Stained (N.R)

Chapter 6

Natasha got there just in time to see Hulk dragging a ragdolled Loki across the floor. Katyusha was slumped on the floor, bleeding from one shoulder, and she wasn't moving. Thor had tried to approach her, but was held back by her three automatons. The hound growled at him whilst the leopard showed off its sharp claws. Her hawk was on guard too, its wings half raised in a protective stance. 

Natasha froze, a similar image coursing through her head.

A building on fire, cries, sobs, screams. Bodies all around the place, some dead, some still alive. A breath of relief came out of her as she surveyed the scene. Dreykov was dead, and Katyusha and Yelena were waiting for her back at the Red Room. She would find them and free them. She smiled as she thought back to the two younger girls. Now, they could start a new life together, free of control....

Then, as she turned to leave, she heard a high ranked Red Room agent spoke into his comms beside her as he passed, unaware of her presence. "Test subject 416, Anya Ivanovna, 482, Katyushua Dreykov, 511, Ivan Sidorov confirmed dead. I repeat, test subject 416, 482, 511, confirmed dead. Project Hephaestus, terminated."

She heard Tony curse behind her, striding towards the scene, pulling her out of her memories. The hound sniffed him and let him through, halfheartedly wagging its tail. 

Natasha followed behind Tony, kneeling by Katyusha's side, reaching out to check on the girl's pulse. Her skin was warm to the touch and the pulse was there. She took in a sigh of relief. 

"Jarvis did a scan." Tony sat back, confusion etched on his face. "She should be awake, there are no major injuries, just this shoulder."

"What did you do to her?" Steve took a step forwards, aiming his shield threateningly at Loki. 

"What? Me? I did nothing." Loki spread his hands out, a wide smile spreading through his face. "Its what she did to herself that you should ask."

Tony raised an eyebrow, scoffing. He stood up, crossing his arms. "You are saying she did this to herself?"

"She did." It was Thor who spoke, holding up his hands to the frowns given by the others. "She practices soul magic, surely you know what that means. 

"You get this guy locked up first," Tony motioned to Loki, who was dangling still from Hulk's grasp. "I'll get the kid to the medics, and then we talk."

Tony and Bruce worked on holographic screens, monitoring Katyusha's condition, whilst Thor stood at the door of Tony's lab which had been converted into a hospital wing. 

Natasha sat on a chair by Kayusha's side. One look from Tony and she guessed that Tony knew something about the history between Katyusha and her. Clint stood at her right, his face set into a slight frown. Steve was there too, examining the automaton hound, Pluto, with wonder. Pluto seemed to have taken a liking to Steve, because he wagged his tail excitedly, butting his head on Steve's thigh. 

Diana, the leopard, made herself at home by Katyusha's feet, curling up and covering her nose with her tail, her sapphire eyes glinting as she assessed everyone who came into the room. 

Jupiter was nowhere to be seen, and Natasha did not have the heart to concern about the eagle's whereabouts. 

"I supposed you knew about soul magicians, because they were the only race of magicians who settled on earth a few thousand years ago." Thor began. "Some said they came from the now barren planet of Vormir, but if they did, then it was clear that they left no trace there."

He nodded his head towards Katyusha, "They looked like natural born inhabitants of Earth, and soon settled in. They spread across the planet, using their skills to interact with humans. Some became alchemists, physicians, others were magicians or necromancers. They were a species of little number and varied skills, and were always at the edge of extinction. This was because of their natural born abilities. "

Thor paused slightly. "They were able to trade with the dead."

Steve nearly tumbled out of his chair as he heard Thor's words, and the others all reacted more or less the same way, only Tony stood calm, his arms crossed. "I wouldn't call it trading." 

Thor looked over at Tony, "She told you?"

"She made those," Tony pointed at Diana and Pluto, "literally downstairs. "

Thor nodded in understanding, scratching his beard a little.  

"There are souls all around us, and only soul magicians can see them, and even they see the souls in different ways." Thor nodded his head. "She is one of the most talented soul magicians I have ever met, and to say the truth, I have not met many. In fact, there were so little of them that even my Father had only seen a handful, and that was before the hunt for them began."

"The hunt for them?" Tony asked, "that I never heard."

"It was before they came to earth. Because they worked with souls, these people used to be peace loving, never killing anything. They were able to talk with the dead and learn from their experiences. One could say that they were the wisest race that walked the universe. All species would go and warship the soul magicians, in order to gain knowledge from the past, or from the future, but at a price, often in gold or silver.

Yet, one day, a clan in space decided that they would not pay, and that they would capture a soul magician, and make him one of their own. Not wanting others to copy their ways, they slaughtered most of the population."

Thor's voice turned heavy, as he turned to the girl lying unconscious in bed. "Only afterwards did the universe find out, that they were not really defenseless, and that  their interaction with the dead came at a cost. These magicians could not only talk to souls, but also raise an army of the dead, or even give a soul a permanent new body, like those metal creatures. The cost was a temporary lost of senses, and so the magicians often had to live in a state in which they could not hear,  taste, see or feel. Yet never would they dare to lose all their senses, like what she has done today."

"What would happen if they did," Natasha asked, her hands clenching into fists. "What will happen to her now."

Thor frowned. "I would not know, the only magicians who did that turned themselves mad. Imagine that you are conscious, but trapped in your own body, unable see, hear, taste, touch or feel. You would not know the time which had past, trapped in your body and left with only your mind. And the most horrible part is, after they have lost all your five senses, their nervous system automatically shuts down. They were a race too powerful, and some said that those who created this race balanced their powers out by giving them this fatal flaw."

All six turned to look at the quiet girl, deep in slumber on the bed. 

"They are not weak as you think." Thor warned, " After most of their race was slaughtered, the soul magicians showed their true abilities. They raised an endless army of the dead, which never tire and never ran out. They fought with great indestructible beasts at their side. Beasts who could think for themselves, like the living can. They only needed small amounts of any energy, like heat or the rays of the sun to live. Thankfully they did not grow or reproduce, or the universe would have been conquered by soul magicians by now. Their race, after the wars, turned vigilant and vicious, most even turning to ways dark and evil. Their love of peace turned into thirst for blood and war."

Thor took a deep breath and ended his story. "They came to earth to hide from the rest of the universe, but long we have thought they had extincted. I have never imagined that I would see one here and now."

"When will she wake up?" Tony asked, his hands furiously calculating something on the hologram."

"A year? Two?" Thor shrugged. "I do not know."