[AN: Minor update at the end]

::

Natasha's seen her fair share of magic users. Being under SHIELD's payroll meant dealing with anomalies which in rare cases came off world. Then there was Thor - but according to him, he wasn't magic type, but what is summoning lightning and thunder but magic? - and then Loki - who Natasha did not see long enough considering their only interaction was up on Tony's tower when he quite literally arrived in on her in the midst of getting sucked into the portal.

The last thing she remembered was of his outstretched hand striving to reach her, before she felt the cold nothingness of the Void, a split second before the portal spat her back out in the capital of Da Jing.

This world, funnily enough, had its own magic users too. On several occasions, she had tried to infiltrate their ranks, hoping to find some sort of clue to be able to escape this hellhole, only to fail as their peculiar way of magic had discovered her beforehand. No amount of crash course from the Thunder God had prepared her for this shit at all.

Which was why to see one in front of her had been such a surprise.

The 'overgrown barnacle' as she so eloquently called Hong Cexui in the earlier years, had been a magic user all along.

"Green Demon Clan?" she reiterated, voice devoid of humour as she tasted the name on her tongue. Natasha knew better than to judge a book by its cover, but even here she could sense the way they smelt like bad news.

Natasha had learned to trust her instincts all those years after she defected from the Red Room.

Right now, her instincts were practically blaring the alarm bells with a loud noise accompanied by red lights that this guy was not someone to be trusted.

"Lan-daren, now that I have revealed my identity to you, should you not grant me the same grace?"

Ugh. This guy was doing a shit job at negotiating, but Natasha wasn't about to let him know that. In her heart of hearts, Natasha sneered, restraining herself from rolling her eyes.

'I should've left him on that goddarned ditch.'

Fuck, Fury better have a pay raise waiting for her when she gets back. This was not worth suffering a headache for.

"My secret?" she nonchalantly asked, crossing her arms over her chest.

Hong Cexui smiled, filling her emptied teacup with tea again. "That you, are not in fact a man, but a lady."

Okay, so not really a world-shattering discovery, but he said it with such arrogance it makes her want to sock him and rip him a new hide

Natasha did not budge. She had expected this, when he had very confidently told her of his own secret. She was tempted to just up and leave him hanging, but one had to consider the pros and cons before deciding judgment upon a problem.

Pro 1 was she could finally enter the world of supernatural in this realm and participate in it, rather than just be a spectator. The con was that she would be exposing her hide and would just put herself in more danger. She can't even calculate the risk with all the other unknown factors in this world.

She could potentially be trapped in binding agreements, or slavery contracts if she didn't watch her every step there, which, in her opinion, was a fate worse than death.

Someone like her, the Black Widow, falling in such a predicament? Embarrassing.

Embarrassing and unacceptable.

But there is a small chance. A small chance that she might find an ally inside that world. An ally that can help her find her way back home.

An exhibitionist once said, you can't attract the sharks if you won't dangle your feet in the water.

Stupid the advice may be, but Natasha was going to take it in this situation.

Thirty years was a long time.

Natasha pulled the corners of her lips upwards, easing her facial expression to that of a smile and held out a hand. "Well then, let's hear your situation out, shall we?"

A grin decorated Hong Cexui's lovely face, as he took the hand that was offered to him and grasped it firmly.

::

The relationship between the Immortal Tribe - generally, anyone that does not have mostly black on their outfit color palette - and the Demon Tribe was not cordial, but it was infinitely better than the one they have with the Ghost Tribe.

Feng Jiu did not want to make a big deal out of having communication with a Demon Lord, of all people - all kinds of rumours fly throughout the realms - but it had proved to be a baseless worry, what with the various gods submitting reports of abnormalities one after another.

Feng Jiu and XiaoYu had been giving each other discreet glances throughout the whole duration of the meeting, one which had not gone unnoticed - not that either of them cared, given that there was a whole other shitshow of a time bomb that was awaiting to be unveiled.

