WHO'S READY FOR A SOMEWHAT HAPPY CHAPTER?! WHOOOOOOO!

Currently listening to "Lunatic Fringe" by Red Fringe, man that's an epic song. 

This .gif accurately represents Jack's response to the last part of the chapter. 

Anywho.

Please VOTE and COMMENT! 

I had my last tennis match as a high school student last night. We lost, but I played one of my most epically exciting matches I've ever played. I'm a "scrappy" tennis player, meaning I try to run down every single dang ball even if it means running across the court and nearly running into a fence (which has happened before). There were like thirty people watching, and even though I lost, it was spectacular. (And yes, Haley_Ferland was there too)

I'll try to update again tomorrow, but I've got homework I need to do. 

Chapter 56

Neidra turns away from the flickering fire. Her silver eyes, hard, are trained on Fjodr, who is sitting in a large iron chair, Saissa sitting beside him, her head leaning against her father's leg. Hvítra lounges against Saissa, crusted blood around his nose. Caomh is not here, but Neidra doesn't seem to be concerned by the absence of her son.

"So you decided to kill Thor. I admire how you accomplished this, but now, even more unfortunately, you have provoked the rage of Loki."

"We needed Thor dead," says Fjodr. "With Loki to the throne, his imbalance will help us take the capital. The people do not yet know that Loki killed Odin. When they do, they will turn against him and weaken him."

"Weakness is only a matter of circumstance," says Neidra. She bends over the table, where a large leather map has been spread out. "Loki has allies to the east and to the north he can procure for aid. They may still be powerful enough to overtake us. We must be cautious if we wish to succeed. Otherwise, he'll have all our heads on spikes outside the palace."

"What allies are these?"

Neidra points to the area of the map beside the labeled sea. "Two families near the oceans, close allies, and even closer allies to Loki in the years past. Young Enekpe has just inherited his father's house, and governs it well. As for Nymue, he has always been powerful, particularly with the aid of his wife, Saldra. Many say that if it were not for Odin's family taking the throne many years ago, the crown may have gone to Nymue's."

"And to the north?" inquires Fjodr. "The Mountain has taken over Castle Bor since the death of Lam. Eala and her siblings have fled. The Mountain may aid us, and his armies are growing by the day."

"Perhaps," says Neidra. Her voice turns low, and she looks toward the broken window. Dark has fallen, and the flames from the fireplace illuminate her cheeks. In this light, she is beautiful, but the beauty is marred and darkened, like a dark moth instead of a butterfly. "But Eala, for all her former weaknesses, possesses magical powers, as does her younger brother Lak. And Marjoy possesses all the talents of the most deadly assassin. Not for a moment do I believe the deaths of some of your men over the summer were due to sheer coincidence. Eala, like Loki, has been watching us for quite some time, and unlike Loki, is not afraid to act rashly."

"Have you any idea where they could be hiding?" questions Fjodr. He rises from the chair, setting his hand briefly on Saissa as he does so, and walks to Neidra's side.

Neidra curls her lip. "Not in the slightest. But the Mountain's armies truly belong to her. If she can discover a way to fell him, then she gains abundant manpower, and through that, so does Loki."

"You speak of manpower," says Fjodr. "Do you believe this will turn to war?"

"Have you not noticed that we are already at war?" demands Neidra. "We bear people against each other nearly every day now. My agents on Earth have failed me over and over, for I am loathe to use some of my men on a planet with which they are not familiar. Blood is craved on both sides. You've seen it for yourself. You wish Loki dead, and he wishes you dead, now more than anytime before. Saissa wishes Thea dead, and Thea will wish Saissa dead. And Videl, the prince of Ardhigiza, wishes for Caomh dead in a frenzy that would be fearful if not for Caomh's skills and tenacity. Blood on blood. Blood for blood. It's simple, but it's a balance where the weights can be tipped by the simplest of events."

"What do we do now?" asks Fjodr. "First you target Earth, then Ardhigiza, now you speak of Asgard's forces."

"I crave them all. One at a time. But for now, Earth will have to be last. Most of the rondayven have been taken. There is no point in trying to seize them anymore. Only a couple are useless to me now. Ardhigiza is guarded, but its hold is loosening. Perhaps we should try that next. I'm sure Caomh would find amusement in setting fire to its roots and ridding Videl of his heritage and his people."

Saissa looks up from where she's stroking Hvítra's soft fur. The wolfhound had run to her side after Thea had left her and refused to leave his mistress until Fjodr had found his weakened daughter.

"For now, we need to eliminate the source of our troubles. The most dangerous warriors are the ones that must die. And in our case, those warriors are all hiding somewhere, somewhere I still, with all my resources, cannot find. So find them. And kill them. All of them. I do not care how, but if Thea and Loki, and all their unnatural friends survive, we will have a much harder task of accomplishing what we must. And we must succeed, or we will all be ash in the ground."

