around his quarterstaff rather harshly with extra force to quickly free his vision. To find the real mortal when there was a loud crack. One of the mirages went flying backwards, the wood having slammed into its chest and rolled across the grass to a halt a few feet away. It left Thor horrified, the mirages staring in shock as well.

"Anya!" he shouted in alarm. Dropping the weapon he rushed across the field to her side for help. "What hurts? Are you injured?"

Something must have been broken with a hit like that, not realizing that Anya would pick this time to switch with a mirage to effectively get a hit in.

"Thor?"

His head whipped towards where he once stood and where the other mirages still stood watching.

"That's not me," one spoke on the far right. A mirage that hung back a few paces.

His brows furrowed, looking back at the young woman lying on the ground and resting a hand on its shoulder. It wasn't passing through confusing him all the more, looking to the four remaining duplicates again.

"I do not understand."

The mirages went out of focus before completely disappearing. Including the one on the ground leaving the god to stare at the real Anya across the space and he stood swiftly.

"Well, that's new..." Anya mused. An illusion appeared to her right, the two looking at each other and raising their opposite hands. Their fingers touched. "They're solid now. How...?"

Thor didn't care, crossing the space in a few steps and catching her in a tight hug. He thought for sure he seriously injured her and felt pleased to see she was unharmed.

"The Aether is matter." Letting go, their heads turned towards where Sif watched. She moved closer, coming up alongside the agent to observe the mirage before continuing, "Matter can take on a solid form and you have been working to achieve this. Something must have clicked." The warrior looked at Thor. "You said the healers were not sure how the Aether would affect her as time went on. It seems it's continuing to enhance the gift already present at a steady pace when it wishes."

"I wonder if I could still make them turn into illusions..." Anya questioned, more to herself.

"Focus on it," Thor chimed in. "If you think hard enough on it you may be able to control it."

Now the training shifted to test the theory. Of course at first nothing happened, the Aether being stubborn. Every attempt the Asgardians tried passing through the mirages either hitting or bumping into it instead. Even when not showing harm it was persistent in not allowing anyone to know it was a fake. And they did not reach a conclusion at the end of the day. Anya retreated exhausted back to the house. She felt so tired she didn't even have the energy to eat dinner.

This went on for nearly three weeks and showed no progress. Sometimes they would be possible, others solid as if human without Anya's control. It grew a bit frustrating when the young woman finally stopped practice and instead sat down on a comfortable patch of grass and began to meditate. There had to be a reason for the Aether doing this and being difficult, opening herself up to feel its thoughts and intentions. An hour later, Anya opened her eyes again, noticing some of the Aether materialized and circled around her. With pinched brows, the young woman questioned, "Really?" aloud.

"What is it?" Sif asked. She had come out to check on the young woman only minutes ago and was about to leave before noticing her break out of her focused state.

Pinching the bridge of her nose, the agent answered, "Not only was it trying to be funny, but it was testing us as well." She sighed. "Who knew this Aether was going to be such a pain in the butt?" The matter hummed around her in approval causing her to run a hand over her face and stand once more. "Let's try again," she said to Sif.

The agent had no further issues, able to control the solid matter for a few mirages at a time. It refused to expand past five of them. Again, probably something that had to be grown over time with the Aether so she, the host, wouldn't become overwhelmed.

Eventually, the female warrior left again, but this time at the request of Odin to return to the palace for a period of time. Leaving Thor and Anya to themselves for the first time in a while. They took advantage of the private atmosphere, not that Sif wasn't welcomed, staying in bed on mornings an extra hour, or curling up again on the couch with good books to read now that there was no reason to host. Plus, Thor was very good at convincing/distracting her from training too much and partake in other activities around the household. Something she wasn't completely complaining about or against.

Soon it began to grow cold out again. The god offered to travel to the garage one day to fetch some firewood so they could enjoy the hearth they cleaned out days ago in preparation for the looming fall season. When Anya went about fluffing up the pillows scattered on the couch and making some tea her normally silent phone on the counter began to ring. Slowly moving towards it, she allowed it to ring two more times before finally answering the private number. Saying nothing, the agent listened intently to the other side trying to figure out who it was and not willing to give herself up if someone had found her for whatever reason.

"Agent Fredrickson," a familiar voice on the other side greeted. "It has been a while."

Anya breathed a sigh of relief upon realizing who it was before answering, "You've been hard to get a hold of as of late."

Director Fury sighed on the other end in agreement. "Something came up. I am pleased you were unaffected by those events. I hope that what you have been doing in your spare time has been sorted out."

That piqued her interest. "Do you have a mission for me?"

The beat of silence caused the young woman to straighten up.

"HYDRA has made its presence known," Fury stated. "I am assembling the full team to investigate various different bases so we can figure out what it is they are up to and to find the whereabouts of Loki's scepter."

"The scepter? I thought that was in S.H.I.E.L.D.'s custody?"

"You will be briefed upon arriving at Stark Tower."

Realizing she wasn't going to receive an answer to her question she let it go for the time being. "We will be at the meet up point as soon as possible."

"We?"

"Thor's here."

"And how long has the Prince of Asgard been on Earth?"

"A while now. He's been staying with me when not traveling around the Nine Realms."

"And you didn't see it important enough to notify me of that matter?"

"I thought you knew. You have eyes everywhere."

Fury sighed on the other end, causing Anya to smirk. "Just be at the tower when you can and bring the Asgardian with you."

"We're on the move," and she hung up the phone.

Thor entered carrying the firewood, the young woman turning on a heel in the center of the room. Seeing the cell phone in her grasp he grew serious and set down the wooden logs.

"What is it?" he asked.

"Trouble. We need to suit up."