AnnouncementNot sure how some people will take this chapter, but i hope that i don't offend everyone. it is based on a combined understanding of the Bible and the Marvel's setting (as I understand it)/Chapter 55- Discussions on God

  Citadel – 3rd floor, Re-Locator room- Oct 25, 2008 (4:52 PM)

  Steven Rogers (Captain America)

  The doors to the small room just opened on their own as he approached them, it still kind of bothered him, but there were simir doors in the newer buildings in New York, so he just shrugged and stepped outside. A green crystal appeared in the air near him, it waited a moment before it continued to guide him to his next destination.

  He knew the way to the rge cafeteria where supper would be held, but it felt to him that the building liked being able to help people, so he hadn't turned down the building's offer to show him the way when she asked. Steve hadn't pnned on being here this long, but as the war taught him, life rarely goes the way you pnned.

  Just like when he passed an open doorway as he followed the floating crystal, out of the corner of his eye he noticed the short red-haired teenage girl making the sign of the cross towards an otherwise empty room, and he stopped.

  As he turned and asked her, "Are you okay?" the green crystal floated a bit ahead of him before stopping.

  For her credit, the girl didn't jump when he spoke to her out of nowhere, but then as she sniffed the air he remembered that she has enhanced senses. So he was willing to bet that she knew he was there before he spoke.

  "I am having something of a crisis of faith, if I am being honest, sir." The redhead admitted.

  As Steve watched her get up and walk towards him, he recalled everything he knew about the young woman. He knew she was a mutant, her alias was Wolfsbane, and her powers gave her both better senses and the ability to transform, either into a wolf or a massive wolf-human hybrid creature. Yet he could not recall anyone actually telling him this young dy's name.

  So he smiled as he told her. "Well, I know my bible pretty well, if you want to talk about it, we can ma'am."

  Wolfsbane blinked at him before muttering confused. “’Ma’am?’”

  “You started it by calling me ‘sir’.” Steve reminded her.

  “You’re my boss’ friend, as well as an officer in the army. I thought it would be rude if I didn’t at least call you that.” The teen expined. He was a little relieved that he could if nothing else, he could distract her from her worries.

  So Steve smiled before arguing. “Well technically I was decred KIA, so I am no longer an officer in any institution. And as for me and Erik, well I will have yours and his backs if a fight breaks out, but I am also not a member of your group. So if you have to call me anything, just call me Steve. Okay?" When she nodded, he brought her back to her original topic, asking. "So what caused your recent troubles with your faith?"

  “I recently learned that Earth’s allies and Heaven fought a war in the past…” When Wolfsbane announced that, it made the super soldier frown, but he didn’t interrupt her, and even when she paused he waited for her to continue. “…and it reminded me that the bible was written by human authors, so I started wondering if they got it wrong. Or worse yet, wh… what if… we humans just saw some things and just assumed it..."

  When she started to ramble, only then did Steve interrupt her. "Remember that parts of the bible were messages from God through his angels too. So it was not just that we humans made it up." Then he shrugged before adding. “And even if it was just us mortals that wrote it, so what? Faith isn’t about the letter of the message, but rather the spirit of it. The messages and lessons in the book are more about us learning what being a good person is, and also examples of how we need to stand up against wickedness.’

  “But also in it we see examples of how we ‘imperfect’ humans make mistakes, but those that are true to Him and his message still in the end we can be forgiven, even if we mess up. Like with Moses. He took credit for a miracle performed by God as his own. That was his mistake. And his punishment was that he never actually got into the Promised Land, but because he was true to the spirit of God, in the end before he died God let him see the nds that his people would settle in.”

  Steve gave her a moment to think about what he said and after a few quiet minutes of thinking she asked him. "So even if we don't know all of the details… we should still believe in Him because He believes in us?"

  Steve nodded a couple of times before saying his own personal thoughts. “I know that God helped me and my unit make it through the war, even if Erik doesn’t agree. There were times that my spent body suddenly felt refreshed and we managed to turn a near defeat into a sudden victory.”

