Hello, friends! :D
I hope you like this chapter! I had a great time writing the last bit.
I just posted chapters 19 and 20 of the adaptation version of Blue Moon. Keep in mind it's still under construction. They're in the Blue Moon: Behind the Scenes book. (which used to be called Blue Moon Q&A).
Enjoy!
Do you like the edit? ;)
Chapter Fifty-Seven
Thea soon discovers that Neidra's mansion is a maze. She leaves Videl and Angelique at the back stairway, near the stables, and heads to the west side of the house, where she had previously walked through the dark halls with Loki. It is storming like last time, and like last time, she trembles, but unlike last time, she keeps her strength about her instead of relying on the gentle reassurance of her father's hand.
As she finds the lonely, ancient staircase, she fingers the two necklaces at her neck. The golden band is still against her skin, but she can feel the warm glow, and Jack's necklace thumping against her is like a comforting heartbeat. She can feel her dagger at her waist, and taking a deep breath, she walks forward.
The stairs creak as she gingerly creeps down the stairs. It grows darker and darker as she descends, with no light to guide her but the crackle of lightning. She holds up her right hand and illuminates the tip of her fingers, casting herself in eerie shadows against the dark walls.
She walks through the arched rooms silently, looking around, hoping to find some place Neidra may keep the three powers. But she finds nothing.
When she approaches the door to the corpses' chamber, she hesitates, not wanting to see the peeling skin, the bloodied lips, the sunken, empty eye sockets again.
She clasps the golden necklace.
With this golden band, your life and mine are linked, kitten. When one is in danger, the other will know. When one draws their last breath, then the other will know in a painful instant. Draw strength from this bond, for although it may separate us, it also ties our souls together as father and daughter.
Taking a deep breath, she turns the decrepit iron knob and swings the door open with a creak.
The stench of death hits her in an instant, and she bites her lip to keep from whimpering as her flamed fingertips come across the splayed caresses of Neidra's previous political victims, unceremoniously dumped for her own dark purposes.
Trying not to look, Thea walks quickly through the room, past the man with the sword in his skull, past the woman gazing in horror, her dead child in her hands. By the time Thea reaches the other side, she is blinking back tears, and trembling, the flame wavering.
And then, from her nerves and lack of concentration, the flame goes out, casting Thea into darkness, a darkness with the dead.
She whimpers, bracing herself against the wall as if the corpses would come to life and attack her. Chest heaving, she leans her head back against the stone and closes her eyes tightly. If she wants to find a way out of here, she will need to calm herself, and she knows it.
She pictures the evenings in Loki's bedchamber, her reading from the thick, leather-bound books, trying to struggle through the Asgardian words, wrapped up in a warm fur from the coldness outside. Envisioning Loki is slightly harder, but she does, remembering the patience of his voice as he helped her spell through the difficult Ancient language, and the smile of his praise when she managed a few words on her own.
The vision calms her, and looking down, she sees that her hand has lit up again. Turning, Thea casts the flame across the walls, and finally finds the small door in the corner. Walking towards it, she steps carefully over the bodies, pleading that they won't reanimate and clutch at her ankles in desperation for life.
With a staggering sigh of relief, Thea opens the door and quickly slides through it, closing it very firmly behind her. She closes her eyes again, and lets go of the flame, as the hall in front of her is lit, though dimly, with torches.
The doors to the right are all ajar, so with only a quick glance through their shadows, Thea passes them by, knowing perfectly well that Neidra would never leave her powers open to just anyone.
Walking quicker now, Thea is beginning to regret leaving Videl and Angelique by themselves. The silence of solitude is creeping into her bones, and she is beginning to shake again.
She reaches the end of the hallway and throws the door open.
"Hello, little firebird," says Neidra.
*
Peter, Jack, and Thor are making little progress. Thor insists on looking in every single nook and cranny of the house, much to the younger boys' impatience.
"She's not going to hide her mystical three powers in a bloody sheath!" exclaims Jack in an annoyed whisper.
The three of them have made their way through the upper halls of Neidra's mansion, careful to stick close together and to be as silent as possible. They haven't seen any signs of life except for the occasional spider scurrying in the corners.
