Choices

Chapter 94
"No really the house looks great." Pepper beamed when she got home. Cephera had felt self-conscious, she'd never decorated for an Earth celebration before. "How did Tony sucker you into doing it?"
Cephera laughed. "He's agreed to show me his famous 'toys'." She replied.
"That's a step forward." Pepper grinned. "Tony isn't always like this." Pepper looked toward the sealed basement door. "Since New York...," she paused as if unsure she should be talking about it.
"You don't have to tell me. War and fighting for your life can bring on worries and trauma's no one ever saw coming." Cephera's smile remained, though it softened to give a sense of comfort.
"He's always annoying though." Pepper's amusement returned. "That will never change."
"We all have something about us that never will," Cephera shrugged. People did and could change throughout their lives, but something would always stick.
"My feet are killing me. I'm going to get a shower." Pepper departed, and headed upstairs.
***
"It doesn't look like iron?" Cephera eyed the raw suit. Unpainted and unfinished, she was amazed at Tony's ingenuity.
"It isn't. Iron Man is like a cute pet name. Titanium man just doesn't have the same ring to it." Tony replied. "I tried obtaining Adamantium, but it's a very hard alloy to abstain, very rare, but durable."
"Hmmm, Mechanova has its own kinds of ore. We might have something helpful." She offered. Maybe she could gain his friendship by helping with his hobby.
"Mechanova?" Tony asked.
"My home world," she was reminded how little these people knew about her. "I'm not Asgardian, I'm Mechanovian."
"By chance was your marriage an arranged marriage? That would explain a lot," he didn't sound as condescending as usual, so she didn't feel offended.
"No, I met Loki when I was a young girl. He taught me magic for many years before we fell in love," Tony half snorted, as if the notion was silly, but he didn't comment. "My people branch out to learn about other cultures, that's how we ended up in Asgard."
"Hmmm," Tony turned his attention to the television. He had the news blaring in the background. The weather for the next week was being advertised.
"Will I ever get to see the suit in action?" Cephera eyed the finished suit across the room.
"That..., that's a prototype and not ready to test drive just yet." The TV weatherman was cut off and a colorful screen appeared.
"People of America," a man said slow and precise. Small sunglasses hid his eyes and a beard adorned his face. "You don't know me, but you will." He continued.
Cephera had grown silent and both her and Tony stepped up to the screen. "They say you cannot teach an old dog new tricks, but I believe obedience can be obtain." He leaned on his knuckles, numerous rings gleaming on his fingers. "Life's wheel of fate shows no mercy..., woman, children, the elderly. With the help of this unjust world these people see their end."
The screen panned out and behind him stood a young woman, a small child no more than 10, and an elderly man. "Sometimes those we see as innocent are not. Take these people for example, only yesterday they aided in an assault against a small village leaving death and sorrow in their wake."
A barrage of bullets sprayed and the footage cut back to the bearded man. "Take this as a warning. Those who do evil will meet with justice."
Cephera's hand had covered her mouth in disbelief. Her heart jumping into her throat. Tony didn't speak, he pulled out his cell phone and walked off as the news came back and even the news caster sat in shock.
***
"Who is he? Why hasn't anyone caught him?" Cephera asked Pepper, nibbling on her salad.
The bearded man people were calling the Mandarin, had been hijacking the airwaves on and off for the whole month. Mid December crept up on them quickly.
"No one knows where he is." Pepper frowned, stirring the dressing through her lettuce.
"Tony is a hero to this world, why doesn't he act?" Cephera couldn't understand it. Wasn't this what hero's did?
"The government feels he needs to stay out of it. Tony has, on more than one occasion, made the military appear impotent. They are trying to prove themselves by taking care of it." Pepper clearly didn't approve.
"That's awfully arrogant and selfish of them. The people should come first." Cephera felt frustrated.
"I know. Tony and his suits have come under scrutiny several times. They've tried to confiscate them even, but they don't have the rights. Sometimes the government doesn't know when to be team players and put aside pride." Pepper ripped a piece of her baguette off.
Cephera could tell Pepper was frustrated. Their friend was in the hospital after an attack by the Mandarin. Pepper had seen Happy earlier that morning
They were quiet when a caption caught their attention. "Tony Stark, Iron Man, has finally spoken out against the Mandarin," the lady newscaster said just as footage of the event in question was played.
