"What? Are you saying she sneaked in while I was talking to SHIELD?"
"Yes, Chairman."
"This is insane... I warned her so much."
I focused my [Observation Haki] to the utmost and began searching for Jane. But Jane was nowhere to be seen, as if she had already crossed over to another dimension. I went back into the abandoned building to look for her, but still couldn't find her. Worried that the Dark Elves might detect my presence, I used [Stealth] and crossed over again.
However, the space I crossed over to this time wasn't where the Aether was; it was a different place. Judging by the scenery, this was probably Svartalfheim, the land of the Dark Elves.
Zap!
Jane let out a piercing scream.
"Let me ask again. Where are you from? And what's your purpose here?"
"Earth... I came here by accident," she sobbed.
As I crossed over, I saw Jane being tortured by Dark Elves. The Dark Elves were pressing a black wand-like object against her face and arms. Each time, Jane's flesh bubbled and burned away. Then, one of the Dark Elves watching the torture spoke.
"Seems she came here by accident due to the Convergence. Just dispose of her."
As soon as the order was given, the Dark Elf torturer placed a fist over his chest in a disciplined salute, then drew a firearm-like weapon from his back and aimed it at Jane. Even though she insisted on investigating despite warnings, getting into this mess was her own fault, but I still had to save her. Just as I was about to move, light from the Bifrost descended, and Thor appeared from it.
Thud! Thud!
The Dark Elves gasped in agony.
Thor knocked down the Dark Elves, then quickly scooped Jane up and disappeared via the Bifrost. He probably went to Asgard. It seemed Asgard had fully repaired the Bifrost by now.
I was about to head back when I noticed the wrecked Dark Elf mothership and spacecraft around me. I stored a few in my Inventory and returned to the abandoned building in England.
Darcy saw me coming out of the abandoned building and hurried over with a worried expression, asking me.
"What about Jane?"
I decided to lie. If I told the truth, things would undoubtedly get more complicated.
"I couldn't find her. I'll let SHIELD know, and they'll contact you if she's found. So, go back and get some rest for now."
"Okay..."
"And let me say this in advance, don't do anything reckless like Jane did."
"I understand. I would never do such a thing."
Judging by Darcy's expression, she probably wouldn't listen. So, I handed her some cash to at least get a meal on the way.
"Wow! Money from Chairman Cassian, I'll never spend it!"
"That money is for you to eat... You should buy something on the way..."
"I can buy food with my own money!"
Darcy excitedly went back with Ian. From her expression, it seemed she had already forgotten about Jane's disappearance.
"Well... I just hope nothing else goes wrong..."
Hoping for no trouble, I teleported home. As soon as I arrived, light from the Bifrost suddenly descended in front of the yard, and Thor appeared. Momo rushed forward, but I stopped her and told her it was Thor. Thor hurried into the house and looked for me.
"Cassian!! Jane is hurt, please help!"
"Long time no see. What brings you here?"
"Jane was found in Svartalfheim, and she was severely tortured, so she's badly injured. Asgardian technology might not fully heal her, so I thought maybe magic could help."
"I see... Let's go together first."
I immediately opened a gate to Asgard and crossed over with Thor. On the way to Jane, I heard what had happened. The Bifrost was repaired, and Thor asked Heimdall to take him to Earth after a long time, but Heimdall saw that Jane wasn't on Earth and urgently searched everywhere, then saw her fall in Svartalfheim, so Thor quickly rescued her, he explained.
'Was Jane lucky in her situation? No, even if Thor hadn't saved her, I would have.'
I moved to the hospital with Thor, and Jane's condition was quite severe. The black wand the Dark Elves used for torture must have been a potent poison, as her flesh rotted away, and they had to cut out a significant part of her face. Her arms were in the same state; they had to cut away the flesh until the bone was visible on both arms, then wrapped them in bandages.
But thanks to the skill of Asgard's medical team, her life was at least preserved.
'She's paying the price for ignoring the warnings.'
"Cassian, is there nothing you can do?"
