Chapter Text
Carol looked herself in the eye. Her smile beamed down at her from a larger-than-life painting. It showed her in a sumptuous, colorful dress and with flowing hair. The inscription was emblazoned above it in golden letters: Welcome, Princess! In the summer breeze, the final chord of the last hymn of joy that the inhabitants of Aladna had sung to mark Carol's arrival could still be heard. Now they all stood in a large circle around her and waited for her reaction. To their surprise, Carol let out an amused laugh, which she quickly tried to conceal with a cough.
The portrait was her welcome gift on the occasion of the festivities leading up to the wedding. A wedding that was incredibly important to Prince Yan of Aladna and his people. So important, in fact, that Carol had agreed to a friendly service that could hardly be surpassed in ridiculousness. She, Captain Marvel, universally known as a lone fighter, as the wife of a prince... She as a princess! How could you not laugh at that?!
Prince Yan gave her an uncertain glance from the side, then spread his arms and sang joyfully to the people: "Look how she smiiiiiiles - cause she's so happy insiiiiide." Carol nodded immediately and bowed several times in thanks to the people.
"Now enjoy the afternoon - there'll be a wedding soon," sang Yan to the crowd. Then he put his arm around Carol and lead her through the gate into the palace. Behind them, the crowd started to sing a chorus of cheers.
As soon as the palace gates had closed behind Carol and Yan, he lost the smile from his lips.
"What's wrong," Carol asked immediately, finally able to speak to him in normal language.
"There's been a tragic... incident," sighed the prince. „My cousin's fleet was on its way here. He, his wife, his entire court - more than a hundred people. But no one arrived."
They exchanged a worried glance as they climbed the steps of the large reception hall.
"They just disappeared?"
The tall man nodded slowly and seriously. The last time Carol had seen his face this worried was when he had begged her to marry him.
"There's no trace," said Yan.
"A delegation of a hundred people, a whole fleet of spaceships - all gone?!"
The prince nodded again: "They wanted to arrive a few days early for the celebrations... And now this."
Carol followed him into a wide hallway where the palace's private chambers were located. Behind one of the ornate doors was the prince's writing and music room. The walls were lined with bookshelves reaching up to the ceiling. Between them were numerous seats and instruments of all kinds. Trumpets and flutes, percussion and a harp... And some instruments for which Carol had no words. Yan offered her an armchair near the large piano, where he took a seat himself.
"But that can't be right," muttered Carol. She was familiar with the vastness of the universe and its many pitfalls - it was nothing unusual for a ship to disappear. But a whole fleet? "You know the route they took, don't you?"
"Yes, we know the route," Yan replied. He began to quietly play a melancholy tune on the keys. "And that's why I have a presumption."
"Do not keep me in suspense," Carol said, but Yan let his fingers glide over the keys, lost in thought. Carol sighed and repeated, singing: "Do not keep me in suspeeeense..." The prince looked up. His mother tongue still suited him best.
"Sorry, I'm just so upset," he said. "They took a route that goes right past Nocturne..."
"Nocturne?"
"An inconspicuous, small planet - but one that everyone who knows about it generously avoids."
Carol raised her eyebrows: "I've never heard of Nocturne."
"They say that anyone who gets too close to it will be eaten by it," the prince said.
"Eaten - by a planet?!"
"Or by what lives on it..."
Another sombre sequence of piano notes followed.
"Who lives there?" Carol asked with a certain impatience in her tone.
"No one can say, because no one has ever returned from there. But according to the rumors, she calls herself Freya..."
"That name sounds familiar," mumbled Carol. Somewhere in her buried memories it rang a bell.
"They say Freya attracts the creatures that approach Nocturne..."
"I think Freya appears in earthly mythology..."
"Believe me, whatever rules Nocturne has nothing to do with your gods."
"But you say nobody knows? Maybe someone should check!"
"Carol..." Yan sighed heavily and looked at her. "Our wedding is in three days. I'm responsible for the whole of Aladna."
"So you don't want to go and see," she concluded, a little disappointed.
"I can't! And before you say anything like that: you can't do it either."
Carol laughed: "Your cousin is missing..."
"Yes. And it's terrible! But my hands are tied. I am the prince of people who have already begun to celebrate our marriage. I can't take that risk - and you're the future princess, you're..."
"I am Captain Marvel," Carol said firmly. „And I protect our universe."
The prince's eyes scrutinized her long and sadly. Carol had already made her decision. Of course she would have to see Nocturne!
"But if it becomes too dangerous - please, just come back. The wedding..."
"...is in three days, I know. I keep my word."
Yan nodded slowly and began to strum a romantic, melancholy ballad. The melody was beautiful. But Carol already felt a familiar tingling inside her, a mixture of drive and impatience - she was ready to go.
---
There wasn't much knowledge left in her head from the history or religion lessons Carol had once enjoyed as a kid. But as soon as she entered her spaceship and connected to the database, she found all the information she had hoped for: Freya was the Norse goddess of love and marriage.
"Ha! I knew it," she rejoiced at her not entirely lost memory and raised her arms in the air. Goose, who had been sneaking around her leg, flinched in shock. "Oh, sorry," Carol said, lifting the flerken onto her lap. In the solitude of her permanent space sojourn, Goose had become her most frequent conversation partner. Even if their conversations remained very one-sided, she was grateful for her presence. She gently stroked her head and began to think aloud: "A Norse goddess... Perhaps it would be useful to find out more about her. What do you think?"
Goose purred.
"How good that we have personal contacts in the world of the Norse gods..."
She thought of Thor, whom she hadn't seen since Tony Stark's funeral - but who better to help her than a Norse god himself? His people now lived in New Asgard on Earth...
"A little trip back home, what do you think?"
Goose nestled the head in the palm of her hand.
"We haven't been back for a long time. No one's been waiting for us since..." Suddenly, it felt like a fist was closing around her heart. Ever since Maria died...
Goose looked at her with wide eyes. "Whatever," Carol murmured. Then she nodded: "The sooner we have more information, the sooner we can close the case." She swallowed the pain that arose. Goose was still looking at her as if to say: You always do that - put your feelings aside by working...
"Let's take off," Carol said quickly and put the Flerken back on the ground. Earth was anything but a place of longing for her at the moment. And yet... She had wanted to visit News Asgard for a long time, but had always put off the trip. Perhaps she simply didn't dare to go. But now she had an important reason... Carol typed in the coordinates.