Valkyrie is the (angriestqueen) wrote in avengers_logs, @ 2020-07-11 09:45:00 |
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Valkyrie popped through the portal into the tower, she was getting good at moving through the place without anyone extra noticing. She was nervous because she didn't trust easily. But she'd been trying to follow what she'd been told. She could trust her and she'd made mistakes. Maybe Wanda could help her. She hoped the woman could even help her get better at everything, too. So she sucked it up and went looking for her. One she found her she breathed a sigh of relief, it took a lot for her to admit she was wrong. "Wanda. I'm sorry I did not wait. I was a mite desperate." She said as she found her, running a hand through her hair. She was a warrior queen with very few memories of what she could do. Things were just an adventure. It was quite an ordeal to pack up Billy and Tommy and bring them out, but Wanda wasn’t certain where exactly Val was going to meet her in the Tower - and she couldn’t very well leave her babies alone to go searching. They were sleepy, however, so pretty much down and out for the count in the stroller - she had the diaper bag, everything necessary, and then - Oh. There was Val. She’d just shut the door to her apartment when she encountered the Asgardian queen. “It’s fine, I promise,” she chuckled softly, a wind chime of a sound. “Come on in - let me put the boys in their cribs and make us some tea. And you can tell me what you found out about Loki.” Turning, she unlocked the door and waved Val inside. Val blinked, "I'm sorry I should have planned this better." She said softly looking at the boys. "Can I help in any way?" She felt bad, she really needed to be more mindful. She followed her back inside, closing the door behind her. She chewed her lip, then smiled softly. "It is a lot and I hope you can help me, even a little." She looked around for a moment, then sighed, she felt awful. There was so much going on she felt a little scrambled. It was nice to think she had a friend that wasn't likely to judge her. Her husband had been in prison for literally months now - sure, Wanda remembered what it was like to be wrapped in a straitjacket, that shock collar a precarious thing constantly threatening to jolt her muscles and bones - but Steve had broken them out relatively quickly. She wasn’t going to judge Val for being anxious and scared for Loki, for wanting to resort to drastic measures to get him back. It was one thing to say ‘lawyers are handling it,’ and it was quite another to be the one to have to hear that over and over without any updates or reassurances. “I’m alright, just make yourself comfortable,” she insisted. Billy and Tommy only fussed a little when she moved them to their cribs, then they eased right back into a sweet slumber. “Now, tea - “ She put the kettle on, and went to sit in the living room. “And - tell me what happened? I promise I will do my best to help you.” After her conversation with Val, she’d quickly pulled some books from the shelves - her own spellbooks, not Stephen’s, though she planned to go to the Sanctum as well and do more research about ghosts. Hopefully the answer lay in one of those. Valkyrie made herself comfortable. Or as much as she could, she didn't think relaxed would happen for a while. Not with what she knew. Asgardians adapted, but changing how they all viewed how to handle crimes was a big step. No one was taking hearing, the lawyers would handle it, over and over again well. Val had put her energy into turning New Asgard into a self-sufficient entity but everything dragged on and it was wearing on her. She was not the most patient of people to begin with. "I don't remember a lot of what I'm capable of. I buried most of it, or pickled it in Sakaarian alcohol, for centuries upon centuries." She admitted carefully, it wasn't easy admitting weakness, "So I didn't know if it would work but I called five spirits to me. But I had to make a deal with them. Three wanted new bodies, one wanted entrance to Valhalla and one wanted to be sent to his end." "I lost two of them, and left one angry. Only two did what I asked of them. The two that I lost are more of a problem, mostly for me. I didn't know what I was doing." She got the first part out, where she screwed up. Where she succeeded she'd get to next. “I see.” Wanda settled on the couch, tucking one knee over the other. “So we must find the ones that are lost,” she said. “I do know that ghosts leave a trail of - I am not sure what the word for it is. Ectoplasm? It is a kind of spiritual energy. But I can sense it, sense whatever trail they left behind - perhaps we should return to where you initially summoned the spirits, and follow the trail from there. I can astral project, leaving my physical body and letting my astral form do the work.” Or at least, that was the plan she currently had - it was something, anyway? Something solid? Wanda was hoping to find the lost ghosts in the spirit world, and then send them along to where they needed to go. "Actually it might be easier." She rested back against the couch, arms spread along the back, her right foot up on her left knee. Her expression was thoughtful. "They have my seiðr, they needed it to do anything, I can't trace it. Not yet. I don't know how - I intend to learn though - but you might be able to. It's got… " she struggled for the right words, it was hard putting what she didn't know into the right phrasing in Midgardian. "A unique signature, my seiðr is different than Loki's." "Speaking of. I was able to talk to him. It was a bit of a game with ghosts as my intermediary, but it worked." Wanda understood - or, well, she thought she did. To her, people had their own mental signatures anyway. Unique ones. Their own magic, their own gifts, something otherworldly about them that those who also dipped their fingers into that pool could also pick up on. “That makes sense,” she assured. “It is sort