CHAPTER 182

[COLD CHRONICLES VII]

Natasha was confused by what was happening and it seemed as if apart from Draul, no one did too. 

The moment those words left her mouth, everything stilled. It was as if the word was put on mute. Even the background sound was gone. 

"Nat, what's wrong?" Unsurprisingly, only Draul's voice could reach her. 

"Apart from your voice, I can't hear… anything." Rather than being alarmed by the new discovery, it somehow fascinated her. "… Talk." And as if on cue, the voices filtered in back to her ears as if what she just said was a direct command to the world. 

"C'mon don't keep us waiting! What's your ability?" Yelena's excited voice brought her back to focus on the people before her, rather than on the novel experience of having some sort of world remote control in her mouth. 

She looked at Draul for clarifications as he was the one most knowledgeable when it came to abilities, since he literally was the Power Stone. "It seems to be some sort of Psionic Manipulation, or Psychokinesis if you will, since you did just order the sounds to cease. Talk about broadness. I don't even want to know what was going on in your head that drove your thoughts towards such an ability."

Which basically means that she'll have to wring him of every information on what Psychokinesis could do. She felt somewhat balanced, totally in sync with her new abilities, as if she finally regained her missing limbs. 

"So what can she do with it?" Ororo asked, having an idea of what someone who controlled psionic energies could do. 

"Basically her mind is her limit. She should be able to use her psionic energy to pretty much do anything with her imagination being the limit and how strong she is. Telepathy, telekinesis, force fields, magic, energy manipulation and projection, astral projection, energy assimilation etc. Just to mention a few. You might have to study a bit of magic to learn control and also maybe some hexes. It's a really broad subject on what you can do with it." Draul explained. "Let's get this over with first before you guys feel the need to try something out."

Draul motioned for Yelena to take her seat. 

Not needing to be prodded twice, the hyper teen immediately sat on the chair, trembling in excitement at the thoughts of having literally to goodness abilities. 

Before the young teen could utter another word, she was basked in the purple wave, taking her somewhere away from her physical location. 

Where she found herself was a place very familiar: Draul's old house. The one they first lived in before it was bombed by Magneto and Dr. Doom. 

The house was quite small when compared to their current one with it having only like eight rooms. 

She traced the edge of the dining table as she made her way to the kitchen. In the kitchen, she found Draul mixing some things in a bowl – chocolate. The whole house had a Christmas theme, clueing her on where and when she was. 

"Hey, help me fix the tree will ya? There's only so many things that I can do on my own." Draul called out to her without turning, focusing more on whisking in whatever he was adding to the bowl of chocolate. 

"Yeah, no problem." Though she didn't understand what the fuck was going on, she went and started fixing the lights onto the Christmas tree. A few minutes later, Draul joined an, quickening the pace of what she was doing. 

"Sooooo, what the hell is going on? Is this some sort of mental mojo or some tests of our subconscious because I'll let you know that I absolutely suck at those." Yelena asked after they were done with the tree as Draul handed her a glass of bourbon. 

The young assassin accepted the glass like it was something normal and took a sip. 

"Well this is more for mood than anything else. You could say it holds some sentiment with what you truly desire." Draul said, pointing to the room. 

Yelena used her eyes to point all around her. "And what do you think this means?"

"That I don't know. What do you think it means?"

Yelena scratched her head in frustration. Yes she had an idea what it meant but it was hard putting it to words. It was like it was stuck at the tip of her tongue but she couldn't describe it with a sentence even if she tried. 

"Gah! I don't know! Maybe because I want to make sure every moment counts? I mean, everything is progressing so fast that it seems as if decades just went by in a year. I'm almost 20 and yet it feels as if I've seen everything there is to see on Earth. Nowadays all I think of is when are we going to fight the next malevolent God, or the next tyrant alien warlord. I looked to the stars and when I found myself there, I could no longer look down to the Earth. Making it as if the Earth looks… boring. God, I'm not even 20 yet and I'm already experiencing a mid-life crisis." Yelena released a groan as she downed her glass. 

Draul snickered. "Welcome to the club."

"Not helping man. Let's just get this over with. I'm supposed to be receiving some dope powers, not therapy. So how does this work? A roulette? Roll dice? Draw straws?" Yelena focused back on her objective and drew Draul's focus back to the main topic. 

"What do you want, Yelena? You've been so happy at the prospect of having abilities, so for sure you would have something in mind, no?" Draul asked with a knowing smile. 

Yelena mirrored his smile with a wide grin plastering her face. "Something very simple. I want…"

…. 

"Well that was something. Definitely didn't think she would go for the basics. And she was also the only one who knew exactly what she wanted. I guess that puts the score at 3 – 1 in my favor." Draul said as he watched Yelena leave the mindscape of the Power Stone. 

… 

Unlike the others, Yelena opened her eyes with a smile on her face. 

