The Meeting
Nico followed Thor down the hallway and into a boring drab room with a long table able to hold 20 chairs. Thor took a seat at one end and gestured to the eat next to him saying,
“Have a seat, young Nico, and deliver your message.”
Nico sat, in the most dignified manner possible, and shifted his sword into a more comfortable position.
This drew the god’s eye and he boomed joyfully, “You need have no fear of me, Nico Di Angelo! I vow not to harm you while things remain peaceful.”
Nico gave a grimace of a smile responding, “I don’t fear you attacking me Lord Thor. I just have to remain vigilant of monster attacks. Now let's get down to business.” Nico barely restrained himself from rolling his eyes thinking, ‘Gods I sound pretentious. But I can’t just snark back at a god like Percy.’
“Yes,” responded Thor, “What does Olympus want?”
Nico straightened in his seat and reached his hand into the shadow casted by the table. He withdrew his hand, and within it was an inch thick stack of papers. Nico set them on the table between them and nervously licked his lips.
“Lord Thor,” he started, “Are you aware of the agreement between the council and your father Lord Odin?”
Thor nodded his assent.
“Then are you aware that you have flagrantly broken this agreement in multiple ways? You and your brother have appeared in the council’s territory without notification, used weapons without registration, used powers without registration, have not graced the council with your presences, and most severely, have risked exposure to mortals without permission. Some of these have multiple offenses without explanation or apology.”
Thor’s eyes widened as Nico listed his offenses and he looked gobsmacked by the end. Leaning forward, and almost tripping over his words, he responded,
“M-my father made this agreement over 2000 years ago when I was still quite young! He never warned me of what the agreement entailed. You can’t fault me for not following procedures I knew nothing about!”
Nico furrowed his brows and carefully, as to not offend the god, retorted, “From what I have heard about Allfather Odin, he is a wise and scrupulous ruler. I find it unlikely that he would have sent you into the council’s territory with no warning or knowledge of the agreement. For many of these offenses are only applicable if they happen within the council’s territory.”
Thor was cornered. If he tried to argue further, then he would be insulting his father. Nico gestured towards the stack of papers.
“These are all the forms for you and your brother’s missing paperwork. There is also a list of fines on top. All paperwork must be finished, debts paid, apologies given, and agreement reestablished before the next solstice. Otherwise, you will have a war on your hands. The whole council, the king especially, is outraged by your actions. Am I perfectly clear, Lord Thor?” Nico got great satisfaction from the fear and uneasiness that played on Thor’s face.
‘I just hope he doesn’t get mad and shoot the messenger. Gods usually don’t take criticism lightly.’ Nico kept his eyes on Thor, but he just sat there staring blankly at the stack of paper on the table.
Eventually, after a long moment of silence, Thor asked, “And when is the next solstice?”
Nico replied, “You have until sunset eight days from now.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Avengers looked shocked beyond belief except for Natasha, who only looked mildly surprised.
“Agreement? I’ve never heard of anyone making contact with Asgard before. And did Thor say 2000 years ago? There’s no way anyone would have had the technology to contact outer space to get the attention of Asgard! This makes no sense!” Clint said.
Tony called, “JARVIS, search for any mention of contact with Asgard as well as a group called “Olympus” and “The Council”.”
“Already on it, sir.” came the reply.
Tony walked over and set his empty glass down. “Well this will probably take some time. So what do we do now?”
Natasha said, “We can’t let the kid just walk away. Why don’t we ask him a few questions?”
Rogers, Banner, and Stark all start protesting.
“He’s just a kid-”
“Detaining a minor, even a suspicious one, reeks of fishy behavior.”
“Wow, he hasn’t even done anything and you’re just gonna treat him like a criminal?”
“Nothing?” Natasha replied. “Then where did the paper come from? He has no bag, and his clothes couldn’t hide a stack that thick. And besides I was still a child when I began my training. We don’t know what he’s capable of. I may not know of Olympus, but using child agents doesn’t bode well.”
Everyone stared at each other for a tense moment before the three men backed down.
Stark continued, “I’m more interested in that weapon of his. Why doesn’t he just use a gun?”
“We have more important priorities Stark,” interjected Rogers, “He said war in 8 days. The city won’t be recovered by then. And look how pale Thor got. What kind of force would he be facing?”
Everyone was so lost in their conversation that they missed Nico leaving through a shadow in the meeting room until JARVIS said, “Sir, the boy has left and Thor is coming up to meet you.”
“What!” squawked Stark. “Play back the footage!”
A playback of the footage appeared on the blank wall to their left. It showed the kid saying, “I hope to see you soon.” and turning towards the back of the room where there was a shadow along the wall. One step before he reached it, the camera footage glitched and then the boy was gone.
