"I see" Iron Fist nodded, "Then we shall save him. But first we must locate your final sibling so that we may bring peace to his soul. For it matters not how much strength you lend to three fences, if the fourth is weak then the bull will find it and escape in time."

Coleson held Polly for a moment, "So... from what I'm gathering we need to track down your sister. Trouble is that Shield's been trying to do that for some time now and we haven't had any luck. She's a ghost."

"Would she not reveal herself to her own family?" Iron Fist wondered.

"Juno isn't herself right now." Ceres got up, wiping her eyes.
"Someone has corrupted her soul gem. And from the sounds of it, it wasn't our true father but the dark ones.." Polly pulled out of Coleson's arms, "We need to hurry."

"One cannot race towards a finish line if they do not know where it is" Iron Fist pointed out, "or they may find themselves running away and not towards it."

"Yui showed us where... He'll kept Horatio stable while we capture Juno and bring her in." Polly lead them out and into the war room. She flipped through several screens and zoomed in on a spot in the middle of the ocean. "There."

"That's one of the old spirit sanctuaries."
"Exactly, a place shielded from wandering eyes and drifting boats. No offense, sweetie." Polly kissed Coleson's cheek. These places were guarded with heavy magic, only someone with advance magic or who used one of the portals in the city could reach them. Needless to say, Shield had been kept in the dark. "We built a station on that island but during WWII we had to relocate... It was one of the first sanctuaries we built... All that work, and a bunch of angry men try and take it all away..."

"Grandpa must have gone to check it out. Juno spent a lot of time there when we first built it several lives ago."

"Above my clearance level, I get it" Coleson nodded. That was what he tended to say whenever Polly brought up new information. She was fully aware that it was his job to report things like this to Shield and he trusted her to decide what was and wasn't important. "We could have checked out the place much earlier and dealt with this if you had mentioned that before though" he had to point out, but he wasn't in any way mad. "I'll tell May to set a course. Everyone meet in the sky loading bay." he headed off to the control room.

Soon they were taking off, though they weren't taking the Helicarrier, that had to stay behind because of Loki. All the same, the ship they were taking was still a third the size of the Helicarrier and would be able to make the trip with ease.

"Most of the island was destroyed. All but one building it seems." She kissed his cheek.

After take off, Polly went into the cockpit, "Hey, May. How'd life?" She asked, handing her coordinates. "Fly the plane through at this exact coordinates, the magic is weakness at that point, Ceres and I will do the rest to get us through the barrier.

"Thor, could you lift me up a bit higher?" Ceres asked, drawing a rune with staff on the wall. They'd need runes all over the ship in order for Ceres and Polly to get them through safely. Otherwise they could crash into the barrier or half the plane might break off.

"The usual" May replied simply, adjusting their course, "How's your brother?"



"Verily" Thor replied, raising Ceres up higher on his shoulders.

"Stable for the moment." She sat down in the co-pilot seat, "I see my husband found a way to get you out of the office..."

"Ah!" She grabbed onto the wall, not prepared for the intense boost, "Huh, and here I thought those muscles were for show... " She finished the rune and hopped down, "...Thor if there's something you want to say just say it."

"He promised me that I wouldn't see a moment of action" May commented, sounding less than amused, "Just fly the plane and babysit some nerds. Boy was he wrong."

Thor paused, a bit of a frown on his face, "... what you and Loki were doing... I do not think it is wise."

"... It always makes it sound better than it is," She paused a moment, "Mai, has... has he seemed different to you, since New York?" She asked.

Ceres looked down, "...Thor, Loki makes me smile. I...I'm lonely."

"He's had a full physical. He's in perfect health" May replied.


"Loki is very good at making people smile" Thor replied, "he does so most often before betraying them. If you are lonely then why not go see your friends and family?"

"Of course. You're right. Must just be from that near death experience." She held her hands together. That day Loki stabbed Coleson... was the same day she miscarried their child. She blanked out for a good while after she saw the blood on the floor. It just... just didn't feel right.

Ceres put her hand on her heart and gripped the cloth of her outfit, "...That's not what I meant, Thor... Nevermind, it doesn't matter. I can't go back."

"I wouldn't worry about it" May told her simply.


"Could your sisters not shed light upon the situation?" Thor asked with concern.

Polly sighed, "Thanks Mai, I just needed to ask, get it off my chest. I'll leave you to your alone time. I know how you enjoy it so." Polly patted her on the shoulder while getting up.

Ceres shook her head, "None of us have waited this long before bonding. We usually get married before this age. So we wouldn't know..."

"What are you guys talking about?" Polly asked walking down the stairs in front of Iron Fist.

Thor frowned, he looked over to Polly as she entered. Surely being Ceres' sister, she should be aware of the situation, "Ceres and Loki have become as lovers."

Polly stopped, "Seriously? Seriously? The guy who nearly iced my husband. Really?"

"It-It's not like that. Ordin left him in my care a-and I just..."
"Just what? Went for it? Ceres listen to me. " She put her hands on Ceres' shoulders, tho Ceres wasn't looking at her, "Loki is not the one."

"But, he makes it stop hurting." Ceres put her hand to her chest, "I-it's not the same but... it does the hurt."
Polly paused and pulled Ceres close, "You miss him. That...Max guy huh?" Polly had experience with trying to get over someone.
Tears started to form, "I...I can't go back there. Not with what I know now...It hurts and being with Loki makes it..."
"Shhh... It's ok, I know...I know..." Ceres started to ball her eyes out. Polly won't judge, she'd done some crazy and/or stupid things in her life, she knew it was hard until you find that special someone. "You two didn't."
"No...We didn't."
"Ok. Now, why can't you go back to Cranewood?" She asked picking Ceres up, via piggy back and carrying her up the stairs. She use to do this all the time when they were little, it always calmed Ceres down.
"..."

"The magic in her stone is affecting the emotions of other humans" Thor filled in for Ceres, "Evidently Asgardians are immune"

Ceres shook her head, "Loki said he felt it when we first met but after a while he was able to tell the different..." Polly set Ceres down on a sofa.

"Hmmm... Ceres magic does have some will over love... Father made a couple of Greek gods based on us... His form of birthday presents...Remember, you use to help Uncle Yui with his match making work?"

Ceres shook her head, "No I don't."
"Hmmm, you were pretty young." She placed her hand on on Ceres' gem, "Well... you're not leaking now anyways. Had anything happened before that point? Anything at all you think might have set you off subconsciously?"

Ceres smiled a little, "Max...he kissed me." Her gem began to glow lightly.
Polly smiled, "Iron fist you picking anything up that I'm not?"

Iron Fist came over, closing his eyes as his hands hovered over Ceres, "I find it unlikely that I sense anything you do not." he replied.

"Well, it's always good for a second option." Polly commented, "I don't always pick these things up properly... I mean, you're giving off a glow but nothing that would effect people."

"You sure?" Ceres asked, worry all over her face.

"Nothing more than a minor feeling of tranquility" Iron Fist agreed, "small enough that even the weak willed would not mistake it for adoration."

Coleson entered the room, hanging up his phone along the way, "I just spoke to Director Fury, he wasn't at the school the day you took off."

"But... he showed up on a hover bike! With flowers. I didn't imagine it! Or did I?"

"I'll have some techs go over the security footage again, but there was nothing out of ordinary on the official report" Coleson replied.

Thor frowned, his voice deep and furious as he came to the conclusion, "Loki."

"Huh? NO, that can't be it. He was busy training a bear in the middle of the woods."

Thor looked at her, "That is one of his favourite illusions" he replied, "Was he training it to jump through hoops on fire?"