Echos of a Past
I'm out on the edge and I'm screaming my name
Like a fool at the top of my lungs
Sometimes when I close my eyes I pretend I'm alright
But it's never enough
Eyes and hushed murmurs followed her progress through the long, opulent hallways of the palace. She could only roll her eyes and thank the Nords that she never had to take a place by her father’s side in court. Intrigues just weren’t… intriguing; they were vapid at best. As she made the last turn toward Queen Frigga’s solar, she drew her riding cloak closer, even as she straightened her spine, using her confidence like a weapon, as finely honed as the sword resting between her shoulder blades or the daggers hidden on her person. The posted guard outside the room eyed her warily and she could only smirk wickedly. “Halt, and state your business,” he said in a firm voice.
“The queen requested my presence. As to what that means,” she shrugged her slim shoulders, “your guess is as good as mine.”
The young man bowed his head slightly in acquiescence, and turned toward the door to the solar. “Of course, my lady. I will announce you. As is customary, please leave your sword here when you enter.” She started to bristle and several things fought to leave her mouth at once.
What did leave her lips was a very deep growl, a very improper sound to be coming from a proper Aesir lady-- technically she was Aesir and a lady by birth but she’d never explain that in time-- and it was was only the voice of their queen that made the guard slowly release the bruising grip he had on the hilt of his sword as he struggled to draw it quicker than he thought she might draw hers, not that she would have, this was petty at best and not worth the trouble. “Darcia, my lovely girl, you’re early. I had hoped to greet you myself.” That Frigga walked over and embraced the young, dark haired woman only further unsettled the guard. “Come, I have sent my ladies away so it will just be you and me while we speak and you may make yourself properly comfortable,” she said softly, giving her a meaningful look.
Darcia nodded and calmly walked passed the guard as if nothing had happened and as if he did not flinch away from her as if she had some deadly, communicable disease. Yeah, court life is not something I’m missing out on. Frigga closed the door with a solid click, but Darcia still looked around as if she expected someone to be hiding in a shadowed corner to catch her. Finding no one, she slipped off her crimson cloak, revealing a pair of black feathered wings that shimmered with a blue iridescence.
Frigga couldn’t stop the small smile from curving over her lips. When Darcia had been but a babe, her mother had abandoned her, proclaiming the child deformed and returning to Vanaheim without her. Frigga, however, fell in love the moment she saw her and took her in to care for. She had done her best to make Darcia feel like a normal Aesir child-- as had her father, the sweet boy-- but courtly rumors and backbiting made the girl miserable. Frigga spent many a night stroking the blue tinged black feathers as the girl sobbed over the latest terrible thing she had heard said about her.
When her calling had finally come, as Frigga had known it would, in the form of being chosen to become a valkyrie, Darcia had jumped at the chance and hardly looked back. Now, fully grown, her trips to court were few and far between, usually only at the behest of a summons of some sort and always with her “deformity” covered. It had been nearly 100 years since she had last seen her and even then it had been at a distance. Which reminded her… “Darcia, my lovely child, was Loki able to assist you with that warrior that you lost the last time you visited? I know Heimdall tried as well.”
Her full lips pursed into a displeased moue and her stormy blue eyes flashed before she tamped her temper down and replied in a calm voice, “No, and while I realize our king disagreed with the decision that came down that someone not of our realm was worthy of Valhalla, I do believe Odin would have appreciated the effort I put into his acquisition. He was more worthy than some I could mention who he does believe belong there.” She met Frigga’s gaze for a moment and then sat, pressing her wings tightly to her back, a sign of her disquiet. “I somehow don’t think that’s why you called me here from the battlefields though. What have I supposedly done this time?”
Frigga sat across from Darcia and took one of her scarred hands, catching and holding her gaze before she spoke, “You’ve done nothing, but I wish to discuss my latest vision with you.” She reached out and stroked the girl’s cheek and waited until she slowly relaxed into the touch to continue. “I cannot tell you all but what if I were to tell you that soul you’ve chased for so long is not lost to you?”
“Frankly, I would wonder if Loki had learned a new spell and got a bit bored. That soul would be long gone by now.”
Frigga chuckled and moved her hand to stroke the crest of one dark wing as she had so many times over the centuries. “No, child, it was no trick and it is possible. If you follow the path set before you now, there is the glory due to a valkyrie of your standing. If you veer off in the direction I foresaw, there is much pain, but also redemption, acceptance, and quite possibly the ability to forestall the destruction of Asgard.”
Darcia had gone very still. She looked very hunted and her voice was very carefully schooled into a facade of normality when she did speak. “You… Fate… someone sees fit to put the future of the entire realm in my hands?” Her mouth opened as if she meant to say more but she stopped herself and Frigga could see the calculation in her eyes as she considered the variables.
Frowning, she lifted her wings and spread them to their full five foot span. “We’ll have to do something about these, but I’m in. Since this sounds likes it’s going to take a while, tell Thor I’m going to miss his coronation.”
Smiling warmly, Frigga kissed her forehead. “I’m most certain he will understand. When you awaken, you will have the information you need to begin but no more than that. Are you ready?” Darcia nodded once. “I’m sorry,my lovely child. This will hurt terribly.” Frigga pressed her fingers gently to Darcia’s temples. The last thing she could remember was a white hot, searing pain.
________
Jane Foster looked at her watch for what had to be the hundredth time in the last hour. It was well past the deadline for her to turn in the paperwork for her intern to go to New Mexico with her. The problem? She had no applicants. Sighing she got up and started gathering her things only to hear someone running down the hall toward her office.
A brunette woman skidded to a stop in front of her door and grabbed the wall as if to hold herself up. “You’re Dr. Foster, right,” she asked between panting breaths. “I’m here about your internship.”
Jane raised an eyebrow and looked her over, holding out a hand for the paperwork. “You realize the deadline was an hour ago, don’t you?”
The girl straightened as her breath came back to her. “I’m so sorry. I’m usually totally punctual. It’s just that I just transferred here and I got lost on campus looking for the physics department. I don’t really spend much time here. I’m more the liberal sciences type, but I need six science credits to get my degree,” she said with a mischievous smirk.
“Political science? What do you know about astrophysics,” Jane asked her skeptically as she scanned over her application.
Her smirk turned into a full grin. “Absolutely nothing but I collate data like a beast.”
Jane’s skeptical frown didn’t really budge but the more she thought about it, the more she liked the idea of being able to lose herself in the science of things and let someone else deal with the actual inputting of things. “Fine, you’ve got it. You’re my only applicant anyway. Welcome aboard, Miss Lewis.”
Her new intern moved a lock of dark hair out of her stormy blue eyes and smiled, offering her a slightly scarred hand. “Call me Darcy.”