Eirlys found herself thinking less about what she had lost and more about what had been left behind. She had not been there when Frigga died. She had not stood beside her in those final moments, had not been given the chance to say goodbye, and had missed the funeral that would have been her last opportunity to see the woman who had welcomed her into Asgard as though she were her own daughter. That thought had begun to weigh on her heavily. And now with Thor at Midgard and Odin grieving, there was no one to take care of the place. She stood quietly in the gardens of Vanaheim, looking toward the distant horizon as the realization settled into her mind. Her people needed her, she knew that. The sick still needed healers, the wounded still needed tending, and the Rot had not simply disappeared because the crisis had begun to ease.
But Asgard needed someone too. Frigga had been more than a queen. She had been the heart of the royal household. She had been the person who remembered everything, who knew when Odin had skipped a meal, when Thor was hiding his injuries, when Loki needed someone to sit beside him without asking questions. She had held the household together in ways nobody noticed until she was gone. And now she was gone. Eirlys swallowed painfully. She was Frigga's daughter-in-law, the only one. If there was ever a time when she had a responsibility to return to Asgard, it was now, so she did.
Her journey back was quieter than usual. There was no celebration waiting for her, no familiar warmth in the palace halls. Asgard itself seemed different. The corridors were still magnificent, the golden walls still catching the light, but something essential had vanished from them, she noticed it immediately. There was no Frigga. She walked through the palace expecting, almost instinctively, to hear her voice somewhere nearby. Instead, there was only silence. She searched for Loki first. That was when the unease began. He was not in his chambers, in the library, or anywhere she expected him to be.
At first, she assumed he was still in the dungeons. Perhaps Odin had restricted his movements further after everything that had happened. Perhaps she simply had not been informed. Then she found Sif and the Warriors Three hurrying through the palace, armed and dressed for battle.
Eirlys stepped into their path. "Where are you going?"
All four of them stopped, Sif's expression changed immediately. "Eirlys."
There was something in her voice that made Eirlys's stomach tighten. "What happened?"
Sif exchanged a glance with the others before answering. "Loki escaped."
For a moment, Eirlys simply stared at her, the words seemed impossible, but she knew Loki, of course, he made it possible. "He escaped?"
"He is on Midgard," Volstagg explained hurriedly. "And this time, he isn't merely trying to escape."
Fandral's expression had hardened. "He intends to find Thor."
Eirlys felt the blood drain from her face. "Why?"
None of them had an answer. "That is what we don't know," Sif said. "But he demanded the Tesseract."
"The Tesseract?" Eirlys repeated the unfamiliar word, confusion crossing her face.
Sif nodded. "A powerful object currently in Thor's possession, Loki wants it."
"And Thor would give it to him?"
The three warriors almost looked offended by the question. "No," Sif said firmly. "Knowing Thor, he would rather fight him."
That was precisely what frightened her, she looked toward the great doors as though she could somehow see Midgard beyond them. "So you're going after them?"
"We have to," Sif replied. "I am taking the Tesseract with me. If Loki believes Thor has it, he will come for Thor. Perhaps if we give him what he wants, we can stop him before he does something worse."
"But Loki isn't alone in this," Fandral added grimly. "There are others involved on Midgard."
Eirlys frowned. "Others?"
"The Avengers."
The name meant nothing to her, she looked between them, utterly lost. "Who are the Avengers?"
Sif gave her a brief, almost incredulous look before realizing Eirlys genuinely did not know. "A group of Midgardians," she explained. "Powerful ones. They have already fought Loki once."
Eirlys's heart sank, so that was where he had gone. Back to Midgard, to harm Thor. And this time, apparently, he was willing to hurt anyone who stood between them. She thought of Loki's face the last time she had seen him. She remembered the exhaustion in his eyes, the anger he had tried to hide, the way he had looked at her as though something inside him had already begun to break. She had thought leaving him alone would give them both time. She had not imagined he would turn that pain into another war.
