Tony yanked Maverick away from Lucy and forced him into a chair. Too much time had passed, and Tony had already been growing uncomfortable with how long Maverick was spending inside Lucy's mind, when the older man suddenly grabbed his forehead and started moaning. Tony and Daisy both tried talking to him, since he could usually remain coherent to the natural world when he was inside someone's mind, but it was clear he could not come out of Lucy's mind without help, and they were forced to break the connection themselves.
"Here," Bowser handed him a glass of water, and he downed it. Something about the cold water triggered his senses and helped him come back into the present; his mind finally severed the connection between him and Lucy, and he relaxed into the chair, massaging his temples aggressively.
"What happened?" Tony asked.
"She kicked me out," he said flatly. "This is going to take longer than I had hoped. Bowser, I need something sour. The water is not enough this time."
Bowser handed Maverick a bag of Sour Patch Kids, and the man took three at once, not even puckering at the sourness.
"Did you learn anything?" Daisy asked him.
"Yes, but first I need a hot coffee—extra sweet," he said. Bowser brought him a steaming mug with liquid the color of caramel inside. It said "I love you like a hobbit loves second breakfast" on the front. Maverick downed the coffee while it was still piping hot, wincing as it scalded his throat.
"I've never seen anything like it. Her powers seem to bind her to other people in a way that forces her to do what they want her to, like she loses herself completely in other people's needs and wants."
"Wow, that's like if codependency were a superpower. Kind of terrible, but actually that makes sense from what we saw. She didn't seem to want to be with that guy, but also didn't want to leave him. Did you learn what else her powers can do?" Tony asked.
"Daisy was right. I think she is getting visions of the future and possibly the present. I saw Bali in a dark room, and a witch was telling her that they were going to cut her shadow off," he said, a hint of anger in his voice.
Daisy looked horrified, and Tony clenched his fists unconsciously. "Why?" Daisy demanded. "When?"
"They want her to track Lucy for them—the shadow eater—by tonight," he replied.
"Shit!" Tony exclaimed. "Can they make her use her powers?"
"I don't know," Maverick replied. "They can take her shadow and force her to do their bidding, but I've never heard of anyone's powers surviving the process."
"What are we going to do?" Daisy asked, looking over at Lucy's sleeping form.
"Lucy's power seems to form unseen threads between her and whoever she makes eye contact with. I'm not sure how or why it happens, but she seems to avoid eye contact at all costs—except with you, Tony," Maverick said, looking Tony square in the face.
Tony blushed, though he wasn't sure why, and then said, "We did make eye contact on the subway."
"Yes," Maverick nodded. "I saw that. It seemed significant, but I'm not sure how. Perhaps there is a level of deception involved in her powers that your ability to see past makes ineffective on you? We won't know for sure until she wakes up, but I'm wondering if she would let you in easier than she let me in."
"Is that possible?" Daisy asked in surprise.
"It is. I don't do it often because it takes a lot of mental focus for me to let another person into someone else's mind. I have to act as a bridge of sorts and can't move about, but must stay in the same spot in that person's mind. I can do it if you are willing?" Maverick asked Tony.
Tony looked at Lucy and then back at Maverick and nodded. He wasn't sure what he could expect to see in her mind, and a part of him couldn't help but think it was a violation to go traipsing through the most private space another person had available to them, but he knew that Lucy needed to wake up, that they had to find Bali, and that time was not on their side.
"Before we do this, let's get the White Swan back and have her look one more time inside Lucy—see if there is anything she missed before," Maverick said to Bowser, who chimed a "You got it, boss" before leaving to make the call. It didn't take long for the White Swan to come back; she must have been close by, as she had said she would be. While she knelt next to Lucy and placed her hand on the girl's pale forehead, the others sat down at the table so Maverick could eat a hot bowl of soup and hear what the others had learned in their research.
"There are whole religions based around this idea of the shadow eater coming and bringing balance to the world—though really it's followed by those who worship the moon and believe that darkness should reign supreme. They think that the shadow eater will have the power of the first two who ate the sun and that by eating the shadow she will surrender that power over to darkness. They think some kind of evil uprising will happen, and there are even prophecies about the sun going dark for a time."
