The Stories
Chapter 5: The Stories
“He committed a crime.” Erik said adamantly. “He’s in jail!”
Lyssa and Jane stood in front of him in the lab area of their research base, Darcy sitting opposite Erik at the table while Aria was asleep in her crib. As soon as the two women returned to town, they wasted no time in informing Erik and Darcy of what had occurred and their desire to rescue Thor.
“We can’t leave him there, Erik!” Lyssa said determinedly.
“Why?” Erik asked, piercing the redhead with a penetrating look.
“Because he doesn’t deserve to be locked up on a strange world when he’s already been cast out of his home.” Lyssa said softly, her gaze filled with earnest compassion and sympathy for a man who had been exiled away from all that he knew and loved.
“And you didn’t see what we saw!” Jane added.
Darcy gasped. “Look!” She said, drawing the arguing trio’s attention and pointing to a page in the book she was perusing. “Look, it’s Myeu-muh.”
“Mjølnir.” Lyssa corrected automatically.
“Where’d you find this?” Jane asked Erik, looking at the book and the page Darcy pointed out.
“The children’s section.” Erik replied, shifting slightly in his chair. “I-I just wanted to show you girls how silly his story was.”
“But you’re the one who’s always pushing us to chase down every possibility, every alternative!” Jane argued.
“I’m talking about science, not magic!” Erik snapped in frustration. “No offence, Lyssa.” He added, glancing at the witch and remembering her revelation earlier that day.
“None taken.” She muttered dryly before becoming serious. “Erik, you were the one that taught me that magic can easily be explained as science that just hasn’t been understood yet.”
“Arthur C. Clarke.” Jane added helpfully.
“Who wrote science fiction.” Erik argued.
“Which is in fact a precursor to science fact.” Lyssa pointed out.
“In some cases, yeah.” Erik admitted reluctantly.
“Well, if there is an Einstein-Rosen Bridge-” Jane began.
“Which there is. It’s called the Bifrost, or Rainbow, Bridge.” Lyssa threw in.
“Then there’s something on the other side.” Jane continued, nodding at Lyssa’s input. “And advanced beings could have crossed it!”
“Which they have.” Lyssa threw in again.
“Girls.” Erik sighed tiredly.
“A primitive culture like the Vikings might have worshiped them as deities.” Darcy added slightly hesitantly.
“Wouldn’t be the first time something like that happened.” Lyssa added in agreement. “Thank you.” She said, glancing at Darcy.
“Mmm-hmm.” Darcy nodded happily.
Jane, Darcy and Lyssa looked at Erik, each with pointed expressions. Erik sighed in defeat, knowing that he had lost the argument.
~*~
Lyssa hummed softly, running her hand over Aria’s back and soothing her back to sleep when she began whimpering. Jane sat on the opposite side of the bed; the Mythology book Erik had gotten from the library was propped open on her knees as she soaked in the printed words. Both women were dressed in their pajamas, Lyssa in a purple tank top and a pair of plaid pink, blue and purple patterned sleep pants* while Jane was in a white tank top under a plaid button down and a pair of black sleep pants. Similarly, Aria had been put in a red sleeper with a Gryffindor lion patterned on the chest.
Not pausing her ministrations or her humming, Lyssa wondered where Erik was and if he had been able to get Thor. It had been almost two hours since the older man had left to try and get the exiled prince back and she was beginning to feel uneasy. It shouldn’t have taken this long for Erik to convince SHIELD of the backstory they had come up with, even if the agency would be able to tell that the records that were created had been falsified.
“He’ll be okay, Lyssa.” Jane said reassuringly, looking at the younger woman from over the top of her book.
“I know that.” Lyssa said firmly, untying her hair. She looked at Aria, taking in the way the little girl was curled on her side and gripping her blanket tightly with both hands while still snuggly wrapped inside it. “It’s just… during the war, it was never a good thing if people were gone for too long.” She shook her head and sighed, turning her pale-eyed gaze back to Jane. “That saying, ‘no news is good news’ was more along the lines of ‘no news is very bad news’.”
