Sinbound: Variants

Part 6

I walk in to see her already staring at me. She was waiting for something, but I definitely wasn't what she was expecting. 

"Hello, darling." I say as I walk up to the glass.

"What the hell?" She says, stumbling and backing away. 

"Don't be afraid, we're from the same soul. Trust me."

"How do I know that?" She asks, standing on the opposite side of the cage. I think for a moment, then a smile creeps onto my face.

"What's our sister's nickname?"

"Bessy boo?"

"Mhmm." I nod, pursing my lips into a smile. I take a seat on the chair beside the glass and rest my elbows on my knees. She comes closer, then sits with her legs crossed in front of me.

"Are you going to tell me what the hell is going on?" She asks me.

"Sure am. But buckle up, because it's on hell of a ride."

"I'm listening."

I tell her everything that happened after the fall of Asgard, including her. I tell her about David, Thanos, and Tony. I show her the journal mom kept, and read some entries from it. I explain that she survived because she is the last bit of immortality that I had, and when Hela killed me it split from me and became it's own identity. I even told her that mom was a Valkyrie once.

"She was!? Wow, so she really did know I would fall for the darker one..." The variant mumbles to herself.

"That's what I said!" I exclaim. We smile at each other, finally. I know if I were a variant, I would be pretty freaked out too. But, I also know myself, and I know to trust my instinct. Suddenly, I don't.

"Ayca..." I address the variant, "Can I come in a moment? I want to show you something from mom's diary but it's going to get construed through the glass."

"I don't see why not." She says, staying calm. I get up and walk over to the door, unlocking it and stepping in.

Not to my surprise, she blasts a small plasma orb towards me. I duck effortlessly, and it singes the glass behind me. The material is still hissing with heat as I toss a dagger at her, pinning her to the ground by her shirt sleeve. I toss another one to pin her other arm, then two more to restrain her legs. She struggles while I walk over calm and collected, looking down at her.

"What the fuck!" She yells, panicked.

I don't say anything, instead I bend down next to her and touch her face. It burns her skin, and my hand immediately starts glowing a purplish red in my veins as I suck the magic out of the variant. She yells, but I cover her mouth. I feel like my body is being redefined as I take some of my magic back. I tilt my head back, letting it take over me. I take in a deep breath, and look back down at her. Her hair is black.

I look at both my shoulders to see my once long, piercing black hair now back to it's bright honey shade. I release my hand from her neck, surprised. 

This could be good, or bad. But now that I can change my appearance at will, it means I'm stronger. I'm stronger than my magic.

I stand and release her, then run to lock the door back up. She tries to get out, but I confidently walk towards the door. Something she says stops me in my tracks and I turn around to face her. "What did you just say?"

"I said," She begins, panting, "Hela was right about you."

"What did she say to you?" I ask, suddenly angry and curious. The variant chuckles, and clicks her tongue while looking down her nose at me.

"Wouldn't you like to know."

"That's it, you little shit." I say, stomping my way back into the cell, taking her by the neck and holding her up in mid air. "Tell me what that bitch said, or I'll take all my magic back right now."

"You're too weak to take it all back." She says under my grasp. 

"I'm immortal."

"I thought that once, too." She says, even managing to smile at me.

"You're a fool, variant." I say, dropping her aggressively onto the floor.

"She said," the variant speaks, rubbing her neck around the imprint of my hand, "She said you would be stupid and trust me."

"Hang on a minute!" I growl at her. "I thought you didn't know you were a variant?"

"I lied." She says, laughing wickedly.

"So this whole time, you knew I had moved on and you were a fragment of my immortal magic?" I yell at her.

"Pretty much." She says, getting to her feet and charging me. I turn myself into an illusion, letting her run right through me as I escape out the door and lock it tight. 

"Good thing I've always liked to play with fire." I say as I try to run out of the room, completely freaked.

I try the door, but it's locked. Hands suddenly grab my shoulders and spin me around, pinning me against the wall. I can only assume she's about to pretend to be me. 

"Two can play the illusion game." She says, tossing me to the side and opening the doors. I change my hair back to black, since she really wants to fuck shit up. You were never even a player, you stupid variant.

-------3RD PERSON POV (briefly, for the sake of pure confusion)-------

"Loki!" Ayca calls out, running towards him. She crashes into him, holding him tight. She looks to her right to see Natasha coming in, looking concerned.

"You told me she was in there for hours!" She says to Tony.

"Well, now she's not!" He says, giving her a goofy smile.

"She was awful, Loki. She knew everything already, she knew she was the variant!"

"Darling, slow down." He says, petting the back of her head.

"Back... the fuck... up." The other Ayca says, wiping a bit of blood from her lip after being tossed aside. A bit has clumped in her hair, but she doesn't notice. The others back away in fear, not knowing what to do. Loki releases the Ayca in his arms, backing away as well.

"How can we tell which one is which?" Natasha asks Loki, to which he confidently strides over to the first one with black hair, who confidently stands next to the identical variant.

"This one is Ayca."

"Do you trust your decision?" She asks him, switching her dark hair to blonde. Loki steps back, suddenly unsure.

"This is stupid, Loki, it's me!" Says the other Ayca, coming up to Loki and cupping his face in her hands.

"Don't listen to that one. She's not the real Ayca! Besides, I'm much prettier." Ayca says, pulling the other by the hair and tossing her to the ground. "Stay away from him, you mewling quim."

"That's Ayca." Tony says, pointing at the Ayca now in front of Loki.

"If you're actually Ayca, how did you change your hair back?" Natasha questions her.

"Well, after being trapped for a while with this one," she says, kicking her variant while she's still on the floor, "I picked up a few things. One of them being the bit of magic I left behind when I died. I didn't soak up all of it, but enough to get some self control back. I missed my blonde hair."

"It won't last." The variant says, picking herself up finally.

"Of course it will last, it's my magic!"

"You'll have to kill me to regain all your magic back." She says with a wicked smile. Ayca turns back to Loki, who looks terrified. He looks around the room, his eyes darting between the two women who look identical.

"But... what will happen to Ayca if she does that?" He asks the inevitable.

The variant makes a dagger appear in her hand from thin air. It's rusty from her magic being weakened. She holds it out, hovering over her abdomen. "I guess you'll just have to watch and see." She says as she plunges it into her body.