Secrets in the Stars

Tony, Steve, Natasha, Fury and the woman always at his side, Agent Maria Hill, gazed at me with matching expressions of bewilderment as I explained what happened, “…So that seems to be it. The Spirit wants to be freed. She feels trapped.”

“So this is all for real?” Agent Hill asked, looking from me over to Tony.

“Seems so, yeah,” He sighed, rubbing his eyes with the index finger and thumb of left hand. “As far as she says, anyway.”

“I told you to cut it with that!” I snapped at him, causing the mug in Agent Hill’s hand to shatter.

I got up and looked around the room; I had nothing left to say, turned and walked away, amazed that they let me go.

***

“What do we do?” Natasha asked as soon as Star was gone.

“That’s been the question since the night she got here,” Fury responded. “And frankly, it’s one I’m sick of hearing.”

Steve said, “It’s not like we have a lot of options here. We can’t just lock her up and throw away the key, and in her own words we can’t just let her go.”

“We’re out of options, Rogers,” Tony sighed, taking a seat at his desk. “We can’t handle this.”

“…Maybe we can’t, but it’s not impossible to say that we know someone who can.” Fury said.

Steve shrugged, “We’ve had no contact with Thor since he left the Upstate Facility.”

“To find those magic rocks or whatever,” Tony said, irritated.

“He called them Infinity Stones,” said Vision, suddenly appearing. “And he was on the other side of the galaxy, the last time we spoke.” As always when Vision entered the room, the atmosphere changed; he brought a strange kind of calm while also being ungodly intimidating. “And I’d suggest Tony, for future reference, to not refer to the most powerful known force in the galaxy as, ‘magic rocks’.”

“‘Or whatever’,” Tony added, smirking somewhat.

“Do you have any idea where he is, Vision? Or if he can help?” Natasha asked.

Vision slightly nodded, then answered, “I think that of us, Thor is the most likely person who would be capable of understanding what the young lady is, and what she may be capable of. But I cannot confirm whether or not he can do anything to assist us or her, because unfortunately, he and I have not been in contact for well over a month now.”

“Why is he contacting you, specifically?” Fury wondered.

“Because I am in possession of the Mind Stone, and considering his mission, he finds it best to keep track of me, understandably so.”

“How have you been contacting him?” Steve inquired.

“An artifact in Odin’s Treasure Room, which Thor calls a Sight Glass, allows him to reach me through a vision that appears in a reflecting surface, usually a mirror. In his quarters at the Upstate Facility, there is a small silver plate that acts as the Twin. He told me that if there is an emergency, I may try to contact him that way. But if he isn’t near the original Sight Glass, he won’t receive the message.”

“Well, it’s worth a shot to try that then,” Steve said, looking to the team seriously. “Vision, head back up there try to contact Thor with the Twin Glass, tell him we have an emergency and we need his help. I’ll bring Star to the facility tomorrow morning. If Thor shows up, we’ll introduce them and explain what’s going on and see if there is anything we can do.”

“I’m coming with you, Rogers,” Tony said, standing up. “I think it’s the best I can do to be there for her, after everything…”

Steve could surprisingly see the guilt on Tony’s face, suddenly knowing how much Tony cared about Star. It was peculiar to him then, how quickly people were able to sort of… ‘Fall under her spell…’ Steve thought, quickly becoming somewhat horrified, but kept it to himself. “Alright Stark,” Steve said. “I won’t fight you on it, but she might.”

“If she does, I’ll handle it.” Tony replied.

The small group began to speculate about how Thor might be able to help, unknowing that Star had just left the building.

***

I had considered taking my Bug, but they would have been able to hunt it down much too easily, so I used my magic to unlock and start up one of Tony’s cars; his pitch black (with white trim) Lamborghini Centenario.

I knew that Friday would alert Tony once I got out of the Tower’s parking garage, unless I managed to shut down the building’s initial power system. I wasn’t sure how to use my magic completely, but so far, everything seemed to be based on will power and emotion—as if I were Steven Universe or something (that’s right, my life and emotions had gotten so out of hand that I was comparing myself to a cartoon character).

I slowly, and carefully, pulled the Lambo out of its perfectly assigned parking space and down the five levels to the gate. When I reached the electronic door, I closed my eyes and thought really hard about what I wanted; I heard a large popping sound and all of the lights were off besides the Lambo’s headlights, and the garage door was open. I zipped out of the garage, making sure to will the door shut behind me.

