The Myriad Misadventures of a Midgardian Queen-In-Training || Loki x Reader

Chapter 24

You struggle to pull yourself up, ignoring the stinging of your forearm. Later problem. Later problem. But you feel so dizzy, and you're losing strength fast. The two Chitauri reach you at roughly the same time - one in front of you, one on the other side of the cart, and your heart threatens to beat out of your chest. You aren't sure if your clouded vision is because of your head injury or the steam.

You make out the one in front of you take one last step in your direction, and a few things happen in very rapid succession:

You launch yourself backwards as hard as you can, throwing the full weight of your body into the cart and managing to finally dislodge it.The cart rolls towards Ugly Number One. Thanks to his height, it catches his legs, causing him to fall directly onto the claws of his friend.While this occurs, your fingers wrap around the handle of the fallen fish fork, and you grab Ugly Number Two's arm, pull yourself up, and stab, lodging it directly between his eyes.

Huh. Guess that's another soft spot I didn't know about.

Their voices climb from guttural hiss to high-pitched wail. You drag yourself away as fast as you can, trying to get out of the way as they collapse, and look back to see them lie there, unmoving.

Green spots dance before your eyes, and you close them. I must be hallucinating. You'd hit you head pretty hard. The scrape on your arm isn't too deep, but the wound in your foot from earlier is staining the surrounding water red.

Something like remorse wells up inside you. Yes, you didn't want to die, but you wish you could have stopped them without killing them.

"Lady (Y/N)!"

Your eyes fly open.

"(Y/N)!" His fingers, cool against your forehead, revive you; the blurriness vanishes, and you assume he somehow voodoo'd the concussion away. You see the worry etched into his face, green eyes even sharper and more focused than usual. "Are you alright?"

"They're dead."

"I am aware. Can you stand?"

"My foot - ah!" You grab onto him for support. He snaps his fingers, and suddenly the pain subsides. You lift your foot up and wiggle it experimentally, and see that the gash is gone. "How did you do that?"

"Small wounds are easier to heal." He lets go of you, and you him, but one hand hover protectively behind your back. "Careful."

"Thank you."

You watch as he approaches the dead bodies with care, examining the utensil sticking out of Ugly Number Two's head. "I see you got...creative."

"Well, I wasn't going down without a fight. After all," you say, the unlikely beginnings of a laugh bubbling up in your throat, "can't afford to lose the teenage demographic, right?"

He tries to give you a deadpan look, but after a moment, the serious facade falls and he joins you, giggling as though you weren't standing in a flooded kitchen with two alien assassins lying dead a few meters away.

The camerapeople don't come for a few weeks.

It's a relief. Even though they don't talk to you much, there's still always the constant sensation of being watched; you and everyone around you so on-edge, so conscious of your appearance and of who and what is being filmed. Now, with the cameras not around, everyone can breathe a little easier. Good Evening, America still has its weekly segments, though; they must be using extra footage from weeks prior, you guess. They don't mention the attack.

Lady Amara doesn't let you all out of lessons entirely, but she does reduce them to once every other day. Yes! You and the other girls take advantage of the free time: visiting Lexi (who is on track to making a full recovery), exploring the library, wandering the grounds. It's a happy time, a time for freedom.

Dear (Y/N),

I'm so happy to hear you're making friends with the other girls! I was so worried they'd be catty or backstabbing. Make sure you keep up with your "real world" academics, all right, love?

Looking forward to your next email,

Mom <3

Hey Kiddo,

College is the same old, same old. Thanks for asking, though.

Anything exciting going on up there? Your letters are always so generic, you make it sound so boring, but there's gotta be something interesting about the whole thing, right?

Anyway, write back soon. Or don't.

- Erik

You smile, tucking your legs up underneath you in the ridiculously comfy chair you're currently occupying in the Ladies' Parlor. Every email you receive from your family makes you feel a little less far away from home. You move to press the RESPOND button on Mom's email, when you hear a commotion rise beyond the door.

A little commotion, not a big one. But still.

You place the tablet on the small table next to you and rise, the chatter growing louder the closer you get to the door. You push it open, peaking your head out. "What's going on?"

"Lexi's better!" Sapphire chirps, at the same time Juliette responds, "Lexi is leaving."