Arc VIII Last days before travel - Fires of Love

"Rise then, Asgardian Goddess of Fire," Eli proclaimed excitedly. Fire as a primordial element was a powerful divinity. Trained properly, she could become a powerhouse on the same level as his father. Though Eli wondered how Anya was connected to it.

It couldn't have just been extremis that supercharged a person's metabolism into heat-based abilities. It was likely something that marked her in her childhood, like the explosion she barely survived as a child that marked her in terrible scars before Eli came along. Back when Natasha tried to kill her father to defect to S.H.I.E.L.D.

Anya looked at her hands in wonder, feeling the new power coursing through her veins like liquid flames. She felt reborn, and that notion wasn't too far off. The bestowal powers Eli used had granted her not only divinity but also an Asgardian physique at the same comparable level of her own trained human body.

It came with the longevity of Asgardian royalty, physical strength vastly exceeding a regular trained Asgardian warrior and supercharged senses that outstripped her five 'human' senses to an incomparable degree. Anya didn't know, but Eli had greatly dampened everything in this room from sounds, to smell and lights, as to not overwhelm his confidante.

"Anya probably needs a lot of help getting used to her new body. The strength, the speed, and her senses are entirely new to her. Her photographic reflexes will likely help her reign in her new physical attributes exceedingly fast, but the senses might take a while. Could you help her getting used to her body while I enchant something to help her ease into her new senses?"

As Eli received a nod from the two valkyrie goddesses and no reaction from Anya who was still turning her hands around to look at them, he stepped out to go grab a piece of uru cast jewelry from his visit to Eitri the day before along with two other items he wasn't going to enchant just yet.

Even though the bracelet wasn't all too big with a two fingers wide band, it was still a piece of already cooled down uru that already had two enchantments on it. The process of pressing the runes into the bracelet without disrupting the other enchantments and making it look like flames, just to complete the look, took Eli roughly two hours.

Two hours that Nat spent reading a book on a couch in front of him, while Eliza looked at the bracelet in his hands with sparkling eyes as she combed Tuuli's feathers. It looked really magical when the new runes appeared, even Tuuli looked at it when she wasn't pretending to be napping.

"Can I have a bracelet like that, too?" Eliza asked, the sparkle in her eyes not diminishing at all when Eli was done.

"Sure! Anything you want special for it?" Eli countered as he looked at the excited girl.

"No! Make it a surprise! But it better be really, really pretty like that one," Eliza answered and stormed out to play with Tuuli. Sitting around like that for two hours, no matter how exciting, really bottled up a lot of energy for the two young girls.

"You don't... have to gift her a priceless uru cast bracelet that can turn into armor, you know," Nat said as she looked up from her book with a wry smile.

"Well, I was still wondering what to give her for her birthday in two months anyway. We missed like four christmases and birthdays, so it better be special was my thinking," Eli replied with a smile and a shrug.

"Oh shit... Hey, can I chip in on that priceless bracelet and say it's from both of us?" Nat shouted as Eli was leaving toward the mansion of the Val and Misty with three items in hand.

As Eli stepped inside, all three goddesses were currently fighting in a free-for-all. Misty and Anya had small cuts that were seemingly healing already. Misty and Val had a few scorch marks and singed pieces of clothing. Val and Anya both looked worse for wear than Misty.

"Well, I did say help her get used to her new body. Looks like you succeeded before dinner," Eli said to make his presence known.

"Eli! She's cheating! Two kicks! It took her two kicks to perfect her sense of balance and get a grasp on her new physical strength!" Val shouted in exasperation.

"Yeah, that photographic reflexes thing is absolutely mental. I give it two or three days before she wipes the floor with both of us in a two versus one," Misty threw in to the protest of Val while both drew deep breaths after the fight ended.

"Is this how your body always felt? It's amazing!" Anya said as she formed a fist with a wide smile.

"It will only get better. Here, try on this bracelet. I made it with a fading enchantment that dampens all your sensory input over the next week. When you're accustomed to that, I can change the runes for something else, of your choosing if you want," Eli offered as he threw the bracelet to Anya at a speed her human self couldn't have caught without problems. But her new self could.

