a warning letter
It was the big moving day, a week had passed since that exciting trip to Russia and the equally thrilling conversation that took place in that shawarma place.
Cora had taken the week to play pranks on every soul in the sactum in Bleecker street, to make sure they don't forget her. She also spent those days with Strange and Wong, however, half the time the two didn't pay much attention as they were busy perfecting the letter they would send the Avengers about what to expect from the woman they were welcoming into their home.
When she arrived she directly materialised in the middle of the lounge causing the god of thunder, who was the only one currently in the common area, to summon his hammer and point at her with it in a threatening manner
"By Odin's beard, lady Cora, you frightened me half to death, my apologies" Said the blonde man after realizing who was in front of him and putting down Mjolnir
Cora ignored the title and laughed lightly, not that anyone else needed to know but that hammer would do nothing more than give her a slight headache if it hit her, as long as she didn't stop it before that. She was worthy, she knew, she'd checked when it was made.
"No worries, prince Thor" She said with a wink, if he was going to use titles, she would as well "Actually, you're just the man i needed to talk with" She said walking towards a chair by the corner of the room, it looked pretty 'un-used' in comparison with the rest of the chairs and sofas, so she decided to claim it as hers.
The god, who was sitting on one of the big couches placed to her right, gestured for her to carry on
"I wanted to know whether you tend to talk to your family about the Avengers and its members" Asked the closetted deity as casually as possible
Thor looked at her questioningly but nodded in response. With that, Cora's hands shone with tiny specks of lilac dust that were sent towards the god's temples.
"You will not utter my name or any of my qualities, you will only be able to refer to me in ominous ways, such as 'a new friend', 'new teammate', etc, additionally, any magical user who dares look into your mind will not see me, replacing me all together with someone else or as just a faded shadow, the spell can and will be broken if i see it fit" she whispered into the god's ear, her voice echoing all through his mind
His eyes briefly changed from their natural blue to a deep and glowing purple, in a second they went back to normal as if nothing had happened.
Now, I know, it looks pretty sketchy, but this was something that needed to be done, the why she did it was too complicated, but explaining the 'what she did' was easier
The simple spell is meant to keep her name away from the royal family, Thor would be literally incapable of uttering a word about Cora if her name or identity could be decoded from whatever he told them. Sure, he could talk to his parents about the new addition to the team, but he wouldn't be able to say anything about her, such as appearance, powers, and most importantly, her name. On top of that, the little spell would make the man forget the last couple of seconds...
"Yes, lady Cora, what was it you needed to ask me?" Asked the asgardian prince, as if nothing had happened, which to him hadn't
"I was wondering if you could show me my room, prince Thor" Cora told him with a friendly smile
"Ah, I see what you're doing..." he glared with an accusatory finger, for a moment the woman panicked 'Did i mess up the spell? That's never happened before-' Her thoughts were interrupted as the god continued on voicing his accusations "You're using my title because I use a title with you, well played, I'll stop if you stop" Bargained the blue-eyed towering man with an amiable smile
"I accept your offer, Thor" Said a relieved Cora and shook hands with the brawny god to seal the deal. She then noticed that the place had cameras everywhere so she discreetly sent a wisp of magic towards it, if anyone were to watch the security tapes now they would only see Cora and Thor chatting with no weird lilac sparks in between them.
- - -
"Sabrina, Tony requests your presence in the lounge area" The voice she had learnt belonged to the tower's AI, Jarvis, told Cora an hour after Thor had shown her to her room
She frowned, but decided against questioning the voice and just ask Tony, "Sure Jar, please tell him i'll be right there, thanks!" Okay, she knew the AI probably didn't have a conscience and didn't care if Cora said thank you and please, but she didn't feel like taking any chances, who knew, maybe an evil robot would try to take over the world, and if that happened, she'd prefer to be on Jarvis' good side
She walked in the room and everyone was there sat around the coffee table where a card addressed to them lied untouched
"You called me because you got a letter?" Asked the woman tilting her head in confusion
"No, Sabrina, it dropped on the table from an orange ring, so we guessed it's from your witch friends" Said Stark with an eye roll
"That nickname sucks, i'm not a witch, tin man" Said Cora with what seemed to be her signature playful smile
"Then what are you? We know nothing about you, other than that you're like crazy powerful" Pietro's statement was backed up by the rest of the team with nods and hums of agreement
"Well, then I advise you to open the letter" Said the not-a-witch with a satisfied smile
Steve picked up the letter from the table and started reading it aloud for everyone to hear.
