Hello all! :) 

Hope you like it!

Music: Show Us the Way (Disney*Pixar's Brave)        The White Tree (Lord of the Rings 3: The Return of the King)

Edit: be satisfied with this lovely picture of the Velah palace ;) 

Chapter Fifty-Seven

~Nobody's POV~

Thea is still quiet as all thirteen of them congregate in a small cave. The cave is situated high up on a cliff, and the only way to get down is to pass through a narrow path leading to the ground. The sun is rising, and the mouth of the cave opens to the beautiful and vast mountainside of Ardhigiza.

But everybody is all business. The Velah are growing stronger, and are looking for them more and more- Steve had nearly been captured, but had managed to kill the offending Velah, "Don't like to kill them," he says, "But it's better than if they smoke off and tell the entire palace where we are."

"Nobody's complaining, man," says Max.

Archer, however, is silent, and Thea thinks she knows why. No matter how cruel these Velah are, Archer probably grew up with many of them. Even if he hates them, it still must be hard to hear of their deaths. She scoots over on the rock closer to him, where he is sitting dejectedly with his head down. She hesitantly touches his hand, and he looks up: green and red meet. Archer gives her a tremulous smile but then looks away.

"We're gonna go as a SWAT team," says Tony, leaning against a side of the cave with his arms crossed, "After Archer does his Harry Potter apparition crap. We've spoken. We're going to land at two backs of two small hills right next to two of the servant's entrances. We're dividing up into four teams, A, B, C, and D. A and B will be in one of the entrances. C and D will be the other. When entering the palace, A and C will go first. Then B and D. Clear?"

Everyone nods.

"The main objective is to get the Pearl. Archer says it's in the throne room, meaning it will be heavily guarded. Which is why we're going in an assembly line of sorts. We cut down anyone in our way and make way for the rest of the teams. We should be able to get through fairly well with this little strategy. Additionally, we have more than four phones. Meaning, one for each team to communicate with everyone else. Jane and Archer are staying in the cave, with what I believe is the fifth and last phone, although Archer will be playing a lot of hopscotch leading the groups through the palace. Actually, scratch that. Archer's going in team A and then he'll double back to our traffic controller, known as Ms. Foster." Tony is thinking out loud, and Thea can practically see his brain thinking.

"What are the teams?" asks Jack, "And can I please go with Thea?"

"The teams are mostly random, except for the fact that you and Thea are separated and a few other extra little details," says Tony, apparently finding pleasure in Jack's annoyance.

"C'mon, who are the groups?" groans Jack.

Tony glances at a list that he has in his hand- evidently, he has been thinking of this plan for quite some time. "A: Archer, Thor, Kyle, although Archer will be toggling, but you can handle it, guys. B: Natasha, Jack, and Bruce."

"Thank God," says Jack.

Nobody asks what he means, but both Loki and Tony roll their eyes.

"C is Clint, Thea, and myself. And if you dare groan at me, young lady..." he warns Thea, who just shrugs and looks down. Archer glances at her concernedly and Tony definitely looks like he would rather Thea have groaned at him. He clears his throat and proceeds quickly, "...Aaand D group is Sam, Loki, and 'ol Cap'n."

"When is this happening exactly?" asks Max. His forehead is creased with worry. He's sprawled out on the rocks next to his brother, who is twiddling his fingers.

Tony raises his eyebrows. "Now."  

*

Thea settles down on some of the springy grass hidden by a hill a few hundred paces from an unused servant's entrance. While Tony and Clint talk in low undertones, Thea peeks over the edge of the hill like a meerkat. Below her about a hundred paces is a stone archway, and slightly beyond that is a heavy-looking wood door. There are piles of wood stacked near the entrance, and a beaten path leads around the back of the towering palace.

A hand clamps around her shoulder and Thea jumps. "Stay down here for a bit," says Clint, close to her ear. She nods and clambers down the gentle slope.

At around this time, a flash of smoke pilfers from the sky, and the figures of Archer, Loki, Sam, and Steve come into existence. "Okay," says Steve scarcely after he has touched the ground, "We're the last group. Archer, are you heading towards group A?"

