Chapter 170: Arc 5: Chapter 14: Mysterious Elderly

Steve's cooking was indeed good.

The pie he made was pretty much the best he's eaten thus far, and the delicious seafood bisque along with the other handmade desserts was quite the afternoon feast for Merlin.

And the elderly man was talkative.

He and Merlin had a good talk as the three had lunch.

One could tell that he was highly knowledgeable and had experienced a lot, he even has a deep understanding of magic. Especially after Miss Carter told him that Merlin was a rare wizard, this mysterious Steve began talking about his past story."

"Magic does exist."

He sits on his sit and says:

"I faced wizards who served the N**is in World War II, they would curse our soldiers with odd spells, but they were very mysterious and were few in number; they deserted Hitler the moment he was about to lose the war. I haven't heard much about them after the war ended."

"But, I've never heard of the Magical Congress of the United States of America."

Old Steve tells Merlin:

"But I do know that a powerful wizard lives somewhere in New York, but he should be different from you lot."

"Oh?"

Merlin was interested, he looks at Old Steve as he finds the elderly man not to be bluffing, so Merlin continues asking:

"How different?"

"In my memories, he doesn't cast with a wand, he always calls himself a sorcerer, and the magic he casts is indeed powerful."

Old Steve says with a nostalgic expression:

"Together, we'd faced a terrible enemy beyond imagination before, he's a very powerful person. I once saw that he halted millions of tonnes of floodwater with magic very easily, like it was nothing."

"What's the name of that powerful wizard?"

Merlin says:

"Maybe I even know him."

"No, nono, it's impossible for you to know him."

Old Steve smiles and tells Merlin:

"At least, not at this point in time. Oh, right, I heard from Peggy that you know Tony?"

Merlin could sense that the elderly man was changing the topic, but he still replies:

"That's right, I know Tony, an annoying rich boy, a young man who's experienced pain, a playboy on newspapers; though he hasn't been annoying me lately."

Merlin shrugs and tells Old Steve:

"He really is an annoying person."

"Yeah, Tony is like that."

Old Steve seems familiar with Tony Stark, he sips on his tea and tells Merlin:

"But trust me, under Tony's annoying exterior is a kind soul. It's just that he hasn't experienced his destined trials and hasn't been molded by time, like an original ore that cannot become a stunning treasure without being carved. But he is someone trustworthy and a good friend."

"Destined?"

Merlin looks at Old Steve and says:

"You mean that Tony would encounter a disaster in the future? Are you a wizard too? Or are you a prophet?"

"No, I'm just a normal human, Merlin."

There was no change in Old Steve's expression as he says with a smile:

"But someone like Tony would get into trouble eventually, one after the other, until he finds a problem he can't handle. No prophecy is needed for that, it's just the wisdom of an elderly who's experienced a lot."

"Mmm, true."

Merlin nods, he finds the elderly man before him to be quite mysterious, and he finds his face familiar, like he had seen him somewhere before.

"Alright, gentlemen, let's wrap up your talk."

Miss Carter finishes her meal and says:

"I'm going to take a short nap, can you two tidy the table and tableware?"

"Of course."

Merlin stands up and tidies the tableware on the table as Old Steve supports Miss Carter back to her room.

A few minutes later, as Merlin cleaned the tableware, Old Steve came to the kitchen entrance after taking two beer bottles, saying:

"Want to go out for a walk? Young man, one needs to exercise after meals to keep oneself healthy. Leave the dishes there, I'll clean them, how could I let our guest do the chores."

"Alright."

Merlin turns back and smiles at Old Steve, he cleans his fingers, takes the bottle of beers Old Steve hands over, and the two walks out of the house; under the sunlight, the two continued their conversation as they treaded through the garden.

"Speaking of which, Steve, how did you meet Miss Carter?"

Merlin sips on his beer and asks:

"Have you seen Captain America Steve Rogers? Do you know about the past between that legendary hero and Miss Carter?"

"I do, I've seen him before too."

Old Steve bathes under the sunlight and responds casually:

"You know that Rogers had the Howling Commandos, right? I was one of them, I went on missions with Silver Bullet, Bucky, and Steve before. And after the war ended, Steve went missing..."

Old Steve pauses, he looks to the sky and continues:

"It was a terrible time, Carter lost her beloved and was in a daze. Thankfully, God gave me a chance and allowed me to accompany her on behalf of Steve...I accompanied her all the way here, we supported each other, but I still feel like I owe her a lot."

Merlin didn't speak, a few minutes later, he suddenly says:

"I'm very much suspecting that you're the Captain America Steve Rogers who's been missing for nearly 60 years, but I have no proof."

"Me? Hahahaha."

Old Steve turns back and pats Merlin's shoulder while laughing, saying:

"Trust me, Merlin, I'm not him. Not to mention, hasn't Fury been secretly searching for Steve Rogers? Their expedition team up North has almost flipped through the entirety of Greenland, maybe...it won't be long till they find him, and by then, you'll realize that I'm not the Captain America you think I am, that legendary hero."

Old Steve sips on his beer and tells Merlin:

"I'm just a normal old man with more experience than others."

"Alright."

Merlin shrugs:

"It's just a suspicion right now."

"To suspect, it's in the nature of agents to suspect, it proves that you're a good agent."

Old Steve says:

"As Carter told me, you're the rising star of SHIELD, maybe you'll even inherit Fury in the future. But I'm curious about some things, Merlin, I heard that a few years ago in Oakland, you killed the Winter Soldier?"

"I'm not sure if he's really dead."