"Dear Avengers,
We told you we'd have to give you some information
about some of the stuff Cora does that won't make sense to most of you,
sadly for you, she probably won't explain why she does anything she does,
even if you pester her about it. Trust us, we've tried.
So, Wong and I, Strange, will give you some insight on surviving living with the enigma that is Cora Francis..."
The captain stopped reading when Cora snatched the paper from his hands
"Ugh, 'enigma'? So dramatic" Steve tried to take it back but she put a shield around her to read it in peace, a minute later she gave it back to the group of confused heroes "Sorry, had to proof-read, y'know, make sure there wasn't anything that would make me look too bad... Carry on, please" She said walking away from the coffee table everyone was still around and choosing to listen from her corner chair. This time Natasha took the letter and with a cough she carried on where they'd left.
"She tends to lock herself in her room for hours and sometimes days,
she's meditating, we don't know anything apart from that,
we gathered it has to do with something about her home but we're still not sure,
don't try to break in unless it's been a couple of days,
in that case just go in to check that she's still breathing and then leave her.
Although you guys have the artificial buttler,
so it would be wiser to just leave her be and ask Jarvis to do the check-ups.
Cora doesn't talk about her past, her home or anything regarding her roots.
She's very cryptic about it, as much as we try we never got much out of her,
just that she left wherever she is from for a break, for now that's all she'll say,
please respect that.
Our Cora is a practical ball of sunshine, she is always joking and laughing around,
so we beg you don't ruin that by asking endless questions like we did in the beginning,
dont anguer her, she will put you all in your place, it's ugly how scary she can get.
Also, she's old, like really old, she doesn't act it at all, but sometimes she just throws random facts about say the 1500's that historians don't even know,
for the sake of your sanity, just ignore it.
Also she loves pulling pranks and practically doesn't take anything seriously, be careful
Until you need us again, the sorcerers.
PS: we do not take refunds, she's your problem now ~S.S.
PS2: Strange is joking, we already miss you ~Wong"
"They make it sound like i'm the instigating dog they had to give away because they got pregnant and didn't have enough time or patience for taking care of both" Said Cora when the group had finished the letter
"I'm sure they were mostly exaggerating, don't worry Cora" said the kind Bruce Banner
"Oh no, they most definitely were not, everything they said was right, but, i won't pull any weird stuff until we're all in confidence, no worries" Told the woman with both thumbs up and a big smile
"So... How old are you then?" A man with a metal arm asked her 'I haven't met this one yet, he must be Jame Barnes' she thought
"Sargeant, weren't you taught to never ask a lady's age?" Cora retorted teasingly, the soldier found it amusing and chuckled "If you must know, I should be around 1700 now, lost the count a few centuries ago" Everyone looked surprised, well everyone but Thor, who was used to people in Asgard and other realms living for many millenniums, when he remembered he was on Earth and the life expectancy there was at the most 100 years, he looked surprised as the rest if not more
"H-How-" The two scientists in the team began questioning
"Nope" Was all Cora said and the group took it as confirmation of what Strange meant in the letter of not pressing for answers.
Inside his head Thor kept trying to figure out how she could be even older than him without being a goddess, was she a goddess? Was she asgardian? What was Cora Francis? So many unanswered questions and most of them unanswered would stay.
- - -
The avengers spent the rest of the night eating pizza and drinking as they got acquainted with their new team member, all in all it was a successful night, thought Cora. She decided to turn in for the night, but instead of going to sleep she locked her door, sat in the floor of her new room, closed her eyes and visited her old friend.
- - -
"Queen Cora, I saw you coming" said the tall man with mesmerizing bronze eyes
"Of course you did, good Heimdall" Replied Cora with sarcasm dripping from her tongue.