In response, Archer vanishes in a cloud of black smoke.

"You have the phone, Stark?" asks Clint.

Stark nods, already scrolling through it. "We should be ready to go in a couple of minutes. Or less."

Clint, ignoring his advice to Thea earlier, scales the top of the hill and looks down, "Looks like we're here."

"Good," says Tony, just as the phone vibrates, "Because we're going in now."

*

This part of the palace is evidently not in much use, as the walls and shelves with old clay pots and various sharp and frightening looking devices are dusty and decrepit. It almost appears to be some sort of medieval laboratory. There is a single small window, with bars on it, with some of the bleakness of the day filtering through.  Nonetheless, Thea feels chills creeping up her arms and neck as they pass a chair with broken chains and dried, spattered drops of blood on the surface. It smells like rotting wood and other things Thea does not wish to recognize.

"Well this is slightly... foreboding," says Tony as they quietly walk through the abandoned room. Thea doesn't feel the need to respond.

Clint has his arrows trained in front of him, and Thea recognizes the dull shine on the top of several of the sharp barbs. She swallows hard, every one of her nerves on edge.

The three of them meet up with Kyle, Thor, and Archer in the middle of a connecting hallway between the two nearly identical rooms. Kyle and Thor look grave. Archer looks sick.

"What happened?" exclaims Thea as she spots the small, bleeding puncture marks on Kyle's arm.

"Velah happened," says Kyle disgustedly, "Took the three of us to take the bastard down."

"We must make haste," says Thor in a low voice, "I fear that our enemies may begin to realize what is going on."

It is strangely silent and quiet in the halls, and then sun beats down on them as they walk as silently as possible along the walls. Clint goes first, training his arrows still, but nothing threatens them.

They make their way up the left side of the castle, towards where Archer says the throne room is situated. They see a Velah woman from a distance, but she runs around a right-hand corner before anyone can move- her back had been to them, and there was a flash of a mane of bright white hair. Then, she was gone.

Kyle, the only one who hadn't seen the woman, is looking down one of the rail with slight apprehension. They are walking across a covered walkway overlooking what appears to be some sort of courtyard. A marble fountain trickles some forty feet below them, and with the rustling of the leaves, this is the only sound around them.

Archer is looking more and more jumpy. So is Thea, who is glancing around the palace with darting eyes, walking as silent as a ghost, a trait she had perfected over the past few weeks. Clint's mouth is set in a firm line.

Finally, Tony speaks all of their concerns out loud. "Where the hell is everyone?"

Archer swallows hard, but says nothing, and except for his eyes, it is evident that he is attempting to remain calm. Kyle has moved closer to Thea.

Nobody has answered Tony's question.

They come across a split path, right and left, where they (except Kyle) had seen the lone Velah girl. "This is where we split," says Tony, "We're at a sort of rectangle, and the four groups should eventually meet at the throne room. We'll head left. You'll head right. See you in a bit."

"Be careful," says Kyle, his eyes serious as he nods in Thea's direction. She nods back, as silent as a stone.

Thea, Tony, and Clint make their way up a few stone staircases and don't see anything living except for two scampering rats that vanish in a hole, a white owl that peers at them through amber eyes before taking off over the rail, and a long snake hanging from the rafters that glitters green and red as it slithers.

And then it happens. Two columns of smoke appear from out of nowhere, and Thea holds back her scream. There are two Velah standing in front of them. One has long gossamer robes and long, straight blonde hair with piercing, black-ringed eyes. The other is black-skinned with amber eyes and a clever smile.

But Thea doesn't get a chance to respond. Her scream is lost as Mansar grabs her and the two vanish into black mist, leaving Tony and Clint to painfully deal with the last Velah while even more painfully realizing that Thea has been taken by the hungry emperor of the Velah. 

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DUN DUN DUNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN

I know you hate me for leaving you with a cliffhanger, but you'll REALLY have wait...

I understand if you hate me. So sorry. 

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