"I will come with you." her voice was steadier now, though fear had already begun tightening around her heart. "we need to bring both of them back home and make sure that no one does in their crossfire."
Eirlys refused to remain behind. When Sif and the Warriors Three prepared to leave for Midgard, she went with them. She could not bring herself to sit safely in Asgard while Loki and Thor moved toward another confrontation, especially when she knew what happened whenever the two of them fought. They were gods, the humans around them were not. As they reached Midgard, Eirlys saw enough destruction to understand exactly what she feared. Buildings had been damaged, people were fleeing through the streets, and the sounds of distant fighting travelled between the towers. Sif and the Warriors Three immediately began helping civilians move away from danger, while Eirlys stayed with those who were injured, using her healing magic whenever she could. But she knew that saving people one at a time would never be enough. If the Avengers joined the conflict without understanding what was happening, the fighting could become even worse. So Eirlys decided to find them.
She had very little understanding of Midgardian technology. To her, the tower seemed filled with strange metal doors, glowing panels, invisible signals and devices that reacted to movement or magic. She did not know what half of them were for, and she certainly did not trust them. That became particularly obvious when she entered the Avengers Tower. The first security scanner swept a thin beam of light across her body. Eirlys stopped, her instincts reacted before her mind did. A faint pulse of Vanaheim magic travelled across her skin, and the scanner flickered before going dark.
She stared at it, then she glanced at her hand. "That was strange."
She continued walking. A second security door refused to open for her. Eirlys placed her palm against it, assuming it required some form of magical recognition. The faint energy surrounding her hand caused the electronic lock to malfunction instead, forcing the door to release manually. That triggered another alarm.
Eirlys flinched. "I am beginning to dislike this place."
By the time she reached the main floor, the tower's automated systems had already flagged her as an unidentified intruder. Cameras followed her movements, doors locked and unlocked unpredictably, and the security network began redirecting power to contain what it interpreted as a technological breach. Eirlys, naturally, interpreted all of this as the building attempting to attack her. So when a small automated defense mechanism unfolded from the ceiling, she instinctively raised her hand. A burst of magic struck it making the device dropped harmlessly to the floor.
That was when the Avengers arrived, weapons were raised almost immediately, Eirlys stopped walking. She looked at the assembled group, then at the weapons pointed toward her. She slowly lifted both hands, making it clear that she had no intention of attacking but nobody lowered anything. From their perspective, an unknown magical creature had walked into their headquarters, bypassed multiple security systems and disabled one of their defensive mechanisms. She probably looked considerably less threatening than the situation suggested. Before anyone could make a move, however, Vision stepped forward.
He positioned himself between Eirlys and the others, his attention fixed upon her as his systems scanned her. "She is not attempting to attack us," he said.
Tony glanced toward him. "She disabled our security."
"Unintentionally," Vision replied.
Eirlys frowned slightly. "I did not disable anything."
Tony looked toward the damaged security device lying on the floor. "That's probably the first time I've heard someone say that while standing in the middle of our security failure."
Eirlys ignored the remark. "I came because of Loki and Thor."
The room quieted, she lowered her hands. "They will fight. And if you fight them, more people will be caught between you." Her voice became quieter. "Loki and Thor may survive what happens next because they are gods, but the people around them will not."
She looked around at the weapons still raised. "I am not here to protect Loki from you all. I am here because someone needs to make sure ordinary people do not die simply because powerful beings are angry with one another."
Vision remained beside Eirlys, it was a little strange, considering they had only just met, Vision seemed almost instinctively protective of her. He remained beside her even after the weapons were lowered, his attention constantly shifting between her and the others whenever someone moved too quickly. There was something unusual about the way he watched her, as though his senses had detected something the others could not. Eirlys noticed it too, glancing at him with quiet confusion. She had expected suspicion, perhaps hostility, but not this silent assurance that nothing would happen to her while he stood there. The other Avengers seemed slightly puzzled by his behaviour.