Jane looked at her best friend sympathetically, reaching out and rubbing her leg comfortingly. She stayed silent, not having anything to say, but kept her hand on the younger woman’s leg while returning to her book.
Seeing Jane’s silent action of comfort and sympathy, Lyssa couldn’t help but feel blessed at the friends she had made after leaving the Wizarding World. Despite these Muggles having been unaware of Magic until earlier that day, they had accepted her with all her strangeness and idiosyncrasies without question. She caught the older woman’s eye and shot her a grateful look, trying to convey what she could not express with words.
“I know.” Jane said softly, glancing at her before returning to her book, her hand still on Lyssa’s leg.
Lyssa reached over the side of the bed and grabbed her brush from her toiletry bag, sighing tiredly and began the arduous task of combing her long, thick hair before she went to sleep; she had long since learned that if she didn’t at least brush out her hair before sleeping, she was in for a world of agony the next day with a head full of tangles. As she rhythmically ran her brush through the thick strands, she continued humming softly to keep a slightly restless Aria calm. The little girl, though fast asleep, was still able to pick up on Lyssa’s worry which was, in turn, affecting her sleep.
The silence that had fallen over them was broken quite abruptly by the rapid pounding on the door. Aria, Lyssa and Jane all started, the toddler whimpering as her sleep became disrupted.
“Shh. It’s okay.” Lyssa said soothingly, running her hand over Aria’s back while Jane hurried across the cramped space and to the door.
The brunette pushed open the door and gasped in shock at the sight that greeted her. “Oh, my God.” She exclaimed in a quiet whisper. “Is he okay?”
“Who is it?” Lyssa asked, picking Aria up and rocking her when she continued to whimper and fuss. “Is who okay?”
“It’s Thor, carrying Erik.” Jane replied, stepping back and allowing the giant man into the RV.
“He’s fine.” Thor replied jovially, climbing inside. “Not injured at all.” Unfortunately, as soon as he said that, Erik banged his head against the wall, letting out a pained groan. “I’m sorry, my friend.” Thor apologized, chuckling.
“What happened?” Lyssa asked with an expression crossed between exasperated and unimpressed.
“We drank, we fought, he made his ancestors proud.” Thor replied, grinning brightly.
“Of course.” Lyssa muttered under her breath, rolling her large eyes.
“Uh, put him on the bed.” Jane said as Lyssa carefully shifted so there was room.
Thor inched forward and carefully dropped the drunk man onto the mattress, his actions speaking of having done the same thing on many occasions. Erik let out a groan when he hit the bed, automatically adjusting himself into as comfortable a position as possible while Thor let out a soft laugh.
“I still don’t think you’re the God of Thunder.” Erik slurred, smiling dopily up at the giant blond God. “But you ought to be.”
“Get some sleep, Erik.” Lyssa said gently as she and Thor tucked him in properly, pulling the blanket over his body. She carefully put Aria back down onto the bed, letting her snuggle into Erik’s arms before Thor covered her with the blanket as well.
It was then that Lyssa realized she was essentially stuck, being as she was against the wall with Erik and Aria between her and the floor.
“Would you like some assistance, my lady?” Thor asked, grinning at her with mirth-filled eyes.
“Yes, I would, please.” Lyssa replied, sheepish yet still managing to present an air of dignity.
Thor put his hands beneath her armpits and lifted her up, showing no effort at the action especially considering he was balancing her entire weight on his arms alone. She let out a light laugh, reflexively placing her hands on his biceps where they were completely dwarfed by the bulging muscles even through the fabric of his borrowed clothes.
Jane watched with a small smile as Thor gently placed Lyssa on the floor in front of him, the pair almost entirely unaware of their audience as they looked at each other and shared their tender moment. She couldn’t help but be impressed that the man hadn’t looked anywhere but at Lyssa’s face, especially when her tank top had ridden up slightly to show a little of her toned abdomen when he lifted her off the bed. She was happy for Lyssa, seeing the younger woman slowly move past her pain whether she realized it or not. Similarly, Thor seemed to be carrying himself with a newfound sense of acceptance which he hadn’t possessed prior to his brief ‘stay’ at the SHIELD facility.