“Woah, woah, woah!” Stark exclaimed, “What was that? My cameras shouldn’t glitch, what happened there JARVIS?”
“I do not know Sir. All cameras appear to be functioning normally.”
“We’ll work on investigating this issue later. Show me what you got on this mysterious council? Shed some light on the situation.” Stark was speaking quickly, his mind going 100 miles an hour while typing on his phone.
“Olympus has many references from titles of books, stores, and other things, but all seem to refer back to Mt. Olympus, the home of the Greek God pantheon. This also confers with the keyword “council”. The mythology outlines a council of 12 gods, though not all 12 members are consistent, that democratically rule over all the lands and beings of Greece. The head of the council and King of the gods is the god of thunder, Zeus.”
Tony took a breath to let the information soak in before quipping, “Sounds like we need to watch Hercules to brush up on our Greek myths.”
“Stark, this is serious,” groaned Rogers. “We don’t have any time to waste if kids are involved. Now whoever this council is, whether aliens or people, they seem to be sticking to the Greek theme. As such, we can plan for 12 head members of this organization that we have to target. This won’t be easy as once we start moving, the ones not grabbed immediately will slip away. We also need to determine if all council members have equal standing or if there is a “Zeus” that we can prioritize as the leader of the organization.
“We can’t be rash with children’s lives at stake. Our first priority needs to be gathering information.”
“That may be difficult,” Natasha mused. “The kid saw us and knows Thor. Whoever they report to has a headstart on our numbers, strengths, and abilities. The footage from the battle is all over the internet and the city is damaged. It will be hard to move quietly.”
“Speaking of information,” said Stark, “What do we got on our buddy Nico, Jarvis?”
“Well Sir, not much. There are no birth, medical, or travel records that match his name and appearance. The only record I can find is a school registration record for Nico and Bianca Di Angelo for a private academy in Maine. They were only registered for a year, with no prior or subsequent school records found, and they were listed as missing in December of 2007.
“The school lists no parents, and the only guardian listed is a lawyer named Alecto Fury. There were no addresses listed, and the only phone number listed has already been changed to a new owner. As for his age, the school put him in the 4th grade, which would put his age between 9 and 10 years old at the time. This would make him between 14 and 15 years old now.”
“Any information on the sister or the last name?”
“There is no information on the sister other than her inferred age of 16 to 17 years old based on the grade difference between the siblings. The last name is Italian and translates to “of the angels”. I will need more time to look into the information that may be found in Italy.”
“How is there nothing on this kid? And what about the guardian?”
“There are no records of an Alecto Fury existing and the school only notes that she was their guardian on orders from an unnamed father. I can find no relevant records of a Mr. Di Angelo in America.”
Stark looked stumped for a moment. “How can there be so many people with no records? How have they not tripped someone’s radar? I thought SHIELD looked into that kind of thing.”
Clint just shook his head twice. “I’m not sure either. The only other case that was even close was Thor’s. And he had fake records from Foster’s assistant.”
The elevator dinged and opened, revealing Thor who stepped into the room. “My friends. It seems I have business on Midgard for a little longer. I shall have to intrude on you for a few days more, Man of Iron”
“Oh yeah,” replied Stark, “doing what? What business could Goth boy have with you?”
Natasha interjected the conversation before it could escalate saying, “I need to bring this to Fury. He can get more people on this.”
“Nay.” Thor said firmly. “Fury and everyone else is not to know of the events that transpired today. I am curious how you all know.” He fixed them with a stern gaze, uncharacteristically somber. “This is not something you should interfere with, for it is not your place.”
Stark’s face hung in disbelief. “It’s not our place? He showed up in my building. He has almost no records, and what he does have all lead to dead ends. C’mon you have to give us something. The city can’t handle another fight.”
“He is of no danger to you. I gave my word to his council that I would not speak of it and I am a man of my word.”
“And what council is this exactly? W might’ve just recently met, but you’ve never spoke this formal since our fight in the woods, Point Break.”
“Stark, I understand your concerns and curious mind, but I cannot speak of it.”
“Thor,” Rogers spoke next. “At least tell us something about the kid. He can’t be 18 yet, but he came to meet you on behalf of this council? That’s fishy, and you know it. Is this council using child soldiers? We’ve the duty to protect Earth, and that is more important than your word or reputation. We need to help that kid.”
“I admire your warrior’s heart Steven. Be at ease, for he is older and wiser than he appears. He is an ambassador for the council, but that is all I can say.”
Natasha observed what was said, and more importantly, what wasn’t. She subtly signaled to Clint and slipped from the room.