The Tear of Celeste

Chapter 20: The Tear of Celeste

The group gathered in the lab to look at your necklace. No, not your necklace, the artifact. You had to stop thinking of it as yours, but it still felt so strange. The necklace you have been wearing for as long as you can remember apparently was some super magical artifact.

"The reason it took so long for me to find out the name is that the artifact has been altered," he says, holding a book and using some magic to project the pages up on the big screen over the artifact.

"Altered?" Steve asks, standing next to you. You all luckily had enough time to get some water and a shower before Stephen's presentation, your hair is still bundled up in a towel. "By Hydra?" He guessed, spitting the word out as if it gave him a bad taste in his mouth.

"Most likely," Stephen says as he pulls up the images. "This is how the Tear of Celeste is supposed to look like."

You look at the image, confused for a second about what you are looking at before your eyes widen. "It's a shooting star!" But zoomed in.

Stephen turns to you. "People did call it that," he says, pulling up more pictures. "It was a magical crystal-like formation flying through the cosmos as a meteor, traveling around from planet to planet."

You looked at the picture again, understanding better now what you were looking at. It looked like a ball of crystals surrounded by a white light that trailed behind it like a tail. The crystal in itself looked to be transparent but was glowing in a rainbow-like pattern that reminded you of a prism.

"Wait." You hear Loki say as he takes a step closer. "Does its light grant people power?"

The group looks shocked back at him at his question, some giving him suspicious looks like he is planning to use it. Until Stephen answers. "It's famous for enhancing people who are near it with more power, yes?" His eyes narrowed too. "Why?"

"It's The Stella!" Loki says shocked, looking back at his brother.

Thor frowned when hearing that, taking a step forward to take a closer look too "... I think you are right brother!" He says, amazed.

That brought Stephen up short. "You heard of it?"

"Heard of it? We have seen it!" Thor explains. "It comes by every thousand years to our home, there is a whole celebration around it," he says seriously looking at Stephen. "It flies close to our home and releases its energy on all our people, strengthening us up, and then flies away again."

Tony frowns and looks at Thor. "You are speaking of it's like it's doing it on purpose."

"It's alive," Loki says, looking at the necklace with a somber look. "At least it used to be...."

You gasp horrified as you understood his words and looked at the necklace. Did Hydra somehow take a living thing and reduce it to nothing more than an artifact for them to use?

Stephen gets a somber look too, looking back at his book. "It does mention that the Tear of Celeste is thought to be sentient, in the same way, the infinity stones at least are." He flipped through the book.

"Wait! Are you saying this necklace is on the same level as the infinity stones?" Tony suddenly asks, looking worried.

Stephen shakes his head. "No, but it's of the same nature." He thought about how to explain, using magic to display more pictures on the screen. "The six infinity stones are the most powerful objects known, together they can alter the whole universe," he explains, having them displayed in a row on the screen.

He then did a motion like he was zooming out the picture, and the line of stone got smaller to reveal a lot of other stones around them. "But they were not the only ones we know of, think of it a bit like a hierarchy, the infinity stones being on top."

"Like the king and queens of stones?" Thor asks.

Stephen shrugged at the metaphor. "Something like that."

Tony walks over, looking at all the stones on the screen. "And where does this Stella fall among the ranks?"

Stephen frowns.... And zooms in again, to just below the Infinity stones. "If the stones were Kings and Queens, the Tear of Celeste would be the princess or prince."

You gasp, a hand going up to your neck.

You have been told how dangerous the infinity stones are! Vision had one, it was what had granted him life, and Stephen had one too, only he was allowed to use it because he knew how to handle it. They are the most powerful things in the universe. Like Stephen had just said.

And apparently, you have been wearing what is equivalent to their firstborn around your neck like a piece of jewelry.

Steve helps you down into a seat as your head starts to spin. "So that is why you think her stamina is so good?" He asks a bit skeptical, looking at Stephen. "Because the stone has been powering her?"

Stephen looks at the necklace again. "It's supposed to boost the wearer's natural power, so yes, if a normal human was to wear it they probably are among the strongest humans alive." He looks back at you. "But still human, don't worry, it only enhances, it does not change."

You nod slowly, holding your head in your arms. Well, that is good news, right? It just made you stronger, but right now you were feeling rather weak.

Nat walks over and helps you up. "I think that's enough for you today, come on, let's get something to eat."

You nod, leaning on her for support as you walk out with her, Wanda and Pietro quickly following along like two worried puppies.

You look back one time to catch Loki looking at your necklace, his eyes looking so sad like he had just been told an old friend died.

You want to comfort him, but you don't know how. You put a pin in it for later.