The Invisible String Theory

Chapter 8 - Tethered Silence

"I was beginning to think you'd gotten lost," I said, trying to mask the ache in my limbs.

"No," he replied cooly. "Just... thinking."

I stepped closer, wary now. "Did you find something?"

Loki didn't answer right away. His eyes flicked to mine, then away. "There's no fixing this," he said. "This bond– it's a mistake. A curse neither of us asked for."

A coldness bloomed in my chest. "What are you talking about?"

"You're losing yourself," he said simply. "The balance of your powers is fracturing. I've seen what happens when it does."

I recoiled. "That's not true. You don't understand my magic."

"I understand enough to know it's changed," he said sharply, stepping toward her now. "You've changed. That power was never meant to be carried alone."

I felt my hands curling into fists. "So that's why you brought me here? To lecture me on something you don't even comprehend?"

"I brought you here because this place holds answers," Loki replied. "Because the relic tethered us. Because somewhere inside you knows what I'm saying is true."

"No. You're wrong."

He laughed bitter and low. "Denial suits you poorly."

I charged forward then, the emotion breaking loose before I could stop it. "You don't get to say that. You don't get to treat me like I'm fragile– like I need protecting."

It was like lightning snapped through my skin. Magic lashed out– wild and instinctive. Loki caught it with a deflection spell, eyes flashing. He threw a burst of energy toward my feet that had me stumble back.

"Then stop acting like a child!" he snapped," "If you want me to treat you like an equal, then fight me!"

I fell right for it.

I gritted my teeth, my pulse thunderous now. I know I didn't want to fight– but the fury inside me was already spilling out, uncontained, twisted with confusion and pain and a bond stretched far too thin.
Our magic collided– his cunning precision against my raw force. The air cracked around us, energy slamming into stone, blinding bursts illuminating the area. I launched a radiant arc of energy and Loki dodged just in time, sending another strike of his own.

My limbs were trembling at this point. The power was bleeding too fast. I couldn't control it– it was dragging itself out of me, and that terrified me more than I would like to admit.

"Look at yourself," Loki said, stepping through the smoke. "You can't even hold back."

"I can," I growled, lifting my arm again, another blast forming in my palm.

He didn't try to block it this time.

Instead, he reached toward the space between them– and pulled.

The soul tether erupted into view, green and violet, crackling with tension. He yanked it taught as her magic surged forward–

And the moment it struck the tether, it snapped.

The sound that followed was not thunder or magic– it was silence.

Choking, hollow silence.

I stumbled forward, heart twisting as if a piece of me had been torn loose. The echo of him she felt inside was dimmed, distant... not fully gone.

My knees buckled.

"Why...?" she breathed, the truth only now sinking in. "You used me..."

Loki looked pained, but resolute. "I had to."