Thor's Daughter: Melting the Ice {2}

Chapter 10: Pain and grief

A/N: Here's another kind of dark chapter. I've found it incredibly hard to put all the emotion into words but I hope I did well. ^-^ Enjoy !

Song: Bring me back to life by Evanescence

10-Pain and Grief

Tyara's eyes fluttered open. The darkness around her was heavy, almost painful. Trying to suck in a breath, her lungs seemed to have malfunctioned. The air she was breathing felt like it was mixed with lead.

Where am I ?

She couldn't remember why she was there. But it felt so wrong to be in that dark abyss.

She wanted to talk, but it was like someone had slashed across her vocal cords.

She heard steps slowly approaching. Tyara listened quietly as the sound drew nearer.

Out of the endless night, a short woman emerged, her arm looped around Loki's. She lead him closer, glancing back at him and smiling.

Loki nodded to the woman and knelt beside the Princess, cupping her fragile hand into his.

"I'm sorry, my dear Tyara..." She barely curled her fingers around his in an attempt to reply. "Do not be scared. I'm going to take you back."

She suddenly remembered why she was there. The pain that had crossed her abdomen was as vivid as ever. She retracted her hand in disgust.

Loki picked her up against her will and turned to face the woman he came along with.

"I am leaving now. Thank you, Hela."

"Do not forget about our deal."

"How could I ?" Loki's voice held nervousness.

He walked back into the endless black hole that surrounded them, closing his eyes.

Tyara woke up on a hospital stretch hours later, her head ringing. She tried to prop herself up on one arm, but pain seared through her body. She groaned and brushed her hair out of her face. Looking down, she noticed she wasn't wearing the same shirt as before. A loose black T-shirt covered her upper part.

"So you're awake..." Tyara turned her head to see Loki entering the room. He was dressed in his shiny armour. Bags had formed under his emerald eyes over night.

"I died." She realised.

"Yes, you did." Her stare was transfixed on Loki, confussion crossing her features.

"Then why am I here ?" She asked, narrowing her gaze on him. Her hard stare unsettled the God of Mischief. Something was extremely wrong. He could feel it in the air.

"I brought you back."

Tyara's pupils slowly dilatated. Her lips were pressed into a firm line.

"I need to go..." she muttered, jumping off the stretch, only to wince at the impact.

As she beelined for the door on the opposite end of the room, Loki yanked her back by her wrist.

"Wait, you're not going anywhere."

"Let go of me !" she snapped.

"Calm down." He urged, his voice soft, yet commanding. His other hand found its way to Tyara's shoulder and grabbed tightly onto it like a claw.

"What are you trying to do ? Kill me again ?!"

Loki's eyebrows furrowed, as he finally let go of her. The Princess stormed out of the room, having no idea where she was, but still not wanting to deal with that murderer.

She realised that she was in an abandonned wooden lodge. No one stopped her as she made her way towards the exit. The only people in the lodge were she and that monster.

After he heard the door slamming behind Tyara, Loki collapsed near the wall, holding his face in his hands.

What has he done ?

Now outside, Tyara found herself on the sea-shore. The humid breeze was blowing through her blonde locks, making them dangle in the air.

She closed her eyes and took in a sharp breath, trying to calm herself down. There was a thing on her mind that she couldn't comprehend: How did Loki bring her back ? And more importantly, why ?

For the moment, she had to figure her way back. She began walking away from the sweeping waves, the sand crunching under her bare feet.

On the other side of the US, Thor groaned and rubbed his ankles. He had managed to escape the glass prison just a second before it smashed into the ground.

Shrugging the pain off, he finally realised what had happened to his daughter.

Thor kicked the ground furiously. His knees seemed to have betrayed him as he dropped to all-fours, the ends of his strands tickling the ground.

Not her too...This shouldn't have happened.

His vision blurried with tears that he couldn't hold in. He burried his fists into the soft soil and wailed to the skies.

Time flew by without him noticing. He stood like that, crying his heart out to Mother Nature.

"I'm a horrible father ! Damn it ! I should've protected her !"

His locks began moving back and forth, making him raise his eyes, only to see Nick Fury standing in front of him, a helicopter behind him.

"We've been searching for you, Thor. Let's go !"

Thor's tears froze on his cheeks as he got back on his feet and followed him quietly back to the small aicraft.

In a matter of minutes, they landed on the Hellicarrier, whose engines had been repaired in the meantime.

"I saw the video records." Fury spoke, eyeing him. "We know what happened."

Thor just nodded absent-mindedly.

Fury was intrigued to see the God of Thunder so shaken and hollow.

Quietry ruled over the conference room, everyone staring at their hands. When he saw Thor entering, Steve jumped to his feet and smashed him into a hug.

At first, Thor was taken aback, but he soon returned the hug. Both men could sense each other's grief. For Steve, it was comforting to know that at least Thor had returned unscathered.

Still, his thoughts lied with the decesed young woman that he admired so much.

"Umhm." Tony broke the uncomfortable silence. "We have to find Reindeer Games and retrieve Tyara's body."

"You're mission to save the Earth is crucial, we can't afford to lose time." Fury objected, his tone leaving no space for any argument.

"Look, I'm not doing anything until we get her body back." Tony replied, sipping from his wine glass.

"Neither do we." The others stood up too.

Deep down, Thor was moved by their uprising.

"Thank you, my friends."

This was his last duty towards Tyara. He would take his baby girl back home.