"Thor! No!", Jane shouts in pure shock.
I hold her because I'm not sure if she knows any of this plan. From afar, I see Malekith walking toward us. Loki goes again after Thor with Long and slow strides.
"You really think I cared about Frigga, about any of you?" He kicks him in the stomach. "All I ever wanted was you and Odin dead at my feet!"
How Loki said the last part was full of hatred. Even I wasn't sure anymore if he will stick to the plan or not. Thor raises his hand, attempting to summon Mjolnir, but Loki cuts off his hand making Thor scream out in pain. We both gasp as Jane escapes my grasp and rushes over to Thor. Jumping on my feet, I get to Loki without knowing why.
Also, I am still this weak from the extraction before but Loki pushes me with ease to the ground. Then he grabs Jane and turns to face Malekith and his followers. Leaving me behind in the dirt as I try to catch my Breath.
"Malekith, I am Loki of Jotunheim and I bring you a gift!" He throws Jane at Malekith's feet. "I ask only one thing in return, a good seat from which to watch Asgard burn."
I stumble back on my feet and throw a weak nebula ball at Loki. He turns around and glares down at me with a raised brow, amused by my petty attempt. "You betrayed us! You betrayed me! I trusted you!"
He laughs darkly, even his eyes look intimidating. Dark as I never saw them. Not even when he attacked New York. "Trust? You never trusted me, isn't it?" His words were venom, and my mouth gaped open but I was lost for words. "You talk about love, about fun but all you ever wanted was to for your own use. You wanted no more than to be friends. This ends right here and now. I am no longer your toy, do you understand?"
Suddenly, I become a feeling that all he meant was being true. My eyes pricked with tears as I grow in wrath. I run towards him but from my tunnel vision, the monster Elf hits me and I land far away in the stones.
I sit back up, catching my breath but it takes my breath away when I see Malekith turning Thor by using his foot. Grunting, I hold my side that will probably be painted blue from the attack. Malekith then lifts Jane in the air, trying to extract the Aether but nothing is happening.
"Loki, now!"
Loki uses his diversion tactics and we see that he had never amputated Thor's hand, Thor quickly summons Mjolnir. Malekith seethes in anger as he realizes the Aether is no longer in Jane and turns his head towards me as if the Aether inside me has just called out for his master. My Breath hitches at the sudden buzz in my bones.
"Get her!", he orders and lets Jane fall from the sky, but luckily Thor is her true savior.
The monster throws a grenade in the air, next to me but Loki pushes me away. Otherwise, I would have been gone forever. Unfortunately is that he was too close to the vortex. I use the space stone's power to create a portal and pull him onto me with my shadows. At least there is one positive aspect in this shitty realm. The Darkness gains my shadows more strength. But still, I pant from all the Exhaustion.
"You really did fool me this time, Laufeyson," I whisper and push him off of me since his Body weight makes me barely breathe any air into my lungs.
"I am known as the God of Trickery."
Both of us get back on our feet and join Thor in this war. While Thor throws lighting with his hammer, Loki uses his magic and combat skills and I just try to do my thing. I throw punches even when I get beaten up really badly because of the lack of rest after the extraction.
Grunts and groans leave my mouth after every Blow. My Body feels damn sore and I am sure for minimus three bones must have been broken. The cracks and the searing pain told me so. My eyes pricked with Tears from all the pain but I can't give up now, not yet.
One hit did me dirty. I blow out a breath, buckling down as I cough out some blood. Whining in pain, I get lifted by some power source. My body gets squeezed from the source and I look behind our enemy, Malekith.
"Thor! Where is she?", I hear Loki asking desperately while I am in the hands of the Dark Elf.
I am already weakened by extracting the Aether, its full power flowing through my system. Thus, for Malekith it is easy to grab me by my neck and pull me upwards. I struggle to catch any oxygen through his hold, not that I needed it but it would still be nice though. He tilts his head and his eyes bore into mine and I hear my blood pumping faster.
Fuck, when was the last time I felt this broken and useless?
"You have something that belongs to me," he seethes through gritted teeth and his breath smells like an old sock which makes me almost gag.
"Is it yours if I want it more?"
I joke around and try to kick him in the shin but all I hit is air. Slowly, my eyes water due to my sore throat. I shut my eyes and try to focus on anything to activate my power but effortlessly. Yet, what bothers me the most is that I somehow gasp for air. Air which I rarely used since the curse. My heart beats faster as a thought crosses my mind. I just hope for now that this isn't true.
"Your friends," he begins and I open my eyes to see him having an evil smirk forming on his lips. "Will they miss you if you are dead?"
I glance sneakingly behind him to see the brothers approaching us. I set up my poker face and let the tears stream down my face. Okay, I had some real tears from the lack of oxygen that I am getting. But I can perform, Baby!
"Please, don't kill me. I'll do anything for you," I plead through sobs.
"Anything?" He lets me go and I fall onto the ground with my back on the ground. Gasping for air, I quickly crawl backward as I nod yes. He saunters towards me and crouches down. "Then give me the Aether."
My crybaby's face gets wiped off with my dusty hands. I smirk at him and squint my eyes.
"First of all, nope,", I pop the p and Thor swings his hammer. When Malekith gets surprised and attacked, he flies away a few meters. "And secondly, I cannot die! So that was really intimidating for me!" I shout and get up to shake it all off. Though, I got a bit scared because I wasn't so sure if I could have died.
Then all of a sudden, my wrist gets snatched and the person behind me swirls me around and places a hand on my neck so gently as never. But it still hurts from Malektith's hold before. Loki leans down so our foreheads touch and his emerald eyes stare into mine.
"Don't you do that ever again." His voice was raspy, giving me chills down my spine. My smile falls and I ask him what he means. "Not letting us know where you walk off. What if Malektith found a way to take the Aether back? You had putten us in danger without our knowledge."
He steps back and I see the concern on his face. But the little hint with his nose. The way he scrunches it slightly, I know he was lying. Or at least a part of it. The narrower and darker shaded eyes tell me he was worried that something could happen to me. Yet, he was upset that I was putting myself in danger, or maybe he got those feelings.
I let go of his hold. "Then let's kill this fucker, shall we?"
"I might have a plan," He says with a grin and hands me one of their grenades. "Are you capable of absorbing another power?" He shows me the grenade the Dark Elves have used before.
I clutch it hard in my grip and look at the destroyed surrounding. I even see the convergence aligning and bringing the nine realms together. If Malekith gets what he wants, all nine worlds will collide into darkness.
"I don't think I can, but I must."
Without giving him the chance to say a word, I turn around and close my eyes to absorb its powers. My limbs feel hella sore and by doing it, it gives me a massive headache. I groan in pain but I have to go on. My knees buckle and I get down but not stopping yet. I still hold the vortex bomb, absorbing its power.
"Thor! We must bring them all together!", Loki shouts and runs after him after he saw my struggle.
I can't hear anything because I block out all the distractions. Once I finally fulfilled the absorption, I snap my eyes open and cry out a warrior scream. A portal opens up on each of the Asgardians to bring them safely back to me as I blast out of the vortex and all elves including Malekith get sucked into it.
With all my drained strength, my head rolls back. My posture slumps and I fall into Loki's arms. But as we touch, my powers activate by themselves, teleporting Loki and me away while Jane and Thor were out of reach for my powers.
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Author's Note:
Hello, my dear readers. This is the last chapter of the dark world's arc. By the way, I know it seems quite a slow-burn fling, but do trust me... the next arc is going to be more intense between Shadow and Loki.
Can you guess which arc comes next?