"Put it on and try pouring a little of your divinity into it," Eli advised with a warm smile.

Since her control over her divinity was still very unrefined, 'a little' of her divinity translated to her whole arm catching fire. None of the people present were panicking though, because they knew the slightly purple-tinted flames could not hurt the goddess of fire.

With the intent and the energies provided, the bracelet unfurled itself into a vambrace covering Anya's arm from elbow to knuckle, just like the vambrace Eli had given his father at the attack of Thanos all these years ago. It was still in Thor's possession because Eitri had forged that bracelet for his right arm, and Eli didn't really need a vambrace for that arm anymore. On his left arm he still wore the bracelet that Frigga had given him on the day of the convergence.

"It's truly beautiful," Anya praised. The runes resembling flames on the bracelet now stretched over the entirety of the vambrace, and it looked truly harmonious.

"Well, protecting your arm and looking pretty isn't all it will do. Here, catch this with your right arm," Eli said as he threw over the second item he brought.

Without really looking up, Anya instinctively did a backflip, catching the item with her armored forearm instead of her hand by reflex. Just like Captain America does with his shield.

"In my defense, I didn't know what your divinity will be. But I knew you really like fighting with that shield like Steve does. The shield is made from some of the vibranium Jessie and I got from Klaue all these years ago during the Ultron incident just like Steve's shield, but it has an uru bracing on the inside that will magically attach it to your vambrace at will and it's a little thicker than the original," Eli explained as the three goddesses were marvelling at the craftsmanship of the shield.

"I didn't enchant it yet because I didn't want to make you wait. I could teach you some simple stuff and do the harder enchantments for you or do it all, if you want. Just think about what you want it to do," Eli continued.

"What will we have to do to get the same treatment, Eli?" Val asked with an ambiguous smile and a lifted eyebrow.

"Yeah, want us to dress in maid outfits since Anya's already the butler?" Misty added to Anya's ever increasing embarrassment.

"I mean, you both have your dragonfangs and valkyrie armor already. I think I even saw Misty wield a vibranium halberd during the battle with Thanos, but if you want similar stuff, just tell me or my father. Eitri didn't have much uru left to spare because of some wild project of his, but we still have enough vibranium to fully arm you two, and I could ask for some more from Wakanda if we need it. Eitri loved working with the metal, and it can be turned into metal threads, which you can't do with uru. The possibilities are endless. And who knows, maybe Eitri discovers some crazy vibranium-uru alloy that combines the best of both metals. If anyone can do it, it's him."

"So that last item is for Anya, too? So many gifts, are you trying to court our fire goddess?" Misty asked with a mischievous grin.

"Wouldn't you like to know?" Eli asked with a deadpan as he threw the last item over.

"You can't use it as it is if you're going to use your divinity. The sword is made of two metals cleverly clamped into one shape with ingenious shaping, and heating it up with divine flames will break the sword apart immediately because the metals will expand at different rates. The blade edge and handle is uru, the body, crossguard, and pommel of the sword is vibranium. It's an experiment by Eitri, and he wanted my feedback. If you want, it's yours," Eli spoke with a warm smile as all three women once again marveled at what he threw over.

The sword was a double-edged sword. Its pommel roughly reached Anya's navel as the sword's point rested on the ground. The grip was long enough for both hands, but with their overpowered physiques, Anya could easily use it one-handed.

"The balance is perfect. As expected of a sword by the king of the dwarves," Anya exclaimed excitedly as she tried using the sword.

She was a real tomboy when it came to swords and shields, so right now, Anya was in her own world together with Val, Asgard's newest Goddess of Blades.

"I think you broke them, little Eli," Misty said with a wry smile as the other two women were examining the sword with feverish gazes.

"How about you go help Nat prepare lunch while I serenade you with a private concert, and we leave these two to gush over Eitri's work?" Eli suggested.

"A decade in Valhalla, and you still can't cook?"

"My lack of talent even managed to bewilder Volstagg's father, Arne, Valhalla's resident chef. He gave up teaching me after a week," Eli admitted as he shyly scratched his cheek.