"It's bad... I'm not sure if it's possible, but I'll try."
I unwrapped the bandages from Jane and used [Heal] to the fullest. If I used [Unlimited Blade Works], I could fully cure her, but that might reveal my abilities, so I tried to manage with just [Heal] and [Detox].
After removing the poison with [Detox], I spent about an hour healing her. Fortunately, her face returned to normal, but her arms, which were intensely tortured, seemed to have some disability remaining.
I sighed. "This is the best I can do."
"Thank you, Cassian!"
"Did Odin say anything?"
"He did, but after seeing Jane's condition, he decided to allow her to stay this time."
Odin probably couldn't send her away after seeing her serious condition.
"I see, that's good. Anyway, I should rest a bit and then go pay my respects to King Odin and Queen Frigga."
"Right, let me show you to a guest room so you can rest."
"Please do."
I was led to a guest room in the palace. I didn't really need rest, but it was a sort of show to demonstrate that the treatment wasn't easy. After resting a bit in the room, I came out and met Odin.
"Greetings, Odin."
"Long time no see. Have you been well?"
"For me, nothing special, but on Midgard (Earth), strange phenomena of multiple spaces connecting are appearing. Because of that, Jane seems to have crossed over to another place."
"Hmm... I see. That's probably the Convergence phenomenon. It's when the Nine Realms align. She must have been unlucky to cross over to the Dark Elves' land at that time."
"I see. Can you tell me about the Dark Elves?"
Odin briefly explained about the Dark Elves. It wasn't much different from the original story, but Odin's explanation omitted any mention of the Reality Stone. He seemed to be hiding it intentionally.
"Thank you for the information."
"Anyway, since you've come after a long time, rest well before you go."
"I understand. Thank you for your consideration."
After finishing the meeting with Odin, I also met Frigga and exchanged greetings. Frigga welcomed me warmly.
"How is Loki these days?"
"He still has many issues, but I think time will resolve them."
"I see."
Asgardians have a different concept of time than humans, so when Frigga says that, it probably means hundreds of years or more. After chatting with Frigga about various things, I returned to the guest room and spent the day.
The next day, I went back to the hospital where Jane was. Jane was sitting up in bed, having regained consciousness, and Thor was sleeping face-down beside the bed, having nursed her all night.
"Ah... Chairman Cassian... I'm sorry... for ignoring the warnings... I heard. You went through a lot to treat me. Thank you."
Jane apologized to me first. I approached her and examined her arms, asking about her condition.
"How are your arms?"
"Th-they're fine..."
Jane said they were fine out of guilt, but her arms looked very uncomfortable.
"Tell me the truth. Otherwise, treatment might become more difficult."
When I said that, Jane hesitated and told the truth.
"Well... my right arm has less strength than usual, but it moves normally, and my left arm can only lift things like a cup, that's about it."
I sighed. "Let me look for another method."
"I'm sorry..."
At that moment, Thor woke up from our talking, saw Jane awake, and was delighted.
"You're awake! That's a relief, Jane."
"I'm sorry. I was foolish."
Jane apologized to Thor and hugged him, crying. Thor hugged her back and comforted her.
"Don't worry now. You're safe here."
Thor told Jane about his recent exploits, lightening her gloomy mood. So, I quietly left to avoid disturbing them and decided to visit Loki after a long time. With Frigga's permission, I could easily access the prison.
"Long time no see, Loki."
"Berserker. Why did you come? To see my miserable state?"
"No, I just came to see you since I'm in Asgard. Do you need anything? If I can get it, I will."
"Then, I'll ask for Thor's head."
"Well... still being difficult, aren't you? Alcohol might be tough, but I can get some food in for you."
It was good to see Loki after so long. Anyway, after bantering with Loki, I finished the visit and asked the guards to bring in some snacks and meals before leaving.
The reason I spent time here was in case the Dark Elves attacked, but for two days, nothing happened. They probably didn't know the whereabouts of the Aether and were searching. So, I decided to travel between Earth and Asgard for now, and as I was about to leave, Jane and Thor said they wanted to come along, so we all took the Bifrost and arrived on Earth.
