Avengers: The Goddess of Magic

Chapter 7: Della

Adelaide Bowen, known as Della, was out walking, taking a breather after an especially difficult day. She sighed, running a hand through her hair.

On her hand there was two rings, one with Hecate's wheel, the other sporting the tree of life. The tree of life ring got snagged on her hair and she huffed, gently pulling it free.

She picked up speed, sprinting down the sidewalk, her breath rattled in her lungs and she pushed herself harder, forcing her legs to move even as they began to feel like cement.

She ran for half an hour, finally stopping at the edge of the neighborhood. She stopped, breathing hard. She looked up to the sky, blinking away the fog that threatened her vision as her contacts disconnected slightly from her eyes.

Her rings glinted in the light and suddenly a searing pain went up her arm and back, she fell to the ground, screaming in pain. A light coursed through her veins, showing the network of blood under her skin.

Her rings melted into her flesh, the tree of life growing up her hand, over her arm, and across her shoulder and over her heart. Her Hecate's wheel migrated, the design making itself prominent on the trunk of the tree on her arm.

Her eyes glowed, tears flowing freely down her face. Visions flashed before her eyes, as she felt every death of every witch since the beginning of time. She felt the steel of blades, the burn of flames, the pain of poison and spells.

She gasped, blinking, her eyes dulling to their normal brown. She dragged herself out of the street and into the park nearby. She stumbled behind a tree, thunking down. She untied the sweatshirt from around her waist, still breathing hard.

She murmured to herself quietly, tears slipping down her cheeks. "Can't let them see it, gotta pull it together, c'mon." Sighing, Della stood, pulling the sweatshirt over her newly acquired tattoos.

She went home, narrowly avoiding contact with any of her family, glancing at the anti-superhero poster plastered to the front door, a disturbing slash to the otherwise cheerful ambiance the house gave off.

Della took a deep breath, blocking out the searing pain that still had her mind reeling. She knew that if they saw, if they knew, that she'd be dead in a matter of days. She was the last of Hecate's disciples and she was very unsafe.

Sometime later Della was out at the bank with her father when everything went haywire. The portal had opened in the sky and aliens were pouring through and doing serious harm. The Avengers were doing their best to turn the tide, but the aliens had trapped a group of people, including Della and her parents in the bank.

Della could feel the urging in her veins, the magic bubbling up, trying to pour over, to protect the people from the guns pointed at them. She almost let it go, let it kill and protect, but the heavy feeling of her father's hand on her shoulder and the stinging of the marks he was pressing on stopped her.

Her breath caught in her throat and she closed her eyes, trying to calm down. The magic, as she had discovered, came more strongly when she was emotional, which, being a teenager, was harder to avoid than it should have been.

She opened her eyes in surprise as her father yanked her back, throwing her on the floor roughly. She looked up to see Captain America fighting the aliens. He threw one over the railing, yelling "everyone, clear out!"

Della scrambled back as her father ran, yelling how superheroes ruined everything that it was their fault. He didn't seem to notice that she wasn't behind him. The alien on the floor got up, moving towards her and growling.

Della glanced, seeing her father still within eyesight, realizing that she couldn't defend herself. Her magic roared in her ears but she ignored it, pulling herself to her feet and screaming as she punched the alien, knocking it back.

Cap, above, defeated the two aliens he was battling, smashing the bomb they had intended to set off. He heard a scream and ran to the railing, seeing a short teenage girl with brown curls and a terrified look on her face battling a Chitauri.

The girl's hands glowed slightly and she punched the alien, sending it flying back. She glanced at the doorway, seeming even more anxious, frantically shaking her hands as if to dispel the energy. The Chitauri jumped on her and Cap leapt down from the balcony, pulling the alien off of her and cutting off its head with his shield.

He pulled the girl to her feet and said "are you alright, miss...?" She nodded and "Della. I'm Della, thank you." A man yelled "Della what the hell are you doing? Get away from him!" Cap saw the girl flinch and she whispered "go. Please."

Against his better judgement Cap left, glancing back as he reentered the fray. The girl watched him go, seeming to check out as her father yelled.

Della snapped back into reality as Captain America left, scraping the alien goo off of her face. Her father yelled louder, grabbing her arm and slapping her. She fell to her knees, her curly hair curtaining around her face.

There was no one else in the bank, they had all run, and Della stared at the ground as her father pulled her home, hoping that the superheroes would win, and that she would make it out alive. At home her punishment continued and that night, Della began to practice.

Before she had pushed away her identity, her destiny, choosing cowardice. She embraced it now, learning from the past witches who gave her her power, finding strength in her ancestors. She accepted that it wouldn't get better and knew that Captain America had seen the glow as her magic sparked in her hands.

She knew that she was a dead woman walking.