This realization, combined with Thor’s gaze not wandering when any other man’s would have, led Jane to believe that perhaps the witch and the exiled prince could help each other in a way that she herself, Erik and Darcy couldn’t, no matter how much they would want to.
After several moments, Thor and Lyssa broke eye contact and the exiled prince looked around the cramped quarters curiously. “Are these your chambers, Lady Jane, Lady Lyssa?” He asked with the same curiosity that was in his gaze.
“It’s Jane’s.” Lyssa replied, turning back to the bed and reaching over the sleeping forms to grab her brush and hair tie.
“It’s more of a temporary living situation.” Jane explained somewhat defensively. She noticed the mess on the counters and grabbed the cereal box and bowl. “Oh! I’m sorry.” She said, flustered and embarrassed. “I don’t usually have guests.” She shoved the items into the cabinet above the sink while Thor watched her with a glimmer of fond amusement in his striking blue eyes. “Actually, I never have guests.”
“The bowl doesn’t go in the cabinet yet.” Lyssa said, not looking up from her bag.
“No, it doesn’t.” Jane agreed sheepishly, spinning back around and removing the bowl from the cabinet. Instead she placed it in the sink, the appliance nearly filled to the brim with dirty dishes. “I’m sorry.”
“Why don’t we go up to the roof?” Lyssa suggested calmly as Jane became increasingly flustered. “It’s a nice night and I for one could certainly use some fresh air before bed.”
“Yes, of course.” Thor agreed with a smile. “It certainly is a wonderful night.”
Lyssa put on her dressing gown, a deep black with the Gryffindor house crest on the left breast and lined with red, along with a pair of flats and pocketed the baby monitor while Jane slipped on a pair of boots and her jacket. Once they were ready, Thor held the door open and the three of them stepped outside into the cool night air.
Walking in silence, they made their way up to the roof where Lyssa used magic to light a fire while Thor and Jane set up the cots and sat down.
“Lyssa and I come up here sometimes when we can’t sleep or we’re trying to reconcile particle data or more personally, when Darcy’s driving me crazy.” Jane explained as the fire began crackling away merrily. “Sometimes, when Aria is particularly fussy, Lyssa brings her up here as well.”
“Now that you mentioned it, we come up here a lot.” Lyssa said in realization, settling down on the empty cot between Thor and Jane.
“Oh God, you’re right.” Jane muttered in disbelief.
Thor chuckled softly at the expression on the dark-haired woman’s face.
Lyssa glanced at him out of the corner of her eye, seeing something in his features that she hadn’t seen earlier that day. “I’m really glad you’re safe.” She said earnestly, turning to face him completely.
“You’ve been very kind to me, and I’ve been far less grateful than you deserve.” Thor said softly, his expression becoming ashamed and apologetic. “Especially you, Lady Lyssa. You showed kindness to a stranger without knowing whether I could pose a threat to your daughter.”
“Well, Jane did hit you with her car a fair few times, so I think we can call it even.” Lyssa said with a light laugh.
“Perhaps I had it coming.” Thor joked.
“Perhaps.” Lyssa agreed breezily.
Thor reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out Jane’s journal, the four-colored pen still attached to the back cover, holding it out to the brunette.
“Oh, my God!” Jane exclaimed in shock, taking the black book. “I don’t believe it!”
“It was all I could get back.” Thor said apologetically, remembering all the possessions he had seen at the facility that had once belonged to the two women. “I’m sorry it’s not as much as I promised.”
“No, Thor, this is great.” Lyssa reassured him as Jane flipped through her journal happily. “It may not seem much, but with this, we won’t need to start from scratch.”
“Thank you.” Jane said earnestly, looking up at Thor with a smile. She turned back to her journal, the smile slowly fading into a frown.
“Jane, what’s wrong?” Lyssa asked worriedly.
“SHIELD.” Jane said softly, looking between Lyssa and Thor sadly. “Whether or not they’re an American counter-terrorism and intelligence agency, they’re going to do everything in their power to make sure this research never sees the light of day.”
“Jane, that is not going to happen.” Lyssa said vehemently. “You can’t give up, not now.”
“Lyssa is correct.” Thor agreed. “You mustn’t give up.”