But on TV, breaking news showed the Greenwich Observatory in England burning. We hurriedly watched the news on TV. The report said that Greenwich was on fire due to an alien invasion, and soldiers and heroes were fighting back. The aliens were none other than the Dark Elves. Predictions said casualties would be at least over 100.
"Ah... because of me, this happened..."
Thud!
"Jane!!"
Jane blamed herself and, perhaps from shock, collapsed on the spot, and Thor quickly supported her. I had only considered Asgard, not expecting an immediate invasion of Earth. Probably, the spatial distortion connected to Earth, and they might have found the stone's location there first. Moreover, Greenwich is where all realms and spaces connect due to the Convergence, so they likely attacked to secure it early.
I urgently contacted Natasha.
"Where have you been all this time! Anyway, I'll come pick you up, tell me where you are."
"I'm in the outskirts of London, England..."
After I described my location, the Odyssey ship was nearby, and it arrived in less than 10 minutes. I boarded with Thor, who was carrying the unconscious Jane. On board, all the members were there, including Mudder Focker, Deadpool, Hawkeye, and Banner. Banner even had the Hulkbuster Mk. 1 with him.
"What on earth happened?"
Mudder Focker explained what had happened in the meantime.
"At the site of the anomaly you told us about, aliens suddenly appeared and attacked, so soldiers and SHIELD agents countered. After fighting for a while, they retreated, and we thought it was over, but the next day, what seemed like a mothership and small craft appeared in the sky and started attacking Greenwich. That's how it ended up like this. But where have you been all this time?"
"I was in Asgard meeting Thor's father, King Odin. So, I wasn't on Earth. And I got information about the phenomenon and the aliens."
Everyone seemed surprised by my words.
"Really? That's good. I'd like you to explain quickly."
I explained to the heroes exactly what I heard from Odin. Of course, since I only told what I heard, the part about the stone was naturally omitted.
"I see. So, this Convergence phenomenon is happening, connecting multiple planets now. And with the ancient race of Dark Elves... this isn't an ordinary matter."
Captain, who was listening, asked me.
"Cassian, so you mean other races besides the Dark Elves could cross over?"
"Yes. In my opinion, the ones to watch out for are the Frost Giants from Jotunheim, the Fire Demons from Muspelheim, and the Dark Elves from Svartalfheim we just saw. These races are the most aggressive, so we need to be careful. The characteristics of each race are..."
I explained the characteristics of the races.
He sighed. "What is this all about?"
After hearing the explanation, Captain sighed and said. Then, Natasha agreed and added.
"Tell me about it. From what I heard, it's a once-in-5,000-years event, well... talk about bad luck. Anyway, we'll have to stay in England until this phenomenon passes."
I asked about the battle with the Dark Elves. They said that when heroes and the military gathered to fight, the Dark Elves simply retreated. They only managed to capture a few Dark Elf soldiers. Now, it was a situation where the Dark Elves could appear anywhere and cause trouble.
'If I had known it would be like this, should I have let it go according to the original? Now, I have no idea how it will unfold.'
We rested and reorganized. Even with so many people on the Odyssey ship, there was still room in the quarters and storage. Since I had made it large in advance, there was no problem. Tony and Banner set up a separate space in one storage area so they could easily deploy. Mudder Focker was constantly on his phone, contacting superiors.
Since I had time, I contacted Darcy to let her know Jane was safe. Then, Darcy informed me that she had brought Dr. Selvig from the police station, where he had caused a nude disturbance. Thinking that Dr. Selvig's gravity control device might help, I moved the Odyssey ship to where Selvig was to pick him up. Of course, I explained this to the members beforehand.
"Wow~ I get to ride the Odyssey ship that I've only seen in toys and on TV..."
Darcy and Ian seemed moved to be on the Odyssey ship. Selvig shook hands with Thor and Mudder Focker, greeting them. I gave them a laboratory. Jane, having regained her senses, helped with the research.