My heart was racing as I fully stepped on the gas petal; I was clearly unprepared for the kind of ride this car was capable of providing. I shifted gears as if my life depended on making sure I didn’t blow this beauty’s transmission—which it likely did. I wasn’t sure that Tony was ever going to forgive me for stealing his car, but I also wasn’t sure if I cared anymore.

I whipped through traffic like it was nothing, and shockingly enough I was out of Manhattan less than twenty minutes after leaving the Tower. I knew exactly where I was going, and at this rate I was bound to get there in at least half the usual time.

Sure, I could have just used the training facility to get out to my field back home, but the simulated fresh air wouldn’t be enough, not this time. Only home could fix this.

When I made it out of the city completely, I hit the gas as hard as I could and sped down and around the winding roads leading towards Xavier’s School. When I arrived, I pulled down the driveway, parked in front of the school and never bothered to check inside. I ran as fast as I could around the building and to the garden, ignoring any and every person who passed me as I went.

I disappeared beyond the trees and ran through the patch of forest before I made it to my field; when I finally got there, I felt as though my heart had stopped.

It was dead.

The trees that lined everything so perfectly were charred beyond recognition; the flowers were gone; the grass was blacker than a pair of eyes on a demon and crunched beneath my feet; and the lake that used to glisten like blue sapphires just beyond the green was dried up… Gone. My legs gave out, causing me to collapse onto my knees as tears swelled up in my eyes. This wasn’t okay; this was NOT okay!

THIS WAS MY HOME!

“So this is where you used to hide,” I heard Uncle X call from behind me. His voice was gentle, soft… It was clear his intention was to comfort me.

“What happened?” I asked, my voice trembling.

“The last time Erik’s Brotherhood came through, they destroyed everything. The fires lasted for days, until Storm was strong enough to call the rain in. We rebuilt, but the grounds took more than six months to restore. Had I known that past the pines was were your special place was, I would have—“

“Why? You never wanted me to come home, so what would have been the point?” I kept my back turned to him, my hands gripping at the ash around me.

“Star, I can’t keep apologizing over and over again. I love you… You’re my daughter, not by blood but by that love. And even if you hate me, I could never take away that love from you, because that’s what it means to be a father.”

“How can you love a monster, Charles?” I demanded. Every story of the last few years ran through my head; the villains my friends had faced, the ones they had just discovered! “Because that’s what I am. If anyone, like Magneto, Ultron, Darren Cross, the Dark Elves, Justin Hammer, Hydra, Loki! If anyone like them finds out what I am, what I can do… I would become their living weapon, and nothing would survive.”

“They would have to know how to control you, Star—“

“How does Jean do it?” I rose up from the ash and looked to my godfather, pleading, “How did you teach her to control the Phoenix?”

“You’re more than a physic, Star, and you’re more than manifested aggression taking form in telepathy. What you are is undefinable, and I cannot teach you to control what I do not understand.”

I could see the fear on Xavier’s face, and as I did it was as if I could feel my heart literally break. This last week had been chaos, my own personal Hell fully realized. The extent of what my godfather hid from me was overwhelming, but as time had progressed I now was starting to fully realize why I was so angry, so hurt…

I had spent all this time acting like some sort of victim, as if I was chased from my home and pulled from my world without a choice; but I was wrong. Even though the situation was presented to me as if I didn’t (and maybe as far as my powers were concerned I didn’t), I had every choice. I could have told Xavier that I refused to leave, I could have learned more about what I was and I could have developed as I was so clearly meant to. But I let fear—the fear of others, the fear of failure, the fear of death—concur my life and throw me on a path that made me so unhappy. I acted beyond simple cowardice, I had never grown from a child to a woman, by my own fault.

I went against my natural rebellious instincts and it had cost me dearly… But that wouldn’t be the case anymore.

I looked at the ashes I was covered in, then wiped away my tears, and in that moment I was starting to understand what the Spirit meant when she said, “Your time is coming.”

I ran to Xavier and hugged him tightly. “I love you, Uncle X.”

“And I you, my darling girl.”

I sang my mother’s favorite song as we walked back to the mansion together.