**

Almost two weeks pass after Thor's death. Thea and what's left of the Avengers have stayed in Minotaur, grieving for their fallen friend and trying to put that grief toward finishing the quest for the rondayven. The atmosphere is bleak, but with the slightest ray of hope that the rondayven will be found, and since Thea had stolen the Compass, at least Neidra cannot track them. The last clue retrieved from Independence Hall had proved to be more difficult to crack, even with the combined geniuses of Tony, Bruce, and Peter. It takes them through Thanksgiving, which is celebrated with only the slightest emphasis, and into the first days of chilly December. During this time, Agent Hill, who has taken the spare bedroom next to Sif, is nursed back to health by Bruce and Kyle, Loki destroys the Compass at Tony and Natasha's suggestion, and Victoire refuses to leave Videl's side for more than five minutes.

While Loki has become quieter, standing in the shadows and spending most of his time in the training room fighting out his frustrations with Fandral or Sif, Thea has become much more vocal. She spends her time either with Tony and his crew, trying to understand their thought process with the next rondayven, talking with a still-tired Max, working with Natasha and Clint on her pistol shooting accuracy, and playing the occasional board game with Jack when he begs her long enough to put away her work and relax for half an hour. She also helps Jack test out his wings, which are getting stronger with the exercises Tony and Clint put him through, but he still can't quite manage the weight of a person, even one as light as Thea.

Finally, Tony calls everyone out from various reaches of Minotaur and into the commons for an announcement. Thea sits beside Loki's chair, resting her head against his leg, one hand in her father's and one hand in Jack's, who is lounging beside her.

"Good news, everyone," says Tony. "We've finally got the next location, which is hopefully the last because I think we can all agree that we need to go ahead and wrap up this thing so we can focus on Neidra. This place calls for a little more discretion though, seeing as Neidra is getting scarily accurate at tracking us down."

"Amen," says Peter.

"According to these coordinates, the rondayven is in Disneyland."

"Oh dear Lord, not again," says Videl. While some people laugh, he glances at Thea, but she only raises his eyebrows. Thea hasn't smiled in two weeks.

"It actually makes sense, if you think about it," says Tony. "It needs to be somewhere the rondayven's magical properties will go unnoticed, and also in a busy place where retrieving it could be difficult. Which by the way, it's more difficult than the gem just being in one place. The reason it took us Einsteins so long to find the location was because the location changes. Every hour, it seems like. So you'll only have those magical properties to track it down, which again, will be somewhat hard to detect in a place like Disneyland."

"This is the one in California, right?" asks Kyle.

"Yep. It has two parks instead of four, so that's at least a bright side. Now." Tony looks around the room and crosses his arms. "Today marks the day we will do something extraordinary. Something never heard of before and something that took a whole lot of convincing on multiple sides."

"Kyle gave up his proprietorship of the kitchen?" quips Jack.

"In your dreams," says Kyle, looping his arm around Emmaline's shoulder.

"Something slightly less shocking than that," says Tony. "So many of us, namely the very wise adults in this room, have difficulty getting into places like a heavily-guarded Disneyland without recognition. We've had too many run-ins with the government. Annoying bastards, they are. And beside the point, we do not blend in very well there."

"You never blend in anywhere," points out Peter.

"Good point. But what I'm trying to get at here is that- I cannot believe I am saying this." Tony takes a deep, theatrical breath. "The only people who will be entering the gates of Disneyland for this mission will be those under the age of twenty-five. This is your guys's mission. We'll just be helping from the outside."

Jack's jaw drops. Peter's does too. Even Thea looks mildly surprised.

"Yes, yes, try to contain your excitement at this level of trust," says Tony. "It's for the safety of all of us. Well the safety of the mission at least. Not that we don't think that you're all idiots and you'll probably make a mess of this."

"Thanks," says Jack.

"He's lying," says Bruce. "He was one of the most pressing advocates for this idea."

"Rude," says Tony. "Regardless, once everyone is confirmed healthy, Thea, Jack, Peter, Videl, Angelique, and Victoire are leaving tomorrow."

"Victoire?" Thea asks, surprised.

"That one took a while to convince," says Tony, glancing at Videl, whose eyebrows are raised. "But Victoire, as the youngest and certainly most innocent of all of us, could be a real help. Nobody's going to suspect someone with an adorable little girl running around everywhere."

"So how is this going to work?" asks Thea. "We split the two parks and hope to find the rondayven?"

"Basically," says Tony. "But there are only five of you, not counting the little twerp, and we felt like that's not quite enough. So we're bringing in five extra people, five Umber Academy students." He looks at his iPad. "We've got here Sidney Green, Dara Osahan, Sam Thompson, Aspen Reynolds, and Haley Ferland."

"What!?" shout-whispers Thea. "Aspen and Haley are dead!"

"Uh, no they're not," says Tony. "Didn't you get the memo?"

"NO."

"Well. Merry Christmas."

While Thea slumps against the chair Loki is rigidly sitting in, Jack says, "Not to throw a wrench in this plan, but how is this going to work exactly? The five of us in this room have been see with each other a lot. Are we going to have fake names?"

