Loki's Apprentice: A Tale Retold

Chapter 30: Tether

"You wake up every morning to fight the same demons that left you so tired the night before, and that, my love, is bravery."

-Unknown

"Release me." He said hardly louder than a whisper, his broken gaze disappearing from sight as he closed his eyes. His hands rested on his knees, open palmed, looking as if he was praying to some almighty god petitioning for relief. But his relief did not rely on a god, but a young woman who stared at his hands and hesitated.

What if he was right? What if after seeing his past only revealed that there wasn't anything redeemable in him.

No.

A person does not turn cold because of nothing, she knew that well with her sister.

An image of her sister Loretta burned in her mind as a wave of guilt overtook her.

She placed her palms on his, giving into the bond between them pulling at their minds like the moon pulling at the waves. A bright light suddenly wrapped around her wrist, slithering like a snake until it did the same to his own wrists, tethering them together. She stared at the shimmering tether with wonder until her eyes felt heavy, and she closed them.

She could feel him

He did not try to force her out, nor did she have to fight her way through the fortress of his mind. He dropped his defenses, and a strange sense of floating nothingness overcame her as she waded through his mind. 

It was an endless maze.

A dark labyrinth stretching to a great distance, she was intimated by the complexity, but she didn't expect any less. She hit many dead ends where he refused to let her past to see the secrets that hide behind them.

She sighed in irritation.

"You must trust me." She said, her voice sounding distant like her consciousness was separated from her body.

She wasn't sure if he had heard her, but as the dead end suddenly transformed and opened for her to enter, she realized he had heard her perfectly well.

The memory pulsed with many emotions, blackened and hardened over time but cracks revealed the red and yellow fire of emotion burning from within, just waiting to be exposed.  She reached out and in response to her touch, it pooled out, falling like a waterfall over her as the memory burned.

"Look at this! Look around you." Thor said  as he held a tight hold on his brother.

Chaos seemed to run wild as many buildings were billowing dark grey clouds of smoke as alien ships flew by at great speeds.

The Beast took in the sight, his eyes portraying a sense of stunned silence.

He was different though, his skin was like any other man in Asgard, but Evelyn doubted he would ever go unnoticed in a crowd even in such a normal form. He was different from regular men, with the confidence and the cunning he possessed.

Evelyn found herself transfixed by his eyes.

She had grown accustomed to his red eyes that, when she gazed upon the dark green hue that he suddenly possessed, she found herself spellbound.

But they were the same eyes, with the same intensity and hurt, she was just seeing them in a different light.

"You think this madness will end with your rule?"

"Its too late." Loki said gruffly, meeting his brother's gaze. "It's too late to stop it."

"No." Hope grew in Thor's eyes. "We can, together."