―the two sides of the force

Her touch can be gold and healing

or dark and poisonous.

Odin and Arabella found themselves in the gardens once more, this time for a lesson. Since the girl had learned how to control the Sword of Light, she had to learn about the background of her powers. "They power every living thing around us. Souls are vulnerable, ephemeral, but stronger than you know, and more valuable than you can imagine."

Odin waved a hand and an illusion of six colorful stones formed in the air, the same stones from the vision Wanda had inserted on her mind. Arabella's blue eyes glimmered with the brightness of the stones as she looked at them in awe. "After the universe came to be, the Big Bang forged an essential aspect of existence into six elemental crystals and hurtled them across the universe. The Infinity Stones. Each stone controls a certain aspect of life. Space, Reality, Power, Time, Mind," Each stone twinkled brighter than the rest at the mention of its name. "and Soul." The orange stone levitated towards the girl, stopping right before her eyes.

"I've seen those, in a vision. My dad and uncle messed with the Mind Stone. Not a fun experience at all." She muttered. "They've seen Space Stone, too, back in the Battle of New York." Odin visibly cringed at the mention of the Battle of New York, but Arabella dismissed his reaction.

"The Stones are not to be messed with, child." That was all Odin said after her small rambling before clearing his throat and containing. "As I was saying, the capabilities and whereabouts of the Soul Stone are unknown. No one has ever seen the Stone, but it could prove to be the greatest threat out of all the Infinity Stones. Freya believed the Sword of Light was powered by the Soul Stone, and in her youth, she took a quest to find it, but she did not succeed."

Waving a hand across the air once again, Odin banished the illusion of the Stones and replaced it with one of the Sword of Light. "The Sword can take small amounts of soul energy and later release it at the will of its owner. And even though it takes energy from souls, it causes no harm to whomever or whatever the soul belongs to."

An illusion of the Sword extracting soul energy from people and plants displayed in front of them. "Whoever wields the Sword of Light controls the soul energy it acquires. And as you've experienced, soul energy comes in handy on the battlefield." Bright wisps of energy merged into the weapon, creating a golden aura around it. "The Sword was created with the purpose to help you channel your powers. Whenever it's not being used, it rests in the Soul World, the pocket dimension of the Soul Stone."

Arabella's brows quirked in curiosity at the sound of the pocket dimension. "The Soul World? What's in there?"

"They say that's where souls reside, but nobody knows for sure. The whole Stone remains a mystery." Odin turned around, hands clasped behind his back. "But beware, Ara, for your powers can be deceiving."

"How come?"

"Wherever light goes, darkness lurks in." The golden aura that engulfed the illusion of the Sword began to turn dark. "While a soul's energy is capable of life and revival, it is also capable of chaos and destruction."

Bella's eyebrows dipped in confusion snd her lips were pursed. "But weren't souls full of light?"

"They are. But there is always another side of the coin, Ara. In the wrong hands, souls can turn into complete darkness. As can the Sword of Light." Illusions of people appeared in the air, their souls seemed to be reaped out of their bodies. The Sword of Night swallowed the souls whole, and the people fell to the invisible ground―lifeless, the young girl assumed. "In malicious and power-consumed hands, the Sword of Light shifts into the Sword of Night, and the soul of the one who wields it gets harmed."

That took a dark twist, she thought. "Could that happen to me?"

"Only if you let the darkness consume you."

"So, it's like the dark side of the Force?" Odin looked at her quizzingly, having no idea about the pop culture reference she had said.

"The dark side of the Force. From Star Wars. It's, a movie, uh―a thing from Earth. Never mind." The Asgardian King only nodded, still not grasping whatever she had said. "Is there anything else I need to know about the Sword? Perhaps a third side?"

Odin chuckled and shook his head in response before adding, "Just remember, don't let it consume you."

sword in hand and veins glowing. She had put a great deal of thought into the whole Soul Stone situation. The connection to the Sword of Light, her mother's quest, the pocket dimension, and the Stone itself. How come no one had ever come in contact or even seen the Soul Stone? There must have been someone. Anyone. But who?

Her brows furrowed and her lower lip was painfully stuck between her teeth. What if she went on a quest to find the Stone? Maybe she could find it. What if the power ended up consuming her? She would be like Anakin Skywalker, lured into the dark side and turned into a villain. She would become Darth Vader. She was talking so much nonsense.

How would she explain all this to her father? Tony would be so confused. If the girl herself was confused, how could she tell him everything?

As she swayed the Sword from left to right in front of her, Wanda's vision played in her mind like a broken record. The purple creature, the Infinity Stones, the snap. None of that made sense to her, it was like a puzzle with missing pieces. A puzzle in which almost all the pieces were missing.

God, why did the overthinking become worse at night?

She huffed and dropped the Sword on her bed only to grab it again and start an imaginary fight in her room.

She was overthinking way more than she should. Punch. She needed answers. Kick. Where was the Soul Stone? Jab. Had anyone been on the 'dark side of the Force'? Dodge a left hook. Who was the purple creature from her vision? Stab her opponent. What exactly were the capabilities of her powers? Another punch. She needed a cheeseburger. Block a hit. Maybe a donut. Lunge the sword. Some coffee would be nice too. Throw an overhand cut. She wanted to go home. Swing the sword to the right. What even was home? Knee her opponent in the stomach. She had to stop. Duck a blow. She couldn't breathe. Stab again.

"Boss, your heart rate is increasing rapidly." Wednesday's Australian accent sounded through the quiet room―except for Bella's grunts and hisses.

Jab. Right uppercut. Left hook. Lunge the sword. Repeat.

"Boss."

Jab. Right uppercut. Left hook. Lunge the sword. Repeat.

"Boss!"

Arabella halted and dropped the weapon, the glow on her veins beginning to cease. Her chest rose and fell heavily.

"Shit." She muttered while dropping to her knees with her hands over her face. I gotta breathe, she thought. In and out.

After a few minutes of trying to breathe properly again and cleaning the mess she had made in the room, she stood from the ground and changed into a silk nightgown. Tucking herself under the soft covers, she closed her eyes and thought of something nice. Hanging out at her dad's workshop while blasting his old rock & roll playlist. Training with Nat or Steve. Talking to Peter, a nice kid she had befriended a couple of months ago, and Ned, Peter's best friend. Listening to music while sitting on the roof of the Avengers Tower.

Little by little the girl began to drift asleep, but not entirely peacefully, with one thing stuck on her head.

The Soul Stone.

hi again :) i'm updating twice in the span of two days. would you believe it? anyways, this chapter served as an insight of what bella's powers are and the connection to the soul stone. thanks for voting and commenting, it means a lot lil future quite for ya :)

"I don't want to turn into Darth Vader, P. I want to keep on being good ol' Anakin, alright?"

―Arabella Stark to Peter Parker, Burning Bridges.

as always, thanks for reading and i hope your stick around!