  "Of course, the power of the divine isn't stopped by some ‘Great Rune Wall’, even if an artifact was used to make it." The sudden appearance of another woman's voice almost made the super soldier jump in shock. Instead, he switched back into his combat mode, and calmly turned to identify the speaker. She was a barely dressed tan woman, with a lion for her head. As Steve studied her, she added. "Honestly if Yahwenh wanted to, he could most likely bst down that wall surrounding his realm. The fact that he doesn't is quite telling isn't it."

  Steve frowned at the name, as if he should know it, but nothing came to his mind right away.

  While he was confused the teen bowed and greeted the woman. “Lady Hathor… Did you know of the conflict between Asgard and Heaven?”

  "Know? I observed parts of it firsthand, I would have acted too, but my lord father insisted we remain neutral." The lion woman admitted.

  The super soldier couldn't put his finger on it, but something about the woman felt wrong to him. Still, he asked. "Why?"

  Hathor turned her cold eyes to stare at him before she answered. "Because as much as neither of them will admit to it. In both armies, the real reason behind the war was their ties to this world. You see a fraction of the Heaven's Angels wanted to take over your world and Ascend it, to be closer to their’’

  ”Meanwhile, Asgard gave their word that you Earthlings would be allowed to develop and grow at your own pace, with no interference from the rest of their alliance. Thus why the Olympians were driven away, and we were told to hold back our teachings. Also why when some of those 'allies', such as when the Light Elves tried to influence the peoples of Engnd, Asgard drove them away. Or when a Jarl of Frost Giants tried to ally with the budding frozen kingdom of the Russ, again they put a stop to it. Or even most recently when some Dark Elves aided and guided the ‘freemen’ of the Caribbean.”

  "You're saying the Golden Age of Piracy only happened because of some elves?" Steve asked having a hard time believing what the woman was telling him. Then again having a conversation with a feline-headed woman was new for him too.

  Hathor raised a single eyebrow at his question. Something in her eyes made the soldier want to act, but he smothered it as she responded. "Not a believer, Captain? Perhaps you should take a closer look at the Sacking of Yorktown… Regardless this history discussion is not why I am here. With the news that Nath'aniel will not be joining tonight's festivities, I am here to inform you that myself and my party will not be joining tonight's feast. Because my request was not to eat here, but to eat with the mage.'

  ”With that said, Citadel?” Steve was a touch surprised that Hathor knew about the building's system, given that as far as he understood today was her first time here. Regardless the voice of the tower responded.

  “Online, your grace.”

  "I would like you to note and remind your master that this is not a refusal, but rather me accepting his rain-check. We shall simply need to reschedule." The lion-headed woman announced.

  "The young master has been informed, and agrees. He wanted me to pass along. '…I will make time for you when I can…'."

  Steve wasn’t surprised when the Citadel pyed back the man’s words for them.

  “Well then…” Hathor started with, before nodding towards the two of them. It was then that what was bothering him hit him, as Steve noticed that when she wasn't talking her eyes looked completely different. When she spoke, her eyes were yellow and shaped like a cat's, and the feeling he got from them was smart and curious. Yet when she wasn't talking, her eyes turned brown, and looked so tortured and sad. They reminded him of some of the people that he had saved from the camps back in Germany. "…after all, I too have a tribe to look after."

  While he was weathering that realization, Hathor had continued to speak to them. His Enhanced mind repyed a soft echo of what he missed, that she was basically saying her goodbyes, still he was torn about what to do or the mystery that was the woman before him, so to stall he asked. “I thought Asgard would get mad if you interfered, yet you have a tribe?”

  “The terms were that I could only aid and advise my faithful. Yet if I cannot preach or my flock is more interested in their day-to-day lives than in spreading my faith, then there will always be lost followers over time." The lion-headed woman expined.

  This time he fully caught the change, when her eyes changed again in front of him. He could almost hear the owner of those brown eyes' woman pleading with him to help her. 'But help her how?' He thought and admitted he didn't know, as he wasn't sure what the situation that was currently in front of him.

  A man coughing made the super soldier look over Hathor’s shoulder. Standing behind her and closer to the teleporting room, was a rugged bck-skinned man. His face and arms were covered in lion head tattoos. Steve saw in the man a reflection of his own wariness and caution, unlike the lion-headed woman.