"It is wise to check regardless," says Thor firmly as they turn a corner. They are now in a hall of closed doors that continues sharply to the right. "This appears to be a bed hall."
"A what?" asks Jack absentmindedly as he inspects a particularly sharp dagger that's hanging off of a wall next to him.
"A hall full of bedrooms," says Peter.
"Did Thea stay in any of these?"
"Perhaps," says Thor.
"I suppose it would be 'wise to check' anyway," says Jack.
Thor looks at him, amused, and then nods, striding towards the first door. He throws it open with a crash, and Peter and Jack cringe simultaneously.
"Would you keep it down?" hisses Jack.
Finding nothing of interest in the mostly empty bedroom, the three continue down the hall. Thor proceeds to open the doors slightly less vociferously, but it is not until they reach the door at the corner do they stop and stare.
It is unmistakably the room that Sif had described Thea had been kept in, but dust litters the floor, and the window is shut tightly. The bed is unmade, and draped gowns hang over the vanity chair at the far wall. Strips of cloth lie in the center of the room, and running forward, Peter picks them up and holds them up to the light.
"There's blood on the floor," says Jack shakily, "Why is there blood on the floor?"
"It old blood," says Peter, "Not recent."
"I can see that," says Jack, "But why is there blood to begin with?!"
"Neidra is cruel and unstoppable at times in her cruelty," says Thor, looking around. Bending to the nightstand, he picks something up. It's the triathlon watch.
"That's Thea's!" exclaims Jack, pulling it away from Thor.
"Indeed," says Thor, looking around, for any signs of Thea's recent presence, "You should hold onto it. If you see her, be sure to return it to her, young friend."
"Where do you think she is?" whispers Jack, "She said she'd be here."
"It's a pretty big house," says Peter, "And besides, I'm more worried about the fact that this house seems completely empty."
*
Thea thinks quickly.
Somehow, Neidra had discovered that Thor's distraction had been just that. Videl and Angelique are possibly closer to the powers than she is, and if Neidra finds out that there is an entire infiltration of Asgardians, humans, and one Velah in her mansion, she may directly attack them.
Now, Neidra, a crimson adder circled around her throat, is blocking her only way forward, and she is flanked by two Asgardian guards, neither of them look to be in his proper state of mind.
"How did you get here?" Thea asks, "I thought there was a festival at the palace."
Neidra quirks a smile. "There is indeed a festival. A feast of sorts, but those rather bore me. My son and I are more delighted that you have brought your friends here. But Thea, dear, it is impolite to invite people over without invitation, you must know that?"
"How did you get here so quickly then?" asks Thea, trying to keep the fear of the sorceress out of her voice. From what Neidra has just said, Thea knows that Neidra knows about the Avengers, but does she know why they are here?
"Smart princess," sneers Neidra, "My powers are strong, you must know. I have ways of entering and exiting my house in timely fashions whenever I please."
"Where is Loki?" Thea demands, trying to stall the sorceress and asking the question that had immediately popped into her head.
"Your father is busy right now, little firebird."
"Don't call me that. Where is he?"
Her strong voice belies the fear she feels in her heart.
Neidra throws back her head and cackles, the dry laughter echoing through the stone hallway. "What is this? This unfound bravery? I may call you whatever I like, be it a firebird or a slovenly bitch or a whore."
"I'm not a whore," says Thea, throwing out whatever she can think of to say, to buy her friends more time, "But you are. You're a whore, a damned whore."
"What irony is this?" proclaims Neidra, "That the foul name that slips through the chattering teeth of the daughter is the same one that spat at me from the father."
"Where is he? Where is Loki?"
"I haven't the slightest idea, and that's the truth."
"You don't tell the truth," says Thea, "You never tell the truth. You're a lying harlot who killed your husband just so you could get a little bit of power. Does Caomh know this, by the way? That'd be a nasty secret to keep from your son."
"Well if I never tell the truth, then here is proof that I do," says Neidra, for her silver eyes now shine with anger, "If you speak another word, you will find the adder's tongue in your throat, and it will kill you with a single touch of its forked tongue."
"That's not true," says Thea, "You want Loki to kill me. Not your snake