of - a type of magic? I can sense Loki’s easily, I am accustomed to the scent.” Something cold, but also - woodsmoke. Crisp air and a wintry aroma. She would have to concentrate to get a feel for Val’s particular brand of magic, but she could do it. And then see where it lead her. “I can get a feel for yours and follow it,” she added, feeling excited now that they had some semblance of a plan. “But now you know where he is?” she asked, leaning forward with interest. "It is, yes, exactly, it is!" She said a little excitedly, she knew Wanda would be able to get it. If Loki trusted her enough to communicate with her, Valkyrie could too. She likely felt opposite of Loki - fire, death. She didn't really know, or understand, she'd never thought to ask. But her power lay in the realm of the dead, she couldn't imagine it being a nice scent. Her face fell then. The anger moved beneath the surface, and she had to work to keep it off her face. "Tony said Genosha," she took a minute to get that right, "and I confirmed it, sort of, ghosts aren't perfect." She paused, then looked up at Wanda. "They hurt him, Wanda, and they hurt him because of me. I didn't think." “Genosha?” Wanda repeated. She wasn’t sure she had heard of it, or if she had, she didn’t know much about it - perhaps she’d see what information she could find out next time she was at work. Surely Stark Industries was involved in some way. “Trust me when I say they were looking for any excuse to hurt him,” she added bitterly. “They like that he’s their prisoner - you shouldn’t blame yourself.” Though she knew Val would, to some extent - her and Loki were so intertwined. But Wanda wouldn’t encourage it. The kettle went off then, so she got up to pour them both soothing cups of tea and bring in a tray with all the additions - milk, sugar, lemon, honey. In case Val wanted anything else in her cup. “What is the next step, then? Now that we know where he is?” "Seems like a very unpleasant place wrapped up in a pretty package." She said with a bitter tone, "Both Tony and my ghosts suggested it was a resort like rehab." Val would blame herself, at least for some of it. Her ghosts had set alarms off, gotten him shocked because, though she'd learned from her mistake. No ghost dared enter now. She fixed herself a cup - sweetened with honey - and let out a breath. "I passed some info to Tony to try and hurry legal up, but I think maybe we should try to track my wayward ghosts. If we can do that maybe we can track my not so wayward ghosts down to where Loki is, exactly? I have a broad idea where he is but it isn't exact." "I'm trying not to set off another international incident but they're hurting him for their own pleasure," Her voice dropped quieter, "If I had my way I would make them pay for every drop of blood they spilled." It was the first time she had said it out loud and she had to take a long drink of tea before she could look up at her friend. She didn't share just how much she felt for Loki often, but her tone and words left little doubt. "Ghosts first. Loki promised me he'd survive, and I think I've given him something to hold onto." Wanda understood. After all, hadn’t she felt the same way about Vision? “I wanted to kill him and make him suffer,” she too spoke softly, hands curled around her mug of tea (some milk, a little sugar - deceptive sweetness for someone whose anger simmered dangerously sometimes). “Thanos, I mean. For taking Vision from me. So I don’t blame you, for feeling these things.” She wouldn’t dwell on it though - Val didn’t seem the type to want to necessarily bare everything and, besides, there was work to be done. Hopefully it was enough to know that she had solidarity and support in Wanda, who would do whatever she could to help. “Ghosts first,” she agreed. “Shall I try now?” Val would sit with her anger, let it simmer until she could do something with it. She nodded, she understood. It was a relief to have someone that understood her pain, and anger. She was a solitary creature, but she'd started to trust others in. She sipped from her cup, before setting it down gently. "If you are up to it." She held out her hand, palm up, she wasn't like Wanda or Loki, her seiðr, her magic, was tied to death. She couldn't just conjure it. She opted against looking for a ghost, though, instead digging past the broken memories for one of her other abilities. It didn't matter, the seiðr was the same for any of them. She didn't look up, she didn't want to see, but she let it reach out to brush over her friend. Whatever it smelled like to Wanda, it came with the cold of the dead. It whispered over them both before she let it go. Only then did she look up. Wanda set down her own cup, taking Val’s hand in her own - she closed her eyes, and she focused, feelers extending to touch magic other than her own. It wasn’t difficult - the cold washed over her immediately, it chilled her blood and sank into her bones like wet concrete; it also smelled like funerary incense, particularly cedarwood, and flowers set upon gravestones. She latched on to the scent, to the feel of it - and she followed it all the way, enough to where her astral form projected, spirit self separating from her physical body. Oh, and and Val were still connected, physically, by the touch of their hands - but Wanda was very still, not even moving a muscle. Her spirit form traveled, across the psychic plane and beyond, following ghostly breadcrumbs and that frigid wind that she knew to be Val’s seiðr. Eventually she found them, the spirits baring that signature - when she did, she gave a gentle nudge at first, like GPS telling them to turn around. They did. Val didn't move. She didn't know what to expect, but she didn't dare move and bother Wanda. She could feel the chill, the creeping cold as the misfits started to come back. The one from Egypt was sad she was forced to leave her tomb husband and dragged him back with her. And the one stuck near Wakanda was loathe to leave