A Soul Above the Rest (Avengers Soulmate Story)

It's not over. It never is

It was clear something had happened when the jet landed. Some of the base had been torn and things had been knocked over. Wanda and Pietro were found on an open plane, where the grass had been severely burned. The look on their faces told them to expect the worst. Clint was the first to ask.
"What happened?"
"They took her"
Wanda whispered quietly, but they heard it louder than any other sound.
"Who"
Tony asked, but they all knew. They knew too well. Natasha said something to Bruce. It was hard not to just dig deep into your own anger, but they all knew they had to make sure that Bruce didn't Hulk out.

That was harder said than done. Natasha's words kept him stalled, but it didn't work. Luckily for them, Wanda was on her feet and managed to put him to sleep. But then there was everyone else.

Another jet landed on the field, and the last person The Avengers should probably encounter stepped out. Wanda felt like ripping Fury apart. They all did. Their anger and grief were on the same level, and if he didn't step out of the way, he would feel their wrath.

"I know you're mad, but before you kill him, and me, please listen"
Wilhelm said as he stepped out. He was holding a strange object that resembled an arrow in some ways.
"I'm done listening to you-"
Tony said but was cut off.
"She's not completely gone. Don't let your anger control the situation. I can find her, but only if you cooperate"
The look on Wilhelm's face was calm. He didn't appear to be in a hurry which pissed them off. Did he know who he was talking about? Did he care?
"This thing I have here can help locate her"
He held out the arrow.

Before the others could spew threats or let the conversation get sidetracked, Vision stepped in.
"How?"
"A few hours ago the arrow head started glowing red. I figured I'd take a look at it, but when I picked it up, it violently flung itself into the wall. Luckily it got stuck, but I have a theory of why it did so"
Wilhelm motioned for them to get inside of the jet. They reluctantly followed.
"Natasha felt a sting in her soul mark not long ago too. Do you think the "arrow" was activated by Flora's magic?"
Clint asked as they all found a place to stand.
"Yep. I looked at what direction it was going, and found a strong magical pull around here. Then an emergency signal was called out, and now we're here"
"But how will that help us find Flora, if she's the one activating it with her powers?"
Steve asked with clear annoyance in his voice. Wilhelm just smiled.
"Either we wait for her to use a lot of magic, or we make it find her"
"Just spill it out wise guy"
Natasha said, giving him a look sharp enough to cut.
"Very well"

Wilhelm's smile didn't disappear, while he put down the arrow onto a metallic, square plate. It slowly turned, pointing at each of them for a moment. It did however not point at Wilhelm, Fury or Vision.
"Just as I thought. It also reacts to her soulmates. I still haven't figured it out fully, but with this combination of metals compressed to this plate, the arrow acts like a compass. If you're willing to help, we could try and make it do the opposite"

"Before Tony says anything. Let's do it. We can't just hope that she'll come back. We have waited, and even though they might be the reason she disappeared, Wilhelm will most likely also be the reason she comes back"
Natasha said. Tony gave her a look, but her own overpowered him. He wanted to say something. Protest. But she was right. If they wanted to find her as fast as possible, they needed to cooperate. Especially since the shadow creature was now ranked as an even bigger threat.

———🍀———🌸❦🌼———🍁———

Nitri stared at her phone.

Call ended

"Uh hey Nitri, you've been staring at your phone for 10 minutes now. What happened? Didn't they answer"
Lena said as she came into the living room, from the kitchen.
"He hung up on me, Lena"
Nitri said with a monotone voice.
"Who? The Avengers?"
"yeES. We were doing pretty good at finding out where Flora might be in this wide world, and then Tony freaking Stark just hangs up on me. He couldn't even think about letting their soulmates best friends know what they might know"
Nitri jumped up and threw her phone onto another chair.

"Okay, calm down Nitrate-"
"doN'T CALL ME THAT"
Lena took a spray bottle with water that always stood in the most convenient places and sprayed Nitri with it.
The pink haired girl took a pillow and threw it after her,
"You know how most people are when it comes to their soulmate. They come before them in every aspect, so I'm sure they'll give us a call when they've cleared it all out. Hell, I know Flora will. Just calm down"

They sat in silence for a while. Nitri was still sulking. Then her face suddenly lit up.
"What is it?"
Lena asked. Nitri had a giant grin on her face as she jumped up and down.
"Let's surprise visit her!"
She exclaimed.

Lena chuckled and petted her soulmate.
"Sure. When do you think?"
"Let's make it a surprise! Flora is like super busy and so is her soulmates, so what if we came and visited like next month or something"
"Y'know. That's not half bad. But let's wait and see"
Nitri let out a sigh of annoyance.
"I swear to god, if they let her get hurt I will go there myself and beat them all up"
Lena let out a loud laughter, meanwhile Nitri tried to keep a serious face.

It ended up in laughter. Though it was a wild idea Nitri had flung out, they were both on board with surprising their best friend, by giving her a visit. The thing was just to secretly get there and surprise her, without her finding out. And she was very good at seeing through lies and such.

———

"So tell me, dear, you know Miss Crestal?"
Annabelle asked. Alex looked up from his phone. They had been put into this room for "safekeeping" or something. Things had been a little rushed, but the Six Souls holder was suppose to be somewhere else right now.

"Yes, I do ma'am! We work on a website together!"
It was weird to be stuck in a room with one of the world's most famous people. He wasn't sure what to say or do, but her friendly smile calmed him down a little. Still, he couldn't sleep. That was what they were supposed to do, but too much had happened. Aya was gone, Flora was here, Annabelle Rex was right in front of him.
"Miss Crestal is a brave young lady. She's also very strong. Hadn't it been for her, I wouldn't be here right now"

Axel smiled a little but couldn't find the strength to hold it.
"She'll find your friend. I'm sure"
"I don't want her to if she doesn't. I just want to talk with her again. A lot has happened in her life these last months, and a lot has happened here too. I wish they'd let us out of here"

He felt something sting in him. Maybe anger, sadness, fury. He wished that he had grabbed her hand. Or that it had been him. But he wasn't a multi-marked, so the black creatures wouldn't want him.

"It's for our safety. Try and get some sleep now, dear. I'm sure things will be explained"
Alex just couldn't let it go. He didn't want to be angry right now, especially not in front of such a magnificent human being, but he felt so conflicted.
"They shouldn't care about me. I'm just a simple person with one soulmark, I'm not desired by those creatures"

"But there are others than the smoke creatures. You saw them too. Multi-marked with incredibly strong powers"
He sighed and walked over to his room. It was small and there was only room for a bed. Annabelle got up and walked to her own room. It was quiet again. There was a small window that showed one of the base's many tents. He laid down onto his bed and stared at the sealing.

As he was dozing off, the sound of an alarm rang through the whole base.

———⋇———

The sun shone brightly through the jungle's leaves. A girl walked alone, humming a harmonic melody. Her clothes looked as if she was stranded, but she looked happy as ever. Though there was a slight mellow tone to her usual cheery melody. Today she found a young woman on a mount of dirt and rocks that had not been there the day before. It was strange but she was not surprised. Just sad.

Maybe she felt disappointed too. Maybe a part of her deep down had hoped it was someone else. That despite the odds, someone else would come and she would invite them to live with her. She was fine with this solitary life, but had any other person come, she would have greeted them with open arms.

She couldn't do the same with that woman. The consequences were too big. Today would be her last day in this forest she had otherwise spent so much time on. She had grown very fond of its nature and wild animals, despite being told to never grow attached to anything.

The woman was very special and needed her help.

And she had to leave eventually.