"I have come in peace, but I will not disarm, and I do not kneel."
Sif stood, her body coiled like a spring. Waiting. The Guardsmen looked at each other as they shuffled about uneasily, trying to plan out their next move. The small weapons still held firm in their hands. Unwavering. Still she stood, palm up. Holding her sword loosely as if goading the guards to try and disarm her, to doubt her conviction. Her resolve. Turning her head, Sif looked back at the woman whom she had spoken to on her arrival. Many who had surrounded her had used the distraction of the guardsmen's carts to flee already; however, this one had not. Perhaps she still thought herself insane.
"Do you know of any wise-people, seers, whom I could ask for aid on my quest?"The woman looked to the guards, then to Sif.
"There's an old Wicca shop a few blocks over?""Picture this place in your mind." Sif took a couple of steps, ignoring the incessant shouting from the guards. Reaching out with her free hand, the woman offered her her hand. Sif grabbed onto the womans wrist, and she closed her own hand around Sifs wrist in response.
"Through your guidance." Sif raised the sword high in the air.
"PUT IT DOWN NOW, STEP AWAY FROM THE WOMAN!" The shrill voice cut through the air towards them. Sif merely shot a look of disdain as she brought the sword crashing down, a whisper away from her guide's skin. As the sword came down, a crackle of energy flowed through Sif and out through the blade, slicing open space. A rift appeared, its edges flashing and fluttering with all the colours of the rainbow.
Sound near the rift distorted, ruffled and quietened. There was a faint
pop, pop, pop behind as Sif stepped through the breach, pulling her guide with her. As they stepped through, they found themselves in a musty old shop. Sif smiled as the aroma of herbs and spices assailed her. This was clearly the home to a seer, or a healer. A woman screamed from within at the sudden appearance of the sword-wielding heroine and her ward, but Sif's attention was pulled back as she heard the soft
thunk of flesh crashing down, the grasp on her wrist loosened.
Turning Sif saw her guide on the floor, clutching her stomach that was rapidly becoming redder as blood seeped through her skin and clothes. Without a second of hesitation, Sif crouched down beside her, dropping the sword to the floor and ripping the bottom of the woman's shirt off. Rolling it up into a ball she placed it on the wound and pushed.
The woman on the floor winced.
"Trigger happy cops."Sif smiled softly down at her guide.
"Save your breath. You will be well." The seer had composed herself and had rushed herself forward.
"Jackie? Jackie is that you?"The identified Jackie groaned as she sat herself up.
"Oh -ugh- hey Helen. Sorry to drop in on you like this."The Seer dropped to her knees at the other side of Jackie, looking at the blood.
"We need to get you an ambulance, what the hell - where's my phone-?" The woman went to stand when Sif grabbed her shoulder, locking eyes with her.
"Bring me honey, ginger, hazelnuts and yarrow."Helen looked at Jackie, who merely shrugged and nodded. Helen jumped to her feet, and could be heard frantically searching through her pantry.
"If I am going to die-"Sif scowled down at this
Jackie.
"You are not going to die. Mortals may be frail, but you have a strength about you." Sif placed a kind hand on Jackies shoulder, still maintaining pressure ont he site of the wound.
"I recognise a warrior's spirit when I see one, even if you do not see it within yourself." She turned her head as she heard feet scuffling back towards her, Helen with the loose ingredients in her hands.
Without a pestle and mortar. What kind of wise woman was this?
"Bring me a pestle and mortar Helen. I will need it to combine the ingredients-""Oh- right, right. Yeah, ofcourse." She dropped the supplies down beside Sif and retreated once more to her crashing and banging as she looted around for what was the most
basic of supplies. Clearly, in todays world, potions weren't in high demand. As Helen returned, Sif looked at her expectantly; however she didn't move to grab the ingredients. Helen gasped as she realised.
"Oh, you want me to? I don't know what you are doing.""You are the seer? The Apothecary? Surely you have dealt with issues such as these before?"Helen shook her head in shock.
"N-no. I just, I deal in essential oils and herbal remedies. People looking for alternatives to medicine. I don't, I can't do-"Sif rolled her eyes. She was a charlatan. Grabbing the womans hand she put it on the bloody cloth.
"Apply pressure here." Helen thankfully did as she was told, while Sif opened the jar. The golden liquid oozed slowly into the mortar. Followed by a handful of nuts. She crumbled the yarrow as much as possible before she grabbed the pestle and started grinding the ingredients together.
She wasn't a seer, she wasn't an apothecary or a sorcerer. Yet she closed her eyes, focusing on what little ability she knew, what little she had. Willing the infusion to have power, willing it to become a healing salve that would save the life of this mortal. Returning her to the picture of health. A green mist swirled lazily at the bottom of the bowl as Sif opened her eyes, hovering above the mud coloured salve. Sif looked down upon Jackie, a soft smile on her face.
"This is going to sting."
The Opti-Binoculars focused in on the four men milling outside the facility. A window to the side identified them as Dirk Garthwaite, Henry Camp, Eliot Franklin and Brian Calusky. All listed as Roxxon private security. All have previous criminal records. No doubt Roxxon would claim that they were hired in the name of helping rehabilitate them and reintroduce them to civilian life. Roz wasn't entirely convinced that this was the only reason. Roxxon had a reputation for coming in with the strong arm and forcing things to be their way. The facility had gone up in record time, and the amount of red tape being cut was record-breaking.
That is why Roz was here. Roxxons environmental record was questionable at the best of times, so S.H.I.E.L.D had sent her here to investigate this new
'State of the Art Electrical Generation' facility. Thunder rumbled, and she looked up at the clouds that seemed to always swirl around the facility. A flash shuttered through the sky, and she felt a shiver go up her spine. Putting the binoculars down, she looked back at her tablet that had the public information on the facility. According to the plans, the facility essentially used a combination of wind power and lightning in order to load batteries for cheap and efficient energy. The output, however, didn't make sense. Lightning wasn't a reliable source of energy, and yet the facility had never missed the quota.
There was a chirp in her ear, tapping her earpiece there was a buzz as the line opened. Tapping it twice as the line was full of static. There shouldn't have
been static.
"Come in Agent Solomon, can you hear me?""Copy three-by-five Control.""Report to town immediately, there reports of a woman that has fallen from the sky."Roz put the tablet away as she stood up.
"Run that by me, one more time."
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