Two Worlds | Tony Stark [1.5]

two

Athena dropped the smooth leather and bent her knees so that she was eye level with the magnificent weapon. She had heard stories about this weapon, mainly from the enthusiastic ramblings of Hephaestus. Her stepbrother, Hephaestus, admired many things - especially the exquisitely crafted weaponry of the dwarves. It was a shared trait that Athena and Hephaestus shared, the love of craftmanship. Whilst Hephaestus interest remained mostly with blackmanship and Athena's in art, the two, regardless, bonded over their shared love for the crafts. Zeus would often rejoice that Athena and Hephaestus got along, unlike the relationship Athena had with her other brother Ares. 

Athena stood up straight and faced Coulson excitedly. "This is amazing! How did you find it? Where did it come from? You have no idea how exciting this is!"

Coulson tried to keep the smile off his face as Athena rambled in excitement. "I take it that you are aware of this object and its properties?"

Athena's eyes widened as she grinned. "Oh! Not at all. I know its name but I know little about its properties. I'd have to consult with Hephaestus about that. He will be so excited when he hears about this. He'll be down here in a matter of seconds, I'd say."

Coulson had lost the smile as Athena innocently revealed she was not very knowledgeable on the object. Perhaps it was naïve on his behalf to presume that Athena would have all the answers. She always seemed to have the answers and it was an unsettling revelation that that was not the case. Athena, on the other hand, was not one bit put off by the lack of knowledge on her behalf. 

"You are unfamiliar with this object?" Coulson asked, doubt creeping into his words. 

Athena nodded as she circled the weapon. "I've only ever seen it in a book once but of course, Heph talks about it all the time. It's an incredible creation. Arguably the dwarves best."

"Dwarves? Like the Lord of the Rings?" Coulson questioned confused. 

"Lord and the what?" Athena asked, distractedly as she studied the weapon. "Oh, Phil. Isn't Mjolnir just incredible?"

"Mol- what?" Coulson was baffled and Athena finally looked at him. 

"Mjolnir." Athena repeated, pronouncing it slowly. "An ancient weapon made from Uru forged by the dwarves in Nidavellir in the heart of a dying star."

Coulson nodded seriously, although the words made little sense to him. "And what can it do?"

Athena paused and smiled sheepishly. "Well, it is... very heavy... and... it hurts to be hit by it?"

"Is that code for 'I don't know'?" Coulson smiled at the sheepish woman, who nodded her head. 

"I will know in a couple of days." Athena confirmed. "I need to consult with Heph."

Coulson visibly paused. "Will that require him to visit Earth?"

Athena narrowed her eyes, slightly offended that Coulson was implying that her family was not welcome here. "It doesn't but it'll take me longer if he doesn't."

"We can find some time to allow that then." Coulson said and walked away. 

Athena stood still beside Mjolnir, having gotten the message that her kind was not welcome there. She huffed and poked the handle of the hammer. It didn't move but she hadn't excepted it to, she only poked it after all. 

Athena looked over her head as thunder rumbled. Not fancying getting wet, she headed inside the facility. Just like before, the place was crawling with agents. Athena wandered around aimlessly before sitting down on a bench. She took out her phone intending to call Tony but to her surprise, the phone was glitching. She put the phone away and frowned. 

She didn't recognise anyone around her as she walked through the facility. Boxes and files lay unattended on desk and she figured why not snoop. She picked up a notebook from inside a box. Unlike the other stuff on the table, this notebook wasn't labelled as SHIELD. Instead, an unfamiliar name was etched neatly on the cover. Jane Foster. 

Athena flipped open the book with curiosity and instantly she was met with scribbled writing and diagrams. Astrophysics wasn't something Athena was overly interested in or versed in but even she could tell that this Jane Foster character was tracking something incredible. 

"Agents down! We've got a perimeter breach!" 

Athena glanced away from the book at the panicked announcement. A loud alarm sounded through the facility and Athena tilted her head. The facility had good security, it was not easy to breach. She looked down at the book in her hand and pocketed it into her jacket. 

She could vaguely hear some fighting from inside the tube that lead to Mjolnir under the loud alarm. She walked briskly into the pouring rain, intending to approach the person who broke into the facility and instead found herself crashing into another person. Athena fell on her knees in the muddy ground, her lovely new jeans ruined. 

The other man cursed loudly and scrambled to his feet. Athena noticed a bow a feet centimetres from her and raised an eyebrow at the unusual choice in weapon. She grabbed the weapon and thrusted it into the man's arms. He wore black waterproofs and was looking at her in vague recognition. "Ah, Blondie. You're coming with me."

Athena had little choice as the archer grabbed her arm and dragged her across the area. A crane bucket was waiting for them and Athena was more or less shoved into it by the archer. As soon as the archer was also in bucket, it shot up into the sky. 

Athena, slightly annoyed that she was both wet and dirty, glared at the archer. "The least you could do is introduce yourself."

The archer looked at her in annoyance but mumbled out an answer. "Clint Barton. Nice to meet ya."