Chapter 3

The tension was palpable on the plane since the group had been picked up. Noctus had refused to have Raina locked in the on-board cell until he was briefed on the recent events that had lead them to the Kree city leading to the actual situation.

Everyone was seated in the jet lounge with Coulson, May and Skye across from them while Simmons gave Skye a blood draw with Fitz seated to their left.

"So what exactly is she accused of?" Noctus asked, leaning back in the couch.

Skye gave him an annoyed look and answered with venom in her voice. "She is charged with, among other things, murder, unethical experimentation on humans and cooperation with a major criminal organization." She counted the crimes on her fingers while glaring at Raina. "And that's just the ones we know. Why shouldn't we just lock her up?"

"Because after the Terrigenesis, the powers of the Inhumans are unstable and I'm not going to let an Inhuman with unknown powers away from me." Noctus' response cut off Skye who remembered what could have happened if he hadn't intervened when she lost control.

"I agree with our guest on this point he seems able to handle your powers and I would prefer not to sink in the Pacific due to an explosion of unknown origin." The Director Coulson interjected looking at Skye before focusing on Noctus. "I was hoping you could tell us more about the powers and these Inhumans as you just called them if you're okay." Coulson watched Noctus as he spoke to him. He looked like a young man in his twenties, dark hair with dark blue eyes that seemed to see right through you. It was his gaze that confirmed to him that he might be... what he claimed to be.

Noctus took a few seconds to think before answering. "The Inhumans are a species of humans who have undergone a transformation giving them powers. They were designed to be Kree weapons about seven or eight millennia ago but they rebelled against them and drove them away from the earth." Began Noctus, a smile on the corner of the lips in front of the surprise of the others. "Two centuries ago, when I entered the city to isolate myself, there were only a few dozen Inhumans who had undergone terrigenesis and they were hiding from the humans. Since the transmission of the potential is genetic it is not contagious or dangerous. I knew their leader at the time, Jiaying, she still must be alive given her power if she hasn't been killed."

"Do you know Jiaying?" Raina asked, receiving everyone's stare. "I met her, she is the one that denied me the right to my inheritance, that's why I sought the city."

This caught Noctus's attention. "You are certainly ambitious, no wonder she turned you down, the ambitious and impatients are usually dangerous to others and even to themselves. It takes self-control, patience and generally positive feelings to stay in control of your powers." Raina glared at him but didn't respond, instead turning to Skye.

"She promised me to be able to live in her colony if I brought you to her but I knew that I could not undergo terrigenesis if I accepted so I chose another path."

"What ? But why would she want you to take me to her?" Skye gasped. However Noctus looked at her for a few seconds, thinking. He finally smiled, having an idea of why.

"I see, those eyes, those cheekbones, a Chinese ascendance to complete the picture. You are her daughter, am I right Raina?" he asked.

Raina nodded slowly. "Yes, she her mother. I don't know the whole story but it seem that she lost you and was searching for traces of you all over the world."

"But it's impossible !" Skye shouted. "My father told me that my mother was killed by Whitehall just a few months after I was born. He cut her up and removed his organs to regain his youth."

"No," Raina replied, "she's alive and well."

"But..." Jemma was about to chime in on the impossibility of such a thing but Noctus cut her off.

"It is possible, with her power. She can absorb the life force of humans and inhumans." Noctus grimaced slightly remembering Jiaying's power. "However, it's mostly effective in extending one's lifespan. To heal such a wound, she would need to absorb the lives of at least several dozen humans." The Jiaying he knew would never have wanted to save her life by killing others. But if a mad scientist had tortured her to death's door...

The plane began to shake violently, snapping Noctus out of his thoughts as the agents watched Skye in alarm. He too focused on the young inhuman who seemed in distress, causing her to lose control of her powers even if it remained on a manageable scale, bringing Noctus to just observe her, ready to act.

It was not an unexpected reaction, after learning that her mother was likely to be a mass murderer. The young man watched as the Asian woman, May, crouched down in front of Skye and took her hand to get her attention.

Skye looked at May with lost eyes, her voice shaking. "I-I searched for my parents for years and now I find out what? My father is a maniac with murderous tendencies and my mother is apparently a mass murderer?" She was shaking thinking about it and the objects around her too. Maybe it would have been better not to know the truth after all because it was almost the worst she had imagined they could have been.

A hand grabbed her shoulder making her take her eyes off May to focus on Coulson who was looking at her seriously. "It doesn't change who you are Skye. The fact that you have alien genes or abnormal parents doesn't change the fact that we are here to help you. We will look for answers and try to understand everything but for now you have to calm down okay?

"Breathe and control your breath Skye, we need you to be in control." Added May, still holding her hand. Skye took turns looking at them for a few seconds and nodded, concentrating on her breath like May had taught her.

After a few breaths, everything finally calmed down. May and Coulson let her go and Skye gave them a grateful look.

"Maybe we should stop there with the revelations for now don't you think? For my part, I have just spent two centuries in solitary confinement underground and I would gladly take a very exhaustive summary of the last great advances of humanity." Noctus looked around and continued. "You seem to have come a long way in just two centuries so I'm sure you must have some sort of codex of all your knowledge accumulated until now. If you would kindly give me access to it, I would appreciate it."

Coulson answered him, still standing. "I can start telling you about important events I know in my office while we wait to get to base and Skye will help you use the internet which is an information sharing system where most of our knowledge is when we'll be there. Does that seem okay with you?"

"It's fine with me, if the ladies follow us. Like I said, they are going away from me without being sure they won't lose control." Noctus replied, also standing up and waving at Raina and Skye who followed him when Coulson agreed.

"Of course, follow me." The group of four headed upstairs leaving the others to reflect on the latest events in silence. After a few seconds Simmons looked at May and asked. "Isn't it dangerous to bring him back to the Playground knowing nothing about him? I mean we don't even take special precautions?