Daisy summarized the reading she had done as succinctly as possible while Maverick shoveled in spoonfuls of Bowser's split-pea soup, which he swore was a secret recipe handed down for generations in his family. Tony was silent, his fingers folded together under his chin as he looked nowhere in particular, his mind deep in thought. He knew that they had to delve back into Lucy's mind, but he felt nervous about what he might see once they were there and even more anxious about how she would respond to the intrusion. He couldn't imagine someone forcing their way into his mind uninvited, and he knew that Lucy's mind had been through a lot already.
"Tony?" Daisy snapped her fingers in front of his face, and he flinched, coming out of his reverie and looking at her.
"You good?" she asked, raising one eyebrow at him.
"Yeah, I'm fine. What were you saying?" he replied.
"I was telling Maverick about the shadow of the first boy who ate the moon," she replied.
"Oh yeah, well, basically it said that only the girl ate the sun. The boy didn't fall asleep from eating the moon because he already had evil in his heart, and eating the moon gave him dark magic."
"I read that account once," Maverick said, wiping his chin and pushing the empty bowl aside. "It's a very interesting account, to say the least—if it is true and not propaganda fabricated by a witch."
"It reads like a diary. It would be strange for someone to make that up," Daisy replied.
"Not necessarily. It's an effective way to convince someone of a lie: to write one as though you had experienced it yourself. Witches and zealots often convince themselves of the lies that they tell, so it wouldn't be so far-fetched for one to write a false account. But I couldn't say for sure."
"What does this mean for Lucy? If they think she is the shadow eater, I mean?" Tony asked.
"It means she's not safe and won't be safe until she can control her powers and choose for herself. If the order were to get their hands on her right now, it would be disastrous. They could simply tell her to eat someone's shadow, and her powers would compel her to," Maverick replied rather darkly.
"We can't let that happen," Tony said.
"No, we can't," Maverick agreed, and Daisy nodded her acquiescence.
"Tony, you should take a moment and prepare yourself before we do this. She's already pushed me out twice, and I don't know how she will respond this time. If you hear ringing in your ears or the wind begins to blow, do your best to hold onto something and wait it out. She's trying to protect herself, but her mind changes quickly, so if you can hold on, you can stay in. I will stay at the point of entry—usually it's a room, sometimes a gateway—but if I sense trouble, I will pull you out right away."
Tony nodded, then he excused himself to use the restroom and poured himself a cup of Bowser's coffee, taking his time to add fresh cream and brown sugar, stirring slowly so he could calm his mind and focus his intentions, pushing his fears for Bali and Lucy out of his mind. The coffee was hot, creamy, and sweet, and he drank the entire cup before walking back over to the couch where the others were waiting.
"She's all yours," the White Swan said as she got up and nodded at them all before leaving again.
"She's not a woman of many words, is she?" Daisy asked as she watched her go.
"How does this work?" Tony asked Maverick.
"Just put your hand on my shoulder, and I will bring you in. If you have trouble and need to get out, shout for me, and I should hear you," he said as he knelt down next to Lucy and put his hand on her forehead.
Tony nodded and then resisted his own feeling of hesitation by putting his hand firmly on Maverick's shoulder. He instantly felt like he was falling; the air around him was dark and sizzled with energy, and then suddenly his feet hit solid ground with a force that almost made him fall over.
"It's a little jarring the first time," Maverick said behind Tony's shoulder. Tony turned and saw that they were both standing in a small room with ugly yellow wallpaper.
"Where are we?" he asked.
"I'm not sure, but if I had to guess, I'd say it's probably the last place she felt relatively safe. When I walked through the door, she was in an old woman's house. The woman seemed pretty harmless, so maybe she felt safe here."
"What do I do now?" Tony asked, looking at the ugly wallpaper.
"Go through that door. Beyond that, you're on your own. Try to connect with her—convince her we're safe and aren't here to harm her."
Tony nodded and walked toward the door, opening it and pausing before he walked through. "Is this safe?" he asked Maverick.
"It's never completely safe to walk through someone's mind, especially uninvited. But she's likely to push us out, not hurt us on purpose."
"No, I mean, is it safe for her?" he asked.
Maverick paused before replying, as if he were choosing his words carefully.
"I think her mind is so lost right now we aren't going to do more harm than good by going in," he replied finally.
Tony nodded and walked through the door, letting it click softly behind him.