The Tear of Celeste

Chapter 42: Control

You were pretty sure that Dr. Strange would not be very happy about the whole team showing up at his sanitarium.... And you were right.

Stephen was floating down his stairs and looking at the group in an annoyed fashion. "Why did you decide to have a house party here?"

Tony explained to him how you and Loki had been kidnapped and the whole team sent out to find you. Stephen looked at you and raised an eyebrow. "And I see you found them, so that does not explain why you are here now," He said, looking back at Tony.

Tony sighed and gestured to you. "She suddenly has more powers," he said seriously.

You summoned your blue crystal shield to show Stephen. He walked over and examined it a bit, and then he just sighed and adjusted his cufflinks. "Took you long enough."

Everyone looked at him shocked, but he gave you a warm smile. "I suspected something like this could happen, we already prepared the tools you will need to train and keep these new powers under control," he said, waving his hands and making a portal. "Follow me... Oh, and the rest of you are welcome to watch if you want," he said, gesturing to the group, "but you will be taking the stairs," he said as he quickly got you through the portal, having it close behind you.

You look up at him with big eyes. "You suspected this?!" You asked in shock as you walked with him, looking around you. You seemed to be in some kind of library.

Stephen held out a hand and a book appeared in it. He opened it up, flipping the pages with magic until he got to where he wanted. "Ever since you gained one of the abilities of The Stella I have been watching to see if you would gain some of her other abilities."

You looked at him with wide eyes. "Other abilities?!" How many did she have?! How many did you have now?!

He floated the book over to you as he kept walking. "Yes, like I said our information on the stone is very limited. It's not as well known as one of the infinity stones, but it does travel a lot more so more people have seen it, but still scattered," he said gesturing to the drawings in the book.

You look at them, seeing illustrations of the Tear of Celeste. One where she is surrounded by the same blue shield you made, another where she seems to be shooting crystals at someone who got a bit too close. Both abilities you seemed to have now. But you also saw something about teleporting, shooting energy beams, and other stuff.

"... You think I have all her abilities?!" You asked, looking up at Stephen shocked. He nodded as he led you to a secret door, opening it quickly and leading you inside. "I had my suspicions, and today just confirms it," he said seriously.

You pause as the door behind you closes, looking at the podium in the middle of the room. Your necklace... The Stella, floating in a glass case. "The Tear of Celeste disappeared from our world around 75 years ago," he said. "I don't know how it fell into your hands, but I think it stayed with you to give you its power."

You looked up at him shocked. "It's still alive?!" You asked amazed, looking back at the necklace. Stephen sighed sadly. "No, I'm afraid I can't detect sentience from her anymore, but it might be a deep slumber..."

You sigh as you look at your old necklace. Had it really chosen you and then gone to sleep? Or was it just a coincidence you ended up with and being exposed long enough to get its power?

You felt yourself taking a step toward it without thinking, but then place a hand on the necklace still around your neck, the one Loki had given you, and take a step back again. It still felt nice and cool and you took a calming breath.

"... I guess I have new abilities to learn?" You said, looking at Stephen with a half smile. "Guess the magic lessons will have to wait."

༺☆༻

The group had followed the monk named Wong to the training-like area, sitting down on something that was a lot like bleaches and watching you work with Stephen.

"So she has even more powers now," Clint commented, looking at Nat. "Should we be worried?"

Nat thought about that and shrugged. "I don't think so. She seems to have a pretty good handle on them," she said, motioning to you standing with Stephen and already making your shield more refined. "And she has a good teacher."

Tony was not really paying attention anymore. He set his suit to record everything and started working on something else.

Loki sat down beside Peter, which made several eyebrows raise, but none commented on it. "... Thank you for the rescue," he said simply.

"I thought he was incapable of saying that!" Steve said shocked, looking at Thor who looked at Loki with his mouth hanging open.

Loki groaned and rubbed his forehead. "Maybe if you didn't act like Ragnarok was about to happen every time I act nice it would not be that rare!" He glared at the group who quickly looked away.

"Hey!" Peter made Loki focus on him. "It's fine! They are just glad you are opening up more," he said with an excited grin, "I know I am!"

Loki looked at the boy... So much like a puppy.... And he could not stop himself from actually giving him a head pat. He just gave a single one before looking back at you with a fascinated look.

Nat turned to Bruce and looked a bit worried. "Are you okay?" She asked softly. He was looking a little green. "Do you need the headphones?" She was thinking of the headset they gave Bruce when he needed to stay calm. It was her job to keep Bruce calm, and it had brought them a lot closer, but they were kind of at a standstill right now.

Bruce shook his head. "No, I'll be fine," he said seriously as he watched you. "I'm just.... I'm worried about her," he said honestly, looking at Nat.

Nat understood. Bruce was probably the person here most afraid of their own powers, and that translated to being worried about others. Not in that he was scared they hurt him, more afraid they might hurt themself.

So she stood up and offered him a hand. "Wanna go down and check on her?" She asked, knowing he probably needed that. Bruce looked up at her somewhat surprised but took her hand. "Yeah," he said.

Wong leads Nat and Bruce down to the edge of the training ground but informs them not to step inside, and instead calls Stephen over to them. Stephen looked over with a slight frown, telling you to practice the form he just told you about with Wong as they swapped places.

"Yes, Dr. Banner? Miss Romanoff?" He asked politely looking at the two Avengers at the edge of his training space.

Bruce turned to Dr. Strange with a worried expression. "I don't like this," he said seriously. Stephen just raised an eyebrow. "She keeps getting new powers!" Bruce said, looking over at you. "What if they become too much for her, what if she can't control it, what if they-"

Stephen raised a hand to break Bruce's spiraling thoughts. "We will train her," he said seriously, looking over at you too, "we will make sure she has them under control"

Bruce frowned, looking back at Dr. Strange. "And if they become too powerful for her?"

Stephen frowned and looked at Bruce. "... We put a dampening spell on her and tell her to stop using them." He looked over at you too. "I have been worried about the possibilities too... The Tear of Celeste might not be as powerful as an infinity stone, but it is also too much for a human to handle, if she loses control we have prepared to handle it."

Nat looked surprised at that. "So you think if she stopped using the powers they would go away?" She was a bit worried too. Stephen looked back at her. "Most powers are like a muscle, the more you use it the stronger it gets, but if you stop using it, it would get weaker again," he said looking over at you, "we suspect that is why she keeps unlocking new powers because she keeps training with them."

Bruce and Nat looked at each other before returning their gaze to you. Guess they just had to wait and see.