Both Cephera and Pepper stared in shock. "He's a fool," Cephera commented.
"He can't be left alone." Pepper growled. "A simple visit to the hospital turns into this." Her face had turned red. "We're leaving," Pepper announced getting up from her chair. "Pack a few bags." Pepper told Cephera.
"Welcome home sir, as always I see you've managed to keep your mouth shut." JARVIS said with his typical computer sarcasm.
"Tony," Peppers voice rose, "what were you thinking?"
Cephera's mind wandered back to when she had said that same thing to Loki before his fall from the Byfrost. Coming back to reality Cephera could hear the raised voices of the couple and she quickly fled upstairs.
She didn't want to make it more awkward than it needed to be, she gave Pepper and Tony time alone.
Not long after, she heard stomping coming up the stairs and a door slam down the hall. She was unsure if it was Pepper or Tony, but her bet was on Pepper.
Leaving? Pack a bag? Cephera looked around the room. There really wasn't anything she wanted to bring. Nothing here was hers.
Still, she found a bag to prep and began with the essentials. Hairbrush, toothbrush, underwear, bra. She gazed at the socks and opted out, she never wore them anyhow. She selected slip-on flat shoes she could wear anywhere and placed them next to the door.
After a while she sifted through the closet and wondered where they would go. Would it be cold there? She had been provided pants, but Cephera had never worn them. Her sister would, but Cephera preferred anything that flowed around her legs.
It would be nice to have Seraphina with her now. Cephera hadn't heard anything about Mechanova since her departure to Earth. She wondered everyday what was happening. She'd hoped to have seen her sister by now, or at least her nephew.
She grabbed a few short dresses and a few long ones. While she placed those in the bag the doorbell rang. It was an odd sound considering the circumstances, but Celhera doubted the Mandarin would just come to the door and ring the bell.
The thought amused her a second. Thinking of that fancy dressed man waiting patiently at the door made her almost want to giggle.
Cephera again had let herself grow lost in thought. She'd let Tony deal with his guest, she went back to the closet to see if there was anything else that would come in handy.
Raised voices carried on an echo up the stairway. Cephera heard Pepper and Tony when she emerged from the closet. It was the most arguing Cephera had heard from them.
Sighing she zipped closed her bag and stumbled. The entire housed groaned and rocked sideways, a blast resounding throughout the walls.
Cephera grabbed the bed to steady herself but the bed began to slid as the floor creaked and snapped. She vaulted toward the door but missed it when a second blast had the room tip vertically and her body fell, her back snapped against the window seat before she landed on the cracking glass.
Looking directly down through the window, she could see debris hitting the water below. The window groaned under her weight, the spider cracks chasing outward to the frame.
This was one of those times she wished she'd learned half the magic Loki knew. Something might have gotten her out of this.
She rolled off the window and onto what was once the wall. Items were falling from the bathroom, hitting the area beside her. The bed was jammed in a corner with a dressed tumbled on top of it.
Blasts were echoing all around her. In seconds the room gave another heave. She braced herself against the wood. She could teleport, but without knowing what else was being thrown around she might get hurt, so she waited.
Her room and who knows what else, detached from the house and Cephera tumbled in the plummet toward the ocean below. The bed slide from its semi secure spot and Cephera yelped as it stuck her shoulder. Had she not have slide with it, it might have crushed her.
The window of the room shattered when it impacted against the water. Water rushed inside as the whole room sank. Cephera dragged her way along the wall. She braced herself along it, closed her eyes, drew in a deep breath and teleported to the other side where she was met with water.
She could hardly see anything. Debris, large and small, rushed passed her to the depths below. She wished she could teleport further distances, but it took a lot more concentration, time she didn't have.
She swam toward the surface, fighting against the currents and failing. Her heartbeat fast, and it took every ounce of her sanity to not panic.
A car hit the water above and Cephera teleported out of its way. The magic winded her as she rushed it. She gasped unwillingly and her lungs screamed as she swallowed water.
She struggled to regain her calm. She fought against the oncoming dread. The harder she pushed herself the more water she inhaled. Soon Cephera's fight left her and her eyes began to close. Darkness over took her.

Notes