"Good questions," says Tony. "And the answer is that yes, you will have fake names. And fake backgrounds. And as for Thea, the most recognizable of you for Neidra's purpose, is going to go back to blonde for a few days."

"I am?" asks Thea.

"Yep, if you'd be so kind," says Tony. "You'll be masquerading as Videl's sister. And Victoire's."

"Oh goody," says Thea.

"Oh goody," says Videl.

"You're practically already back-biting siblings," points out Angelique. "It shouldn't be that hard.

"It's not hard," responds Videl, "But that doesn't mean it's any more enjoyable."

"What about me?" asks Jack.

"Do I have to go through the whole list?" demands Tony.

"If you'd be so kind," mocks Jack.

Tony rolls his eyes. "You and Peter will be brothers, and since you basically already are, that shouldn't be too hard either. Aspen and Logan will be sisters. Sidney, Sam, and Jack will be buddies who grew up together, ain't that sentimental. We'll be mixing up the relationships a bit. Sort of like Wife-Swap. Thea, you get to be Sam's temporary girlfriend."

"WHAT."

"Sorry, Jack, welcome to undercover work. You and Thea are too recognizable as a couple."

"I won't kiss him," says Thea, her voice slightly teasing. "Much."

Jack glares at her.

"Jack, you get to date Logan."

"I scarcely know her," moans Jack. "How can I properly pretend to be in love with her if I don't even know what she looks like?"

"You'll meet her tomorrow, you are all meeting at a hotel for the morning during which you'll be planning and making sure we get tabs."

"She's pretty," says Thea.

Jack throws himself against the sofa.

Looking amused, Tony continues, "Peter gets Aspen. And Dara and Sidney will be dating."

"Why do we have to date?" asks Jack. "We could just be good 'ol buddies in high school. And what about Angelique and Videl? They're sort of obvious together."

"Angelique and Videl will still be dating, since they're obviously the oldest."

"Pete's only two years younger than Angelique!"

"Sorry Jack," says Clint, putting a hand on his nephew's shoulder. "I think you lost this round."

"Isn't it a shame?" asks Videl, bending down to kiss Angelique.

"Bloody Dracula," mutters Jack.

"So no adults whatsoever?" asks Thea.

"Kyle will technically be in the area, just in case you need to get out of there and Videl isn't there to spirit you away. He's basically going to be doing nothing but sitting in an old car in a parking lot and waiting to maim something if he has to."

"I learned all my tricks from the street," grins Kyle, winking at Thea.

"Sesame Street," says a still-sore Jack, "Doesn't count." 

I love Jack. 

Just saying. 

To celebrate a happier chapter, here's a somewhat-amusing line-up of some of the cast members for the Blue Moon/Emerald Chronicles series. (Throwback to Blue Moon Facts, anyone?)

*You can check Angelique out as Allison from Teen Wolf (Crystal Reed) (originally, I cast her as Jessica Sikosek, who's a model, but I liked Crystal better).

*This one's obvious, but Max and Kyle Calen can be seen (respectively) as Dean Winchester (Jensen Ackles) from Supernatural and Damon Salvatore (Ian Somerhalder) from The Vampire Diaries.

*The actresses I picked out for Saissa (Maia Mitchell) and Heira (Mila Kunis) look so similar, it's not hard to see them as mother-daughter. 

*The actresses I've used for Thea have ranged from movies/TV shows like Kick A**, The Walking Dead, Push, Vikings, Dark Shadows, Game of Thrones and probably a lot more I'm forgetting. 

*The actor I used for inspiration adaptation of Roath (used to be Thor) in the publication series (Travis Fimmel) plays Ragnar in the Vikings TV show, and is the father of Gyda (Ruby O'Leary), the actress of whom I used for inspiration for Thea in Ei Diafol. And Alyssa Sutherland, who's also in Vikings, will make the appearance of Saldra in Revenge. 

*Jack is based more off of Robbie Kay in the Avengers version and Thomas Brodie-Sangster in the adaptation version.

*The clip I use in a lot of my trailers from Dark Shadows that shows Chloe Grace Moretz's character going at the villainess is ironic in two ways: the villainess is played by Eva Green, who is Neidra in the Blue Moon series, and Eva Green's character is named Angelique. ;) 

*The TV show Camelot hosts some really funny ironies too. Jamie Campbell Bower (Videl) plays Arthur, who falls in love with Guinevere. Guinevere is played by Tamsin Egerton, who in the Blue Moon series, plays Emmaline. And Eva Green (Neidra) comes back as Morgana, so Arthur ends up sleeping with both Guinevere (aka Emmaline) and a disguised Morgana (aka Neidra). Whoops, Videl...

*Caomh's actor is Paul Wesley, but I didn't base him off Stefan Salvatore...he was based off of a combo of general craziness, Kai, and Silas. 

Sorry, I thought some of those were funny ;)