"So I'm guessing it all went well with that grin on your face?" Ororo asked the youngest of them who simply nodded, the smile never leaving her lips. 

"Mind clueing us in?" Steve asked, still getting used to the sensation of being everywhere in the room. 

To his question, Yelena simply replied. "Oh don't worry. You'll know when we spar." They all raised an eye at her almost boisterous words. 

"Are you sure about this, Ororo?" Off to the side, Draul confronted Ororo about her last minute decision. 

"Yes. I'm stronger than I ever was but for me to reach my peak will require years and serious training. I'm afraid I don't have such luxury. I don't want to be left behind again." Ororo said with a determined expression. 

"What of Emma and Raven? Krakoa?" Draul pressed further. 

"They can take care of themselves for the time being. I just updated my list of priorities is all. You worry too much, my dear." Ororo caressed his face with one hand. "I've made my decision a long time ago, I just needed to make sure my disappearance wouldn't stop our work with Krakoa, that's why I've been quite busy recently. A stable relationship requires a 50/50 investment from both sides. This is me giving you my 100%, and you can't refuse it."

"I'm not refusing it. Just don't want an Elder God or two, breathing down my neck for taking away their favorite daughter." He gave her a soft kiss before letting go. 

The purple wave of infinite power washed over her and she found herself in a place she was all too familiar with. 

Gaea's Garden. 

"Welcome back, my dear."

Ororo bowed her head as she greeted the Mother Goddess of Earth. 

"I am very proud of you, child. Though I must warn you not to lose yourself in power. Power corrupts every being, even Gods." Gaea warned. 

"I am ready." Was all Ororo said, making the Elder God of Earth's smile widen and brighten up everything that was around them. 

"You have always been ready. All you needed was a reason. A reason to wield the power you already possess." Ororo listened as Gaea spoke, taking in each and every one of the Goddess' words. "A final warning, I believe, would do you and your beloved some good. Your enemies are as numerous as the stars and are just as powerful. Take care, daughter of mine." Saying that, Gaea kissed Ororo at the top of her head, giving her the only blessing she could. "It will not be pretty. It will not be a scuffle. There will be no alliance or truce. All you will face will be those who crawled out of the abyss, wanting to tear you to shreds. Forget your sympathy, forget reason. If you will to survive, slay your enemies with the wildest abandon you can muster. The strength of a tree depends on how it withstands the four seasons. This may very well be your whetstone as well as your gravestone. 

~With my blessings, I grant you the Strength to oppose any God of Might, the Heart and Will to trudge through the fires of hell. The Wisdom to follow your path accordingly, and I also grant you absolute dominion over the sky and all that is beneath it. 

Let it be known to all life in the multiverse that you, Ororo Munroe, are my favored daughter."

At Gaea's utterance, the sky both above and below, rumbled. The stars in the universe glowed fervently in attendance of the coronation of a new goddess, one born directly of an Elder God. 

In realms long hidden, many Gods of the Sky felt their dominion over the Heavens reduced, their supremacy over the sky bowing in subjugation to a new goddess, one born directly from the Mother of All. 

In Asgard, Mjolnir flew on its own accord towards the clouds, bathing it in resplendent lightning; the same thing happened with Zeus' Thunderbolt. 

Similar occurrences happened to other Gods of the Sky such as Nut, Shango, Anshar, Izanagi and a host of others, whether they be Skyfathers or not. 

This sent a warning to other Gods as it meant that the most impartial of the Elder God's, not only had interfered with mortal life, but chose a favorite and gave them a seat above all others. If there was ever a doubt about whether the universe was truly entering dark times, this action of Gaea immediately cleared it away with affirmation. 

Meanwhile in Gaea's Garden, Ororo's attire changed from her standard clothing to one of black and gold, with a golden crown neatly holding her luscious locks in place, signifying her new status as a Goddess of the Sky. 

"Mother Goddess…." Ororo was short of words, unsure of what to say as she felt what was flowing through her body. 

"You need not say anything, my daughter. I wanted Oshtur to give you her blessings too but she has a test for you and until you complete it, she won't answer any of your calls. Go forth, I believe he is only a few seconds away from trying to rip space apart to find my realm." Gaea chuckled as she could very well picture the unamused expression on Draul's face as he took in the changes that were happening to his girlfriend. 

Before Ororo could say any word of thanks, she found herself resting against Draul's chest back in the living room of his house. "You finally decided to come back, huh?"

She could only reply with an embarrassed smile because even she knew what her ascension must have caused to the Council of Gods. 

"Well it's not the worst thing that could happen but it's still in the top 5." Draul placated? 

"Uhmmm… You lovebirds mind explaining what the fuck just happened and why it felt as if we just shifted dimensions?" Natasha asked. 

"Yeah, about that… I think I just became a Goddess, and a major one at that."

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