  “You serve?” Steve asked the man.

  “Not in any army you may have heard of.” When the man spoke, Steve heard the man’s South African accent. Making him recall, some of the British officers he met during the ter days of the war.

  The super soldier hummed in understanding. A part of him wanted to stop them, as Hathor turned and joined the other man in front of the teleporter, but he didn't when the two of them entered, and for a moment he saw the fsh of purple energy when they left the floor.

  Then after a moment he turned back to the young mutant and asked. “Who was she?”

  “That was Hathor, Egyptian Goddess of Fertility. She and that mercenary took over one of the beastmen tribes down here." Wolfsbane told him with a straight face.

  “Seriously?” He asked still not buying it.

  The teen nodded, before expining. “Nath’aniel says that they were originally just alien explorers, who came to our pnet to learn, but sometime after that they, and the Greek gods, somehow Ascended past mortality and into godhood.”

  “And learning that brought upon your crisis of faith?” Steve guessed.

  “No, it was hearing that the Asgard, or the Norse pantheon are real too, and that they waged and won a war with Heaven. That made me doubt what was written in the bible.” The young mutant admitted.

  Hearing that, and seeing that she was serious, the super soldier asked the building. “Citadel, who is Yahwenh that Hathor mentioned?”

  “Yahwenh, or YHWH, is an Ascended being who pys a central role in the administration and operation of the pne of Heaven.”

  Steve had kept a corner of his eye on the teleporter, so he wasn’t surprised when Exodus and Nightcrawler exited it. And Exodus asked. “Why are we speaking in Hebrew?”

  “It was a name that Hathor mentioned," Wolfsbane expined rather casually.

  It seemed to Steve that he might have stepped into something bigger than he initially thought he had. 'Of course, that wouldn't be the first time I've done so.' He thought before asking Exodus. “They think she’s a god, what’s your take?”

  "She would be a goddess." The blue-furred boy corrected.

  "And what she is doesn't matter. She's powerful, and that's all that does." Exodus stated as his answer.

  Steve was actually shocked when he heard that answer and asked. "Seriously, I recall Erik telling me you once fought in the Crusades. How can this not bother you?"

  "My faith in god waned heavily in my couple of years as a vagabond mutant knight, as I witnessed the depravity of both the nobility and the church." The red-skinned man stated ftly before he added. "All that matters is my leader's pns, and the protection of my allies and the innocent. So in this case of Hathor, it is not her cims, or her ability to just will herself elsewhere that bothers me, but it's the massive amount of light that she gives off."

  “What light?” Steve asked surprised.

  "Not all light is visible, but still I can perceive it and feel it because of my powers." The light maniputor stated. Then he changed the topic when he said. "Also we will be returning you and that woman of yours ter tonight, the Army has sentries and counter snipers watching your pce, so Magneto felt it would be better to wait till their guard was cks, and the hour te."

  “We should go back separately.” The super soldier suggested. When he got a look of surprise form his suggestion, he added. “She’s a married woman. It would damage her reputation if she just appeared in my apartment.”

  Exodus waved the issue aside but said. “Take that up with Magneto. I have a matter to see to.”

  "You're not staying for the feast?" Wolfsbane asked him surprised. The red-skinned man just shook his head before returning to the teleporting room.

  After the purple fsh, Nightcrawler pointed at the two of them and asked. “What’s with the saddened looks and the questions about gods?”

  Steve sighed still not too sure of how to expin it. Yet the young woman answered the other teen saying. "I just learned that angels are real and that Heaven lost a war against Asgard.”

  "Oh really, just that? Well I guess that wasn't in our history book. But then I am guessing there is more than one." The blue-furred boy stated rather calmly.

  “’Just that?’” Steve quoted.

  The boy smiled before starting a small rant. "Oh, yes, I read ahead in the history books and the next chapter is about the arrival of the Angels of Heaven. I found it quite interesting that they are beings closer to Curha rather than us, as they are made up of light and sound, and not flesh or blood. But when they leave their home pne they offing will take a of a more solid form than spirits or elementals can.” The two Christians just looked at each other as they let the boy continue reciting what he had read to them.