She had given the order to locate the Unnatural, and XiaoYu had found a trace of it in the mortal realm, however, the lead was a dead end. Haizzz, everything was fine for millenia, why did it start to suddenly fold in on itself now? Furthermore, if the demons or the ghost tribe found out about the Unnatural, more trouble was brewing.

"We still don't even know if there were more of us sent here by the Space Stone, and we have no way of sending out missives without attracting attention," Feng Jiu's brows furrowed in displeasure. Not even talking about those who participated in the Great Battle, what if they had managed to send in someone with great knowledge on warships and weapons?

Yggdrasil help her if she sees a nucleus blaster in this world. Because while she does admit that she's grown positively mental over the fact that she can't travel one place to another anymore without hopping on a ship and putting said ship on autopilot so she could sleep her way to there, she does put an emphasis on respecting the Law of Causality.

Dealing with short term effects was fine, but long term was a headache.

The Three Realms is a realm focused primarily on one's power, and though there are machineries, none are as advanced as the ones found outside this realm. This realm makes up on the sheer power of each individuals alone, so although technology is not that advanced, there were far more people who could wield dangerous magic.

If the use of advanced weaponry was brought in here, it would topple the power balance and sow disharmony, so this matter needs to be dealt with swiftly, and mercilessly.

"I am ashamed, Your Majesty, but I am at the end of my power here. Without a magical artefact, we cannot truly determine if one is an outsider or not."

Feng Jiu nodded. "Go back to the Demon Realm and secretly observe the other demon lords," she narrowed her eyes onto nothing in particular. "If that trail in the mortal realm had gone cold, then it's possibly only because they escaped into the immortal realm. I can monitor this side, while you can monitor the other."

Xiao Yu dipped his head in understanding. "Your Majesty is wise. Also, the matter of the Princes. I heard from my men that the Demon and Ghost tribes have expressed their desire to recruit them. Should I do something about this?"

"Recruit them?" she scoffed, flicking her sleeves. It was not an unusual news. Jormungandr and Fenrir had shown excellent physical and magical prowess. And she had even heard from the other Immortal tribes, some even having the guts to kiss their ass right in front of her - insulting, really. The amount of times she rolled her eyes were too much to count that it was already a miracle her eyeballs didn't change its position overtime.

"If they have the ability to get past me, should they only start talking."

She promised that foolish student of hers that she'd keep his children safe. How can she afford to lose face in front of him when he takes every opportunity to gloat?

::

Going back to the Demon Realm was a disappointing situation. He'd always dreaded going back to his seat every after excursion in Qing Qiu - but livable enough compared to being in the Nine Heavens. It was always too bright there, compared to serene Qing Qiu. Per Feng Jiu's request, he took Jormungandr with him to keep training the prince, and to figure out if there was any hanky panky going on in his own turf.

If he catches that darned Hei Clan planning an uprising again, he was going to shove the sharpened end of a bamboo stick to their bottoms and through their mouth and roast them like the pigs that they were proving themselves to be. First of all, he was not going to marry their prim and proper daughter - and being subjected to a thousand years of misery was not going to change that.

"How are you faring, my prince?" he jovially greeted the dark-haired wonder of Prince Loki, whose brooding gait was as similar to his father as his talent in magic is to his grandmother. Jormungandr had taken it to himself to place wards all over his palace, something which managed to warm his cold heart and endear the prince to him more.

The prince sent runes to all directions of the grounds of his palace, grunting. "Your wards are shite. It's either no one's trying to kill you or you're sleeping with both eyes open."

Lapuli gave a dramatic sigh. "Alas, not all can be gifted in the magic arts - innate calling, I suppose, my prince. Even in your family, only three were masters of magic, barring you and Lady Hela," the answer slipped from his tongue like slippery eel, before he could process it. Whatever expression was in his face, he prayed to Odin that Jormungandr didn't see the guilty look which he covered up with a smile.

"Three?" came Jormungandr's skeptical voice.

