Sinbound: Variants

Part 26

Author's note: Sorry for the short-ish chapter, you know me and cliffhangers!

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As I continue to fight with Ravonna, Fleur attacks the minute men with one sweep of aggressive magic, knocking them all to the ground. She's left Ravonna for me. Loki stands in front of Fleur, guarding her. Mobius waits to see what I do to Ravonna, his tempad in hand ready to make our exit.

"You. Why do you want to prune me so badly?" I growl at her, pointing a sword at her as she lays on the ground after I kick her down. She tries to get up, but I press my foot into her shoulder and hold the end of the blade close to the center of her neck.

"You're variant is pure evil. She cannot exist!"

"Yes, she can!" I yell at her, nicking the skin across her cheek with the blade point.

She winces, but doesn't break eye contact for too long. "She's a danger to you. If you reconnect your soul with hers, is will destroy you."

"I seem to manage just fine on my own. I don't need some TVA cunt to tell me what's good for me."

"You don't know what putting her back in your soul will do to it! You could die with all that dark magic!"

"Bullshit!" I call her out. If the dark magic that is in Fleur could kill me, it would have done so already. I draw my sword across her other cheek, now leaving two marks bleeding on her skin. I twist my head around towards Mobius. "Get the tempad ready." I command.

Mobius goes to pick a time to take us, but Ravonna uses the gap of my attention away her to knock me to the ground. Loki fights her, and I grab Fleurs arm after I quickly get to my feet. I look at her, deep into her eyes. Finally, I actually see myself. I see how angry and disrupted I am, the pain and loneliness I've felt in the passing of time since this all started. She looks back at me with blood red eyes. It's as if we finally understand how to reconnect, and something tells me it's going to hurt like a bitch.

"Go!" Mobius shouts, holding the doorway open for us. I snap out of my trance with Fleur, then am shoved towards the door by Loki. I stop in my tracks as Ravonna prunes Mobius, and I scream in pain. He was so innocent, and was only trying to save us. If it weren't for me, he never would have been pruned. I turn around, wanting to strike at Ravonna. Loki tries to hold me back but I push him out of the way, and he tumbles through the golden archway. Good, now he can't get hurt.

"Stand down, Ayca. You won't win this."

"I don't have to, I just have to kill you!" I say, lunging at her. Fleur comes up from behind me, giving her a double attack. The two of us stand over her scared, shaking body on the floor. 

"This is my bargain, you mewing quim." I say to her, my voice low and gravely, my breath heavy from fighting, "I won't kill you, and you release my variant."

"Sh... she'll kill you if you're n-not careful." She says as she points past me. She's staying as still as she can while we threaten her with my sword and Fleur's dark magic, which is building back up in the palm of her hands as we speak.

I turn to face Fleur, who's already looking at me. She terrifies me. I relax my intense facial expression to one that is a little more concerned. 

"Fleur?" I ask cautiously, studying her movements. She's not threatening Ravonna, she's threatening me.

"One of us survives this." She growls at me.

"How could you?" I spit at her. She's turning on me?

"You've had your fair share of time with my life, haven't you? I was kept away from any chance of having a life just because I was 'dangerous'. Ever thought about that?" I let Ravonna up, backing away from Fleur. "You were such a fool. You made it worse the longer you kept me on a short leash." She laughs in my face as I continue to back away. This cannot be happening. I kind of wish Loki was still here.

"One of us has to be close to death, while the other takes the magic back. That's how it's done, Ayca. And I've been close to death long enough in this personal hell you've put me through." As she is about to make her move, I kick the tempad that was on the ground into the golden archway, which quickly evaporates. I don't want anyone else to have access to it besides Loki from the other side.

Ravonna gets up and starts running towards the door. "Don't you dare!" Fleur yells to her, snapping her attention towards her suddenly. She levitates the pruning stick and lunges it at Ravonna, hitting her in the center of her abdomen. She disappears into dust, and the stick falls to the floor. I watch as the stick bounces on the floor, the metal clanking and piercing my ears with it's shrill sound. 

I turn back towards Fleur. I sigh deeply, tears in my eyes. I'm hurt, scared, and betrayed by myself. This was not how things were supposed to go. "Fleur..." I try to reason with her, but it's no use. She's got me pinned to the wall by my neck. 

"What was that?" She asks rhetorically, squeezing my neck tighter.

"It's not th-the stab in the back that will kill me..." I begin to say, the breath in my body struggling to stay inside, "It's when I turn around and see who's holding the knife..." She watches me struggle, her expression staying harsh and evil. "Because it's the person that I was tying to protect and defend with my own life." She tightens her grip on my throat one more time. "And that's what will kill me." I say with the last breath I had in my lungs.

Just then, I drop to my feet and watch Fleur fall to the ground. I look up to see who saved me, and I see Loki standing tall over her. Mobius comes from behind him and picks me up.

"Mobius! I thought you were pruned!" I say with joy, catching my breath.

"yeah, well when you kicked the tempad to Loki, he found a way to get me out of whatever hole I was trapped in. You wouldn't believe what we saw-"

Mobius us cut off by Fleur, moving towards him to attack. There's no humanity in her anymore. She's gone, and only the dark magic can control her now. Fuck.

"Fleur!" I yell at her, trying to get her attention. "This ends now." I say, hiding a small dagger in my sleeve.

"I'm sorry it has to end this way, Ayca." she says manically.

"No you're not." I respond, my voice steady wise.

"Hmm." She says, smiling like an absolute psychopath. 

We fight, and I can tell from the look in her eyes that this fight is to the death. I will kill her if I have to, but I can't let it be out of anger. I have to let it be out of the betterment of myself. My mother ended up killing her variant, and she said it was a mistake. I can't let her down.

Loki takes Mobius to the side of the room, then tries to help me fight Fleur. 

"This is between me and Fleur! Go protect Mobius!" I call out to him. He pulls back, not wanting to listen to me. He opens another golden doorway to get Mobius out of here, and Fleur takes it as an opportunity to try and push me through. 

"No!" Loki shouts, trying to close it so he doesn't lose the two of us. He's too late, and we both fall through the archway as I stab her in the side with the hidden dagger in my sleeve.