“Why?” Jane asked helplessly. “You know I’m right, Lyssa. Even if you were to go back to England and use your political connections, they’ll still do everything they possibly can to sideline us.”
Lyssa looked away at Jane’s words, knowing the older woman was right. What Jane didn’t know was that if Lyssa were to return to England, she would be swept back into the maelstrom of the Wizarding World and be forced to retake her position as Lady of the House of Potter with all that it entailed. At the moment, Albus was playing the role of Regent with Remus as his right hand due to his responsibilities as Headmaster of Hogwarts, which allowed Lyssa the freedom of living and working in America while raising Aria.
Thor looked between Lyssa and Jane, sensing that there was something he didn’t know but pushed it aside for the moment. Instead, he focused on helping Jane, not letting her give up. “Jane, you must finish what you started because you’re right.” The blond said. Jane looked at him sadly, not believing him. “Here, look.” He reached for the journal and gently tugged it out of her hands, opening it to the page that was filled with drawings of different worlds. “You’re ancestors called it magic just as Lyssa does, and you call it science. Well, I come from a place where they’re one and the same thing.”
Lyssa watched as he drew on the page, his entire focus on creating lines between the different worlds.
“What is that?” Jane asked curiously, seeing the lines and noticing that they didn’t touch the worlds or each other.
“My father explained it to me like this, that your world is one of the Nine Realms of the Cosmos, linked to each other by the branches of Yggdrasil, the Worlds Tree.” Thor explained.
“Jane, we see it every day without realizing it.” Lyssa added, Thor nodding at her words while flipping through the journal to a previous page. "Especially the scientists who work with the Hubble Telescope.”
“Here, see?” Thor said, drawing Jane’s attention to the page he had been looking for. It was a photograph of the starlit sky, with a series of small colored specs that stood out against the silvery dots.
“Tell me more?” Jane pleaded, looking between Thor and Lyssa.
The pair looked at each other briefly before turning back to Jane. Just as they were about to continue, the baby monitor sparked to life with Aria’s cries and Erik’s mumbles.
“Duty calls.” Lyssa said with a laugh, getting to her feet. “You two continue, I’ll be back in a bit.”
“If Aria lets you.” Jane said playfully.
“If Aria lets me.” Lyssa agreed, walking across the roof and going inside the building. She quickly and quietly climbed down the stairs and then back out into the night air.
On the wind, she could faintly hear Thor’s voice as he explained about the Realms and that he himself was from Asgard. She reached the RV, quietly opened the door and entered to find Aria sitting up on the bed and rubbing her eyes blearily, her cries having turned to whimpers. Erik, who normally would’ve comforted the toddler even while asleep, was still completely knocked out due to his earlier drinking binge.
“Mama.” Aria cried when she saw her, reaching her arms out in the universal ‘pick me up’ gesture.
“Oh my baby.” Lyssa murmured, crossing the short distance and sweeping the little girl into her arms. “It’s okay, Mama’s here. Mama’s not going anywhere.” Aria snuggled against her chest, curling her hands around her dressing gown. “Do you want to come up to the roof, hmm? Listen to the stars sing? Let’s get your blanket and go up to the roof.”
Lyssa grabbed Aria’s blanket from the bed and wrapped it around her before pulling the covers up again over Erik. The slumbering man merely mumbled incoherently and turned over to his other side.
“I do not envy the migraine he will have tomorrow.” Lyssa muttered dryly, shaking her head exasperatedly.
Aria just looked at her and gave her a gummy smile, showing off her small teeth. Lyssa laughed lightly and exited the RV, closing the door gently behind her before heading back to the base, intent on returning to the roof. As she walked, she sang softly to her, filling the peaceful night with her melodic and soothing voice.
“Hush now, don’t be scared
Through this tide of darkness
Shadows may march,
Thunders may roar,
But peace will soon prevail.”
The rocking motions of her movements lulled Aria back into a sleepy doze. She snuggled deeper into Lyssa’s chest, absently bringing her thumb up to her mouth and sucking the digit as her eyes fluttered open and close.
