Agents in suits and sunglasses drove the vehicles. Coulson sat in the front passenger seat, holding a tablet and staring unblinkingly at the detection marker on its screen.
They were getting closer to the target.
After staring at the screen for so long, the motion of the vehicle had left Coulson a little dizzy. He pinched the bridge of his nose, blinked rapidly, and casually glanced out the window.
The vehicle was moving so fast that all he saw was a dark blur flashing past outside.
Coulson gathered himself and returned his gaze to the tablet. Less than a second later, he snapped his head up, realizing something was wrong.
"Stop!"
Ever since they had discovered that hammer no one could budge, S.H.I.E.L.D. had designated the area for several kilometers around it a restricted zone. That had been days ago. Civilians were not allowed anywhere near this place, so who was the figure he had just seen outside?!
The brakes screeched, and inertia threw Coulson forward.
He looked in the rearview mirror. Sure enough, someone was walking behind the convoy.
"Turn around!"
Coulson picked up his radio. "Vehicles at the rear, stop that person!"
Coulson shouted urgently.
His orders were answered, and the vehicles at the rear surrounded the figure.
His own vehicle immediately turned around and headed back. Before long, he could make out the person's appearance.
"What's going on?"
Coulson got out, removed his sunglasses, and walked over.
"Kid, how did you get in here?"
The little girl's dress was extravagantly luxurious, with a very classical design. She wore an eyepatch, and her whole outfit looked as though she were headed to some Bal Masqué.
"Fischl" had been about to draw an arrow, but the sight of Coulson made her freeze.
"Ah~ so the bowstring of fate has already sounded a melody of reunion. That we should meet here must surely be the will of destiny."
"Alas, mortal eyes cannot perceive the burning heart beneath my outward guise."
The girl said dejectedly:
"Could this be the price I pay for wielding the power of sacred judgment?"
Coulson fell silent. He felt as though this kid had wandered onto the wrong set. She belonged on a theater stage. Anyone who could reel off such complex, obscure lines without hesitation had real talent.
He picked up his radio.
"Check the area for anyone else. This kid couldn't have gotten in here on her own. Someone must have brought her."
"Search the surrounding area, then report back to me." Coulson finished speaking and ended the radio call.
Looking at the bright eye beneath her eyepatch, Coulson suddenly felt a strange mix of unfamiliarity and recognition.
He bent down and took a careful look at the girl.
Strange. I'm certain I've never seen this girl before. Where is this feeling of familiarity coming from?
"Sir, we found no suspicious individuals nearby."
An agent came over to report.
"Understood."
That made it even stranger, Coulson thought. Could it really be a coincidence?
"Kid, tell me the truth. What are you doing here?"
Coulson asked with great patience.
"This Prinzessin heard fate's murmurs softly calling my exalted name. Thus did I cross the sea of stars to seek my lost friend here."
Coulson paused. Stories this fantastical were rare indeed.
This was the first time he had ever met such an eccentric kid.
Instead of talking normally, she insisted on phrasing everything like a choir recital. Had she watched too much anime?
Still, he did not actually believe the girl could cross a sea of stars or anything of the sort. Coulson figured her manner of speaking was just a form of literary embellishment.
But he had picked out one key detail: the girl was looking for a friend.
Her friends had probably played a prank on her and deliberately tricked her into coming here.
Teenagers were always keen on adventures and practical jokes. That was common enough.
Coulson nodded. He had probably been overthinking it.
He smiled at the girl, picked a bit of fluff off her clothes, and beckoned an agent over.
"Drive her out of here."
"Yes, sir."
With arrangements made for the girl, Coulson put his sunglasses back on and returned to his vehicle.
"Let's go."
The vehicle started up and drove away as Fischl watched.
"All right, kid. I'll take you out of here now."
The agent who had stayed behind spoke to Fischl with a stony expression. "This isn't somewhere you're allowed to be."
The agent opened the car door for the girl to get in.
"Don't make me say it twice. Get in!"
The agent spoke to Fischl in a commanding tone. His rude attitude angered her.
"Ignorant mortal, how dare you attempt to divert the course of the stars and presume that this Prinzessin would alter her path for you."
"Arrogance, contempt, and insolence are your original sins!"
Her pretty little face icy, Fischl enunciated every word.
"The dignity of the Prinzessin der Verurteilung shall not be profaned!"
"Repent, and receive the punishment of my familiar!"
"What? What are you talking about?"
The agent did not understand Fischl. Assuming the girl was simply being unreasonable, he took two steps forward and reached for her arm.
Just as he was about to grab her, he heard the sound of a bird beating its wings.
The agent immediately turned around. A dark blur flashed before his eyes, and a tingling electric current surged through his entire body.
"Ah!"
With a scream, the agent crumpled to the ground.
Coulson reached his destination, the place where the abnormal energy fluctuations had been detected.
He walked over and crouched to examine the scorched earth. A precise circle marked the ground, with mysterious, indecipherable symbols inscribed within it.
Ring after ring of symbols formed a dizzying cipher. Coulson reached out and touched it.
The next second, he jerked his hand back.
He swallowed his cry of pain and turned his hand over to inspect his fingertips.
The skin at their tips had yellowed slightly, and he felt a faint burning sensation.
When he had touched the ground, he seemed to have felt a fairly strong electric current.
"Don't touch it with your bare hands. Everyone, put on gloves."
"Get someone from the linguistics department to take a look," Coulson instructed his subordinates. He thought this might be the writing of some alien civilization.
"What is this?"
An agent's startled cry caught Coulson's attention.
"Sir, come take a look at this."
Coulson walked over to the agent. A jet-black feather lay on the ground beside him.
The feather was short but exceptionally beautiful. It gleamed with a dim luster like black crystal, and upon closer inspection, tiny flickers of purple electricity that had not yet fully dissipated were visible within it.
Coulson frowned. This was definitely not an ordinary bird's feather.
"Lower your head."
He spoke to the agent beside him.
Is there something else on the ground? The agent obediently lowered his head and looked down.
"Ow!"
The sharp pain on top of his head made the agent cry out.
"Sorry. I needed to borrow a hair."
Coulson gently brought the hair he had just plucked from his subordinate's head toward the Black Feather.
Whoosh!
The hair disintegrated before it even touched the feather.
The agent took a step back in lingering fear, privately thankful he had not let curiosity get the better of him and picked it up with his bare hand.
Otherwise...
Coulson stood and made two circuits of the area, returning with two dry twigs in hand.
He used the twigs to pick up the feather and examined it carefully, discovering lines of markings on its surface. The lines were very strange, yet full of power, and Coulson kept feeling that he had seen them somewhere before.
His pupils contracted. Wait!
Could it be...
Coulson suddenly remembered that the fluff he had picked off the girl's clothes had borne the same markings!
"Morris! Morris! Respond if you can hear me!"
He pulled out his radio and hurriedly tried to contact the agent who had been tasked with taking the girl away, but there was no response.
"Attention, everyone. Search the entire area for a girl wearing a purple dress. Notify me the moment you find her!"