"Almost sounds made up, but I'm not going to argue. Follow me, I'm in the mood for some of your music," Misty agreed.

"Do you think we should tell Anya to put on some new clothes before she joins us at the table? You two and her own divinity really did a number on her," Eli casually mentioned as Misty, and he made their way to Eli's mansion.

A short concert later, everyone joined the table for lunch. Anya had changed into new clothes and sported a bright red blush the entire time that matched her new fire-red colored pupils. Thor joined and excitedly talked to the three new goddesses, congratulating them non-stop.

Nat kept praising the three for their new youthful and even prettier appearance with a tinge of envy. Eliza asked if she could be a goddess too, someday, which Eli couldn't say no to. But obviously, it wouldn't be now. And Anya was proud of herself for not crushing anything or anyone because she had already gained a good grasp over her increased strength.

After they were done eating, Eli and Anya spent the rest of the day enchanting her new weapons and fixing up his mother's old armor Eli had trusted Anya with during the Infinity War.

"I thought the day you freed my mind from that cage, woke me up to witness my father's deserved, painful death and then gave me a place in the world was the happiest I could be, but I was wrong. Now, you even granted me the strength and longevity to stand at your side for millenia. This, this day has made me even happier," Anya softly narrated as she watched herself in her newly inscribed, fire-proof armor. It was the most she spoke at once in a long while. The Asgardian goddess of fire was a woman of few words.

"Well, you earned all that happiness and made most of it happen yourself. Never forget that," Eli added with a smile from the side as he watched the armor with a critical eye. It was still mostly purple from the time Eli colored it for Jessie, but the black accents were changed to a fiery red at some places. The shield was now black and sported the nordic rune for fire in a blazing red on it. It would take a while to finish enchanting the sword.

As he kept looking and asking Anya to move certain ways to check her range of motion, he thought to himself that it was a miracle that the enchantments were able make it so Anya could still wear the armor in a perfect fit. Because after the blessing, Anya was a good two and a half heads taller than Jessica Jones and even a full head taller than Amora, who was on the shorter side, well shorter for Asgardian women. And while her assets weren't considerably bigger than Jessica's, her frame was a lot more muscular. Well, it wasn't bulky in any case. It still had a feminine charm that couldn't be denied.

"There's... there's something that could make this day an even happier one," Anya whispered after gathering all her courage.

Eli was a little embarrassed to have Anya speak up first because just like Misty had said, all these gifts were for the purpose of buttering her up to ask for a date, but he didn't want to overwhelm the goddess today when he noticed just how much she powered up.

With a mischievous smile, Eli lifted the spell that dampened the sensory input for Anya as he stepped closer to her, held the side of her face gently with one hand and gave her a soft, long kiss.

"Yep, that was that something," Anya shyly mumbled as her face gained yet another blush today.

"Glad I could help," Eli quipped with a soft smile.

Before Anya could say something else, Eli gave her another long but hungrier kiss. She was a little overwhelmed and lost control over her divinity as she slowly enveloped Eli and herself in flickering flames. Eli noticed the heat immediately and silently cast a simple spell to protect their surroundings and his clothes from the fire.

One blessing that came from her curse as a Red Room widow in training with a very scarred face was that her father never had her trained in seduction techniques. That's how these two kisses actually ended up as Anya's first ever kisses with a man, and she was glad she could share them with the man she respected above all else.

"Moooom! I can't ask Eli for a good night song! He's kissing the pretty fire goddess!"

The kiss was interrupted by the shout of a naughty little girl and the giggles of Natasha. Anya gained a wry smile. On one side she didn't want this moment to end, on the other she didn't know if she was ready for more than kisses tonight. Eli recast the spell to dampen her senses and even increased its potency a little so that Anya could get a good nights rest.

With a firm hug, Eli sent Anya to her room after he received a promise for a date tomorrow and then made his way to Eliza. The little rascal was making smooching sounds from under the blanket instead of talking to him properly, so Eli played her a good night song about a world without any more ice cream in retaliation.

The young daughter of two original Avengers broke into a giggle fit because of the silly song and wished Eli a good night once he was done.