“Through our land,
This sacred land,
Nightmares spread confusion,
But stand your ground
Until you’ve found
The strength to light your way.”
Singing the final note of the song as she stepped onto the roof, Lyssa let her voice fade away. She glanced down at Aria and found that she was, predictably, fast asleep. “I see Jane fell asleep too.” Lyssa remarked, nodding to the sleeping brunette.
Thor turned away from the stars he had been gazing at to look at her. “Yes, she fell asleep to the sound of your song.” He informed her. Lyssa nodded, settling on the cot next to the exiled prince with Aria next to her, curled against her chest. “You sing beautifully.” He complimented her genuinely.
“Thank you.” Lyssa said with a rather bashful smile.
He smiled back at her before turning back to the stars. Lyssa followed his gaze and looked up at the starlit sky as well. A comfortable silence filled the air between them, both lost in their thoughts.
Lyssa remembered how she used to sing all the time when she had been at school. She had been the unofficial ‘older sister’ for Gryffindor House and as such, was often the one to calm the younger years when they had nightmares or were restless or even stressed about exams.
Even after she graduated, she was the only one of the alumni who actually returned to the school simply to connect with the younger years, to provide them with a sense of comfort when they became scared as the war began to rage harsher and bloodier outside the castle gates, with Death Notices eventually being received by students on a daily basis. She was also the only one, aside from Lily Evans, who could control the Marauders; in fact, the only one who had better control of them than the feisty muggle-born witch.
“Can I ask you something?” Lyssa asked after several minutes, pulling herself out of her thoughts that were quickly taking a depressing turn.
“Of course.” Thor replied, nodding and shifting slightly so he could face her.
“Feel free to not tell me if you don’t want to, but… what was it you learned while at the facility?” Lyssa asked, shifting onto her side so she could look at the man properly. “It’s just… when you came back, there was more to your expression than just the realization that you were no longer worthy to lift Mjølnir.”
“How do you know that there is a Worthiness Enchantment on Mjølnir?” Thor asked with a small frown, partly to deflect her question and partly out of curiosity. He knew the only reason he wasn’t able to lift it was because of the enchantment his father had placed on it, even if he had been unaware of it until his failed attempt to do so, but he didn’t know how Lyssa would know of it as she most certainly hadn’t been on Asgard when it had been cast.
“I heard the enchantment uttered on the wind when you were unable to lift it.” Lyssa replied honestly, not seeing any reason to lie. “Ever since I was little, I could hear and see the magic around me in ways that no one else can. It’s something that not even the most powerful wizard I had ever met, the headmaster of the school I had attended as a child, could do.”
Thor stared at her in shock. To the unknowing person, her explanation could be described as similar to Heimdall’s ability to see and hear everything but this wasn’t it. This was seeing and hearing magic itself, and he had a feeling that if Lyssa were to look into Yggdrasil, she would be able to see the very threads of life throughout the cosmos. There had only been one person he knew of that had this ability – Anera.
“It used to give me such headaches when I was little.” Lyssa continued, unaware of her companion’s thoughts or shock. “Seeing and hearing things that no one else could see or hear; I was even able to see things that hadn’t even happened yet! It took a long time, but eventually I was able to control it enough so that it didn’t control me. Of course, it wasn’t before I was aware of nearly every little secret regarding my brother and his friends and let me tell you, there are some things no sister ever wants to know about her younger brother.” She shuddered in remembrance of some of the things she had been unintentionally privy to, firmly and adamantly pushing the memories away; having witnessed them once was one time too many. It was then that she noticed Thor staring at her with wide eyes. “Thor?”
“Yes?” He asked, in a slightly high-pitched voice.
“You okay?” She asked worriedly. “You’re looking at me strangely and to be honest, it’s rather disconcerting.”
“I’m fine.” Thor said, shaking his head and smiling at her reassuringly. “Your explanation took me off guard for a moment, that’s all.” Lyssa raised her eyebrow, clearly not believing him. Before she could question him on his rather blatant lie, he said, “While I was in the facility, I was visited by an image of my brother, Loki.”
“Loki, the Trickster, the God of Mischief?” Lyssa clarified.