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Merlin sits on the staircase of the garden and raises his head, telling Old Steve:

"I only found the WInter Soldier's damaged right arm in the wreckage of the explosion, it was a metal arm. I originally thought he had died, but as I understood more about the Super Soldier serum, I have a feeling that maybe he had survived the explosion, and is currently recuperating somewhere in the world."

"Alright."

Old Steve nods, a light flashed in his eyes as he says:

"The Winter Soldier is quite the pitiful person, me and Peggy faced him more than one time during the Cold War. He'd been brainwashed by that organization into a mindless killing machine, in fact, if you had truly killed him in Oakland, you'd freed him from his fate...after all, he did plenty of bad things, and his hands are stained with the blood of countless innocents."

The elderly man took a sip of his wine and says:

"If he really is dead, then I suppose he deserved it."

"You're saying you once faced the organization who controlled the Winter Soldier in the past?"

Merlin's gaze turns sharp as he asks:

"Can you tell me more? About that organization, though they've not shown up since Oakland, I'm certain that they're still there!"

"They indeed are, Merlin."

Old Steve's expression becomes serious, he tells Merlin:

"That organization is called Hydra, it was once a N**i intelligence organization that stood toe to toe against the SSR throughout the entire second world war under the leadership of Red Skull Schmidt; after they lost, they didn't perish, instead, they flourished in secrecy. Their spies litter across the globe...even SHIELD..."

As he spoke, Old Steve paused, as he seemed to have blurted out some kind of secret.

"What?"

Merlin looks at Old Steve and says:

"What about SHIELD?"

"Nothing."

Old Steve drinks his beer while saying casually:

"I'm just saying that SHIELD may not be all that secure either, that organization has got some powerful infiltration capabilities. Merlin, if you decide to go after them, then you best watch your back, because there's a chance that some of the people you're familiar with is one of them."

"Hydra..."

Merlin nods and says seriously:

"Thank you for the reminder, I'll keep it in mind. But, I still feel like you're very mysterious, Steve, who are you?"

"I'm an old agent."

Old Steve tells Merlin calmly:

"An old agent that's been following and accompanying Peggy Carter, you think that I'm mysterious, but that's only because I've experienced plenty. From decades ago to now, I've had my fair share of strange encounters, like the things SHIELD is currently trying to handle: supernatural events, war maniacs, mutants, Asgardians, Krees, etc."

Old Steve shakes his head:

"What you've experienced is pretty much a portrayal of the things I've experienced; as a member of SHIELD, such embellishments are quite common in our life."

"Wait, Asgardians?"

Merlin raises his head and looks at Old Steve, curiosity flashes in his eyes:

"Asgardians, do they really exist? I thought they were only beings from myths?"

"They do exist, Merlin."

Old Steve says with certainty:

"Over a thousand years ago, when the passageway between Asgard and Earth were still intact, those Asgardians would come to Earth as Gods; those beings who left a mark in mythology are in fact from another world...mmm, you can think of them as aliens. THough in their civilization, they do have the concept of 'godhood' and 'divine powers'."

"But in this era, the passageway between Asgard and Earth has been shut off."

The elderly tells Merlin:

"Perhaps you can still find some traces left by Asgardians in some ancient, undiscovered ruins; some magic items, books, maybe some questions...wait, what is that in your hand?"

As Steve spoke, he saw Merlin put on gloves and takes out a meter long baton from his pocket.

"This is something I found while tracking an ancient legend."

Merlin places the berserker baton in front of Old Steve and says:

"Take a look at the words on it."

"This thing looks incomplete?"

Old Steve squats down before the baton and did not grab it out of caution, he takes out a pair of old glasses from his pocket and puts them on, and after examining the patterns of the baton, he tells Merlin:

"These are runics used only by Asgardians and their followers. This thing is a magic item, and based on the rainbow glow it reflects, Merlin, this is Uru, an extremely rare metal even in Asgardian civilization. It should be the work of the legendary Asgardian blacksmiths."

"Can you understand these characters?"

Merlin asks, Old Steve nods and shakes his head, saying:

"I'm not a full-time linguist, so I can only differentiate what some of these characters mean through experience."

"It speaks of a story, a story about the Berserker Army, but the characters on it are incomplete, I can't understand what the story is telling unless you find the full set of it...but I can tell you this, Merlin, it isn't as simple as it looks."

Old Steve says seriously:

"During the Cold War, me and Peggy discovered and contained, destroyed a lot of dangerous magic items, this baton gives the same vibe as those items. Once it becomes complete, it will be hard for mortal men to control it...you may not understand this, but from my experiences, Asgardian weapons have a mind of their own..." 

Old Steve stands up and says helplessly:

"They always like to set up multiple trials, only those who pass said trials are worthy of using such things. THis is a powerful item, and it's best you collect them all, as it could potentially be of great help to you."

"That's the problem, Steve."

A regretful Merlin places the incomplete baton into his pocket and tells the elderly man:

"All the clues I have are incomplete, I can't find where the last two parts of it are."

"Alright, that's a pity."

Old Steve was helpless too, he looks back at the manor and tells Merlin:

"It's late now, I have to go back and clean up the dishes. Otherwise, Peggy who likes cleanliness is going to start shouting at me again when she wakes up, her temper isn't all that good, in fact."

Old Steve tells Merlin:

"We are no longer young and we have to grab hold of what time we have left, so we may not be in New York for the next few years. Please tell Fury about this, and of course, if possible, do keep my presence a secret."

"Why? Old Steve."

Merlin looks at him and asks:

"Why don't you want to be known by others?"

"Because of secrets."

Old Steve points to his heart then points to Merlin's, saying:

"We are people with secrets, only by guarding those secrets, can we better protect those we care for and love. Carter left you some past information in the garage, maybe they can be useful to you..."

"Merlin, be careful of those around you."

 

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