but came back. One was untrackable, but he'd been sent to hell so oops. Val sighed as they appeared around her, wrinkling her nose at the tomb ghost and her buddy. She pulled the seiðr ties to her, holding their reins as it were. She didn't let them wander or move. She waited for Wanda's return. "I need to take them away, but, do you think tracking them to the exact location of the island would be doable this way?" Stephen had taught her how to astral project awhile ago, so Wanda was used to it - she wasn’t concerned that she’d get lost, or not be able to find her own way back. She reversed her course, her spirit floating through a world beyond this one - a place where what’s up was down and what was right was left; it almost looked like a painting caught in the rain, colors blurred. Then she surged that last little bit, and merged her spirit self with her physical self once more. Her eyes opened. She could still see the spirits congregated around Val as well. “I think so,” she replied. “And this time, I will be there when you do it?” Just for backup, like she’d promised before. Val squeezed her friend’s hand, then smiled gently. It was rare that Val opened herself up to people and she was glad she had. She moved to finish her tea, ignoring the ghosts for a moment as she wanted to finish the cup. They could wait thirty seconds for her to do so. “I promise this time I will not be stupid about it.” she smirked, she was often a reckless thing, but she was trying for the sake of her people. It was a lot of work for her, but she wanted to be the queen they needed. Even if it meant she was worn out. She was pushing herself harder than she ever had. “I will reach out soon? I don’t want to wait too long - I just will need to recharge a little before I can try something like that.” she said softly. “Yes, of course,” Wanda nodded. “Whenever you’re ready.” This way they could do it together, and neither of them would be tired - she’d find a sitter for Billy and Tommy too, so she could really focus on this. “Here, let me get you some more tea - “ Another soothing cup, and maybe a treat or two (she had some cookies in the jar she needed to finish off, because she was tempted to do it herself) and they could relax for a little bit and pretend everything was right as rain. Until facing the next challenge, anyway. She took the offered cup, and held it up, both hands curled around it. She breathed the warm scent in, shoulders relaxing for a moment. "It is… nice to be around someone who doesn't expect all the answers from me, if even for a few minutes." It was hard opening up but with Thor still starting his journey to being recovered enough, and everything else, Val really needed to try. "I don't think I've stopped moving since he was taken." A cautious smile, from a woman who normally oozed confidence, she was trying to feel out if Wanda minded talking or if she wanted her to head out. There was no way Wanda would kick Val out of her home - not when she so clearly needed a friend right now. Besides, she liked Val's company anyway. "You need to rest sometimes too," she scolded gently, offering a plate of cookies she'd brought in from the kitchen too. They had healing properties - or, well, not officially. But tasty baked goods seemed to make a lot of things feel less dire. "You're welcome to stay here for as long as you like, too." The sofa was a pull-out; it unfolded into a queen-size mattress, and Wanda had plenty of blankets and pillows she could spare as well. She took a cookie, turning it over in her fingers for a moment, then smiled. "How can I rest?" She took a bite, closing her eyes. It tasted better than anything she'd snacked on in weeks. "You're very kind - I couldn't impose even if I wasn't trying to juggle everyone. It is just nice to sit, and talk with someone. I'm very thankful." It was a very, very tempting thought though. Sleep where no one would ask her important questions the moment she woke up. She was content to talk, relax and just be for a bit. “It’s not an imposition at all,” Wanda dismissed that thought with a wave of her hand. “In fact, I insist.” Val was tired, she could tell - it would do her some good to rest and recharge someplace where she didn’t have to be Queen of Asgard, or even a Valkyrie at all. She could kick back, relax, put her feet up - there was, at the very least, some shadow of a plan involving Loki and she needed to be at her best for it to come to fruition. Otherwise something disastrous could go wrong, and Wanda wouldn’t stand for that. “Let me get some extra pillows,” she smiled, setting down her tea cup. “I’ll pull the bed in the couch out, set you up here tonight. No objections.” It was happening, so deemed the stubborn Scarlet Witch. Valkyrie thought about trying to argue, but she took one look at Wanda's face and decided that was a battle she'd lose, hands down. And she was right, a night to just rest was necessary. Despite everything she thought, Val couldn't do it all, not without sleep. And she'd been getting precious little good sleep lately. She lifted her hands in surrender, "As you say." She was grinning, though, "If I can help with the boys tonight, I would be happy to do so, in thanks." Val might not be the most kid savvy, but, she'd try. “I might have you go for a diaper change or two,” Wanda chuckled - hey, it made for good life experience, did it not? She went to the linen closet and found extra sheets and blankets, along with some pillows and their cases. It had been a while since she’d had any guests, but the linens were all clean and washed. Not like she’d make Val sleep on something musty. But the boys would be up from their nap soon and she’d have to warm bottles for them - then they’d probably need that diaper change before engaging in some playtime before they tired themselves out for bed. And Val would get to be there for all of it - besides, she was of the firm belief that baby cuddles made everything better. Even just a little. |