“Indeed.” Thor replied, nodding. He was no longer surprised that the woman knew that. “He informed me that my father has passed.”
“I’m so sorry.” Lyssa said sincerely, reaching out and taking his large hand with her own smaller one, squeezing it sympathetically. “Because you’re still here, I take it you aren’t allowed home?”
“I was banished because I nearly started a war with Jotunheim and the treaty that has been brokered is contingent upon my exile.” He said sadly. “Mother has also forbidden my return home.”
“But why?” Lyssa asked, confused. “You’re her son! Why would she want you to remain in exile when you and your brother are all she has left of your father?”
“She is my mother, but she is also Queen of Asgard.” Thor said softly. “Like my father had done, she must think of the people and what is best for them, not just her sons.”
“I can't even begin to imagine being parted from Aria. Even before Lily and James died, I had found it painful to be parted from her after she was born.” Lyssa said softly, looking down at her slumbering daughter and running her free hand through the unruly hair; her other hand was still in Thor’s, their fingers now interlocked.
“May I ask, and feel free to not reply if you so wish, but what had happened?” Thor asked, paraphrasing Lyssa’s earlier question. “To Aria’s birth parents? I heard what you said this morning, but I do not know the whole story and I am hesitant to draw a conclusion.”
Lyssa was silent for several minutes, watching Aria sleep. At first, Thor assumed she was upset with his questioning but when he made to disjoin their hands, she clung tighter refusing to let go.
“They were murdered.” She replied finally, turning her pale gaze on him. “6 months ago, on Halloween.” Thor frowned, unfamiliar with the word. “I don’t know what it’s called among the Norse, or even if you celebrate it, but among the Gaelic it is known as Samhain.”
“Ah.” Thor nodded in understanding.
Lyssa resumed her story, explaining about how there had been a war of blood supremacy, how countless people had been murdered simply because they were born of non-magical parents or because they stood by those of non-magical descent, how eventually that led the self-proclaimed Dark Lord to her brother and sister-in-law’s doorstep while they had been in hiding. She told him how Lily and James had been found in different locations of the house which indicated that James had tried to buy time while Lily ran to get Aria, how Lily’s position in front of the crib showed that she had stood in the path of the curse. She recounted how the Fidelius Charm her family had been under worked and why she opted not to be the Secret Keeper by pointing out that she was an obvious choice as she was James’ sister, how they had been betrayed by someone they trusted, how an innocent person now rotted in a prison that was basically hell on Earth while the true culprit roamed free and how the entire Wizarding World hailed Aria as a hero.
“I do not understand.” Thor said with a frown, shaking his head. “From your retelling, it seems that it had been Aria’s mother, Lady Lily, who had been the one to defeat this Voldemort creature. It had been she who stood in his path to protect her child.”
“And that is what makes you different from them.” Lyssa said, all but hissing the final word in reference to those she had grown up among. “They are content to place the glory at the feet of a child who still wore diapers and drank her mother’s milk, a child who was orphaned at the hands of a madman seeking immortality and power. Only a handful had seen the child orphaned that night while the rest saw a hero.”
Tears filled her eyes and spilled down her cheeks unbidden, the woman unable to stem their flow no matter how hard she tried.
Thor shifted his cot until it was next to hers and pulled her into his arms, hugging her gently while still being mindful of the slumbering toddler between them. He whispered gentle nothings into her ear while rubbing her back soothingly, letting her grieve in a way she hadn’t let herself do so in many months.
Slowly, her heart-wrenching cries turned to sobs which in turn became whimpers before stopping completely as her breathing evened out and she succumbed to sleep’s embrace. Thor leaned back on the cot, shifting so that Lyssa rested her head against his chest. He also moved Aria slightly so that she slept between them with her head on his stomach and her legs on her mother’s.
“Thank you, Lyssa, for everything you have done for me these past two days.” He whispered softly, curling his free arm around Aria to prevent her from falling if she rolled during the night.
With that, he closed his eyes and let himself fall into sleep’s welcoming embrace, feeling the comforting weight of Lyssa and Aria in his arms.
Links:
*Lyssa pajamas -https://www.pinterest.ca/pin/474566879475944212/