"Why, Prince Loki, Queen Frigga, and the Allfather, of course!" the Allfather definitely was NOT part of that list, but who was Jor to correct him when his magical ability was still far beneath him? Jormungandr gave him a hesitant nod before Lapuli shoos him off again, before he could let anything confidential slip that would cause even Freya to hold out to helping him.

There were just some things that needed to remain a secret.

But as he looks at Jormungandr again, the discreet golden sheen of his eyes that was only visible in a certain light, the litheness of his frame that, while attributed to his father, was something he knew should be attributed to another, the way the shape of his eyes and nose struck a feeling of familiarity like a pipe to the face, he wonders if Freya could see it.

Lapuli shook his head, snorting slightly. First loves were a funny business. You get over them, but you just never forget them.

He turned back to his study, where a pot of ink and paper was waiting for him.

Freya did say her ears were open to anything.

::

"... I find myself wondering at times how she fares..."

Feng Jiu could hear her teeth grinding.

When she said he could write to her whenever, she certainly didn't account for the man to start writing about his first love. Cheng Jiao snickered when he saw the letter, muttering something about first loves and never forgetting them, but quickly shut his mouth when he saw Feng Jiu's dark face.

First loves were fine and all, but there were some names that just weren't allowed to be discussed out and about.

Especially when that someone loathed Fenrir and Jormungandr with all the malice an Asgardian body can hold. Grief does funny things to people, and that included misdirected anger. Especially when his job was to keep an eye out for any anomaly.

"Perhaps he is reminiscing, my Lady?" came Cheng Jiao's soft voice as he served more lemon cakes. Lapuli was an old soul despite his young face, but very gentle. Especially given that his first love had been that woman, moving on was not easy.

Feng Jiu said nothing, obviously displeased, but pulled out a paper and pen nevertheless, humoring Lapuli. Gun Gun's royal celebration preparations were already nearly complete, aside from some trivial matters that didn't really concern her much aside from her father, so she could spend time reminiscing, no matter how much it rankled her.

"While I did not expect to see such a forlorn letter that should have been sent to another, I may humour you this time. Speaking of Princess Linnea is forbidden, but that was on Asgard, and we are not there, currently, so I shan't reproach you, for she was once dear to me as well..."

Feng Jiu paused, scratching her nose, feeling it itch. The past had always been a touchy subject. Between the wars, Sigyn, all the court's drama, her past marriage - it was all a time bomb waiting to explode, so she rarely even thought about poking the hornet's nest.

Still, she picked up the brush again and continued writing.

"...Once, when Midgard was on its 15th century, she gave me an offering, and sent me a message along with it--"

She abruptly paused, ink creating a mess of her words. No, so far, it was only she who knew - and Odin and Frigga, probably. Linnea didn't explicitly say to keep it a secret, but it wasn't hers to say either. Not even Gun Gun knew of it. But granted, this had been a time before Gun Gun.

It still was pretty personal though, so there was that.

"...the contents of the message, I fear, is something I cannot write about in this letter. That had been her last correspondence, and she lied low till the present time.

Do come back for tea in the future."

Linnea had definitely lied low, but her efforts were enough to show that she did not wish to earn their attention, which is why Feng Jiu never bothered to find her in Midgard, despite how long it had been since that letter. Heimdall definitely knew what was going on, but chose not to share. Funny that.

She has her letter sent out before nightfall.

::

"I have given birth to a son. Thoros, I named him, for his father's father, and I wish to ask for your blessing, for my child to be honorable and good and just, everything I never was, and that he will grow happy and content upon my knees."

~Linnea Odinsdottir

::::::::::::::::::::

Soooo, minor addition. I planned to have the newest addition be part of the new chapter, but it wouldn't really fit in there to be honest, plus I'd always intended for the letter to be an exit piece of a chapter.

University has fucked me sideways and beyond 💀💀💀

But since I'm on vacation right now, I was able to work on this chapter! ლ(╹◡╹ლ)ヾ(≧▽≦*)o

Don't forget to vote, comment and follow my profile!

Happy Reading!!!

-_star_shine_2004_