The others seemed to think about it but it was finally Trip, who had just arrived from the portable laboratory, who answered her, startling the biologist.

"You haven't seen him in action Jemma that's why you think we could take precautions. When we were in the city, Skye experienced this strange phenomenon after breathing in the gas that caused her body to be covered in stone and we all felt big tremors start shaking the room. Trip shook his head, it had been a really long day.

"But as we tried to stay upright with the Director, the guy reacted and just moved beside her at blurry speed without blowing any wind. Then some kind of force field surrounded them and the tremors just disappeared. No matter how much power Skye had, the fact is that she was able to create an earthquake even before releasing the shockwaves and yet he just took it and contained it. He's not on our level, we have to treat him like the Shield treated the Avengers, with respect and precaution. We can't let him loose." His tirade left Jemma speechless from seeing him so serious as May nodded.

"Skye has just undergone a transformation that none of us understand so if we can get his help to help her master this new power it would be really a real chance. As much as for the possibilities it would offer that as for the simple fact that without control her powers could and certainly would be dangerous." She added and Jemma nodded in understanding, staring at the blood sample vial she had taken from Skye.

"Well, it's your job to assess the threat anyway. I'll go do mine if we're done. I might need some help Fitz." With that, she got up and headed for the portable lab set up on the floor below with Fitz following close behind.

May watched them go before asking Trip. "Do you think he could help us?"

Trip sat across from her thoughtfully before answering. "It looks like he has taken interest in Skye and the Director so maybe. But he seems rather carefree and curious, therefore his behavior could be unpredictable. We can just pray that it works out for us."

__________________________________________________

"Such rapid development of technology is truly magnificent. But I imagine that I should have been expecting it when you finally successfully mastered electricity. After all, the human imagination and pursuit of perfection is our greatest strength."

Coulson had just spent the past hour telling Noctus about the main events and advances of the past two centuries and he was quite impressed.

"However, as much as the social advances are admirable." He continued, smiling at Skye and Raina. "The idea that the world is run by governments that change every time in less than a decade is really concerning. How can governments deal with the ever-changing world if they can't plan for the long term?

This made Skye wince but like Coulson she knew the answer all too well. "It is not the governments that make the long-term plans precisely. With the rise of capitalism and the principle of free movement, governments are only capable of short-term measures. Which is good because people tend to have similarly short memories. The long term is between private companies and us, the governmental and military organizations." Noctus nodded at that, accepting Skye's argument, before turning back to Coulson.

"To think that Hydra would come out into the open after spending millennia in the shadows is interesting. They've always been a thorn in the side of a friend of mine's organization. I'm going to be sticking with you guys for at least a few months to help Skye learn to use her power to its fullest potential so it might be fun for me to join the hunt."

Coulson should have been happy to receive help but instead, the information Noctus had just given was too concerning to feel anything but a sense of alarm.

"You just created some very troubling questions Noctus." He began seriously. "First, I want to know since when exactly Hydra exist. And secondly, you have a friend who runs another organization in conflict with Hydra that I don't know about and who has also been operating for millennia?

Noctus smirked. "You will surely not know my friend because he has decided to act in the shadows for at least eight centuries, and mainly in Asia. At best you will know the historical character he embodied before simulating his death. He lived by the name Khan, the master of the ten rings and the world's greatest conqueror. He conquered all of Asia in less than half a century before pretending to be dead and continuing to develop his organization in the shadows." Noctus lost himself in thought as he thought of his old friend. He would visit him as soon as Skye had a proper command of her power. He would surely be happy to join the hunt against those who managed to deny him access to Europe.

"As for Hydra, the organization as old as ancient Egypt and their primary purpose is pretty fun if you ask me. I mean other than world conquest. The organization was formed after the Civil War that brought the downfall of the Inhumans. After repelling the Kree, the first of the Inhuman, Hive who had mutated into a parasite capable of controlling his congeners had already created a cult and was revered by humans for his power. Sadly for him, he was betrayed by his own people who feared his power and sent through a Kree portal to an uninhabited planet. The cult he left behind is the origin of Hydra and their goal since his demise has been to find a way to bring their god back to Earth." Noctus laughed thinking about that, the fools didn't even understand that they worshiped a madman seeking the destruction of mankind.

However Skye, Coulson and even Raina were anything but laughing. It seemed to be a recurring term in Noctus stories that the people he was talking about couldn't die a natural death. So if Hydra could bring their god back, it would be anything but funny.

"Don't make that face!" Noctus continued, amused to see how alarmed they were. "I killed this madman a long time ago. That's why I always let Hydra do what they wanted. Fools have been sending humans through a portal of no return for millennia in sacrifice to an entity I killed long ago. Where do you think the myth of Hercules against the Hydra comes from ?"

Everyone in the room relaxed with Noctus' assurance that the Hydra threat couldn't get much worse. Just as Coulson was about to ask again about the other shadow organisation, May knocked on the door and entered.

"We're about to land." She said quickly before exiting.

Coulson rose from his seat and announced. "Okay, I would be curious to learn more about your past but that will have to wait. When we get to base, I'll need us to get a battery of tests to Skye and Raina to learn more about the changes they have undergone."

Noctus nodded looking at Raina who agreed. "As long as I'm with them to make sure their powers don't get out of hand that won't be a problem."

"Sure.I would have asked you if you hadn't anyway. We would also need you to be tested if possible, for the logs" Coulson asked but Noctus refused.

"You wouldn't find anything with your measuring instruments. I have complete control over my body and can be detected about it."

Coulson nodded, deciding to drop the subject for now. "In that case let's go down, Skye will introduce you to the Playground while I finish sealing this damned city."