The High Priestess

There are More

We walk inside the compound to find everyone still up. "How did it go?" Wanda asks us. 

"It could have gone better if someone stuck to the plan," Bucky complains. 

"Hey, I didn't hear you arguing when I was interrogating the guy," Marc defends himself. 

"Would you both stop it!" I yell at them. "Both of you are not making this any better." 

"I can agree," Venom shoots out of Eddie's shoulder. Everyone, not including Marc and I, jumps in shock. 

"I told you you can't do that," Eddie scolds him. 

"What the hell is that?" Tony asks. 

"Everyone meet Venom," Eddie introduces, "Venom everyone." Ugh I'm getting a headache. 

"What exactly is Venom?" Bruce asks curious. 

"He's a symbiote," I explain. "Basically an alien. Except earth's atmosphere is toxic to him so he needs a host that is basically dna compatible. Think of it like an organ transplant."

"I've heard of his kind," Thor voices.  "Although I've never met one before." 

"Yes because you forget that their kind eats brains," Loki points out. "So it wouldn't be the best idea." 

"Brains are tasty," Venom comments. 

"Venom, not now," I chastised. 

"Oh sorry," he apologizes. Then he rescinds back into Eddie. 

"Sorry about him," Eddie apologizes, "he's still learning." 

"Back to the issue at hand," Natasha gets us back on track. "My guess is that the mission didn't go smoothly." 

"It was going fine until this guy messed it up," Bucky complains pointing at Marc. 

"Well that just proves I care more about her than you do," Marc retorts. Bucky steps up to him glare clear on his face. 

"I don't know who you think you are but I'm really starting not to like you." 

"Yeah well the feeling's mutual. Besides the way you acted back there it seems like you don't care about her at all." 

"Tsk. I've known her longer than you've been alive." 

"True, but at least I've never tried to kill her." 

"Marc!" I exclaim before pushing the two apart. "I swear I will beat you into another universe if you don't stop." Glaring at both of them as they step back. 

"Seems like you all got along swimmingly," Tony says snarkily. 

"Not now, Stark. Look we need to get the artifact in Egypt which Marc will get," I iterate. 

"Oh so now you're interested," Marc argues, "you've been real twitchy since you found out someone is trying to kill you. You know who it is and you're not telling." 

"That doesn't concern you." 

"The hell it doesn't. You and I have known each other for a long time and I know you don't get involved unless absolutely necessary." 

"It is my problem I'll deal with it." 

"No, you don't get to dance around the subject. Who is he and what does he want with you?" I let out a long sigh. 

"His name is Paradox," I solemnly admit. "Sometimes when the universe becomes unbalanced it becomes a wound. And sometimes the universe tries to close the wound itself. It doesn't always end well. Paradox was an outcome of that. He is the collective consciousness of that wound. When I found out his existence I had to do something about it." 

"What is he exactly?" Steve asks. 

"He's like me and at the same time not. We're both anthropomorphic personifications but I'm superior in the hierarchy. The problem was that he's like a plague spreading chaos everywhere. The others and I came together to deal with the situation. We all agreed to seal away his powers so he couldn't hurt anyone. They were five keys created that were scattered across the universe. I was tipped off that he might be looking for them when Marc came looking for a piece of the map." 

"I've heard of Paradox," Loki voices. "He was a horror story you would tell children. If he is trying to come back to power it won't be an easy task to subdue him." 

"That is why I need to keep the keys hidden. Luckily only one of them is on earth while the rest is still scattered."

"What about those who sealed his power?" Steve tries to confirm. 

"Disappeared," I state plainly. "It took a toll on many of them. Some decided to move on and no longer exist. I'm the only one who knows the location of all keys." 

"So what happens now?" Sam asks. 

"Locate all the keys and scatter them again. It's so much of a risk to destroy them and hope it doesn't undo everything." I summon the other pieces of the map. "Now to reveal the first key." Waving my hands the maps fuse together. Glowing lines start to appear, "there was a reason one needed all the pieces. For the true map would only appear then." A complete map was then formed. "There is a golden tablet hidden away from the obvious eye. Bird brains can probably help you find it." 

"You know he hates it when you call him that," Marc comments as he takes the map.  

"Oh I know and I don't care. Now you better get going." He gives a mock salute before heading towards the exit. He doesn't forget to glare at Bucky on his way out. 

"What happens now?" Bucky comes up to ask me. 

"There is one key off planet, another in a tomb of a forgotten king, another with someone I trust, and the last I keep close to me. We should go looking for it all at them at once. It will tip Paradox off and he'll wait until we collect all of them to strike. For now we go on business as usual, for now act as if nothing has changed." 

"What are you going to do?" 

"I have to make sure the others are safe. They are in danger if Paradox starts to go after them." 

"There's more of you?" Bruce asks in a curious tone. 

"In a sense, we exist but we don't always acknowledge each other. More times than not we are strangers in passing. I'll have to seek them out one by one."  

"You can't look for them by yourself," Bucky argues. 

"Are you offering to come with me? Cause this won't be no vacation." Shrugging his shoulders before answering. 

"Might as well you already dragged me on one crazy adventure." 

"Okay," I concede. "I'll let you know when I have something." I decided it was the best time to leave. This situation has become more complicated than I ever thought it would. Last time I dealt with Paradox the toll was great. To be honest I don't know what to do if I were to see him again. There's also another problem was that one of the key's location is unknown to me. The reason, Ikaris is the one who has it. Why is that a problem one may ask, well I have no idea where he is. I don't know if I can go through the heartache of seeing him again.