Instead of sleeping immediately himself, Eli picked up Anya's new sword and flew up to the mansion's roof with the nocturnal Tuuli on his shoulder.

For hours, he concentrated on the enchantments he wanted to add, most importantly making the sword heat-proof or at least making it so the vibranium and uru would behave the same at any temperature. It took him a while to find the sweetspot because vibranium behaved completely differently when exposed to magic.

Ever since Eli received a good amount years ago, he had tested the properties of vibranium in relation to his runes and magics. While the metal held many properties that uru didn't and was simply magical at absorbing kinetic energy, it lacked uru's most important property; growth through its bond with a user. An attunement to magic and divinities.

Instead of changing the sword to a necklace like his own Shatterstar, Eli was forced to make its compact form a little bigger because of the vibranium. Since Anya really liked weapons, he kept it in its original form but turned it into a sort of dagger she could easily wear on her person without having to carry around a sheathed sword like some sort of murim character.

When he was done with the sword, Tuuli came back from her nightly tour around the place, and the sun was on the verge of introducing a new day. Eli turned back to his room, washed up, and laid down to rest for a short while.

"Eli! Your awful funny song made me dream about nothing but ice cream. Can you please convince mom to make us ice cream for breakfast?" Eliza shouted as a wakeup notice eventually.

Nat, of course, wasn't convinced about having an ice cream breakfast, but she compromised and added a fruit salad to the table to calm down her daughter's sweet-tooth.

This morning, they were only four people, but they were 'interrupted' by Fandral, who brought two guests, Steve Rogers and Sharon Carter. Eli wasn't sure how they could possibly arrive at this hour because it was just around 1am in New York right now. It felt like a weird time to arrive - that was if they even came straight from New York in a quinjet like he suspected.

Eliza was happy to see her father and happily introduced herself to his father's girlfriend Sharon as they joined them at the table. Steve once again thanked Eli for his timely help in his fight against Thanos but kept quiet about any other Avenger business.

Eli left the family surrounding Eliza mostly alone after that. No matter how close he was to the girl and Nat right now, he shouldn't meddle with the family as they tried to find their new normal in this crazy world.

Instead, he concentrated on Fandral and began talking about the injured from the war and what Maya Hansen was up to these days with him. He had received reports on his phone, but hearing it from Fandral would be better. Eli eventually asked Fandral to ask Maya to come over, and since the infirmary and Maya's lab weren't too far away, she arrived not ten minutes later.

Eli excused himself for a short moment and quickly came back downstairs with a golden apple in hand before opening the door when he noticed Maya would arrive soon. Fandral's eyes widened immediately at the sight, misting over a little. He was already wondering how serious his relationship with Maya could be if he would survive her by a good one or two millenia, but if she were to receive a golden apple, all these worries would be over.

"Hey Maya, it's good to see you again," Eli greeted the woman at the door as she arrived.

"Glad to have you back, Eli," Maya greeted back, hugging the young Allfather tightly. Eli led the woman inside and brought her and Fandral to a side room to not have this talk heard by Steve and Sharon who were occupied by Eliza anyway.

Once he sat down on one side with Fandral and Maya sitting opposite him, he put the golden apple on the table and began reading the two's surface thoughts.

"Maya, I appreciate your loyalty to Asgard. You might think you didn't have much of a choice because of what the forces of Earth did when they learned of your existence, but you could have lived a life in endless comfort instead of coming here for work," Eli began. Her thoughts betrayed no duplicity at Eli's mention of 'loyalty' and 'Asgard', which pleased Eli beyond measure.

"You even managed to tame a man who first introduced himself to me as a man proud to be single for centuries. Unprompted, too," Eli continued. Fandral had to chuckle at his own antics and both partner's surface thoughts showed their genuine care for one another. Now Eli was sure about the gift he was about to bestow upon Maya.

"Yeah, that sounds like him. He's a weirdo sometimes," Maya said in agreement.

"As thanks, I would like to give you this apple. Eat this golden apple of Idunn and your doubts about your differing lifespan will be no more. You might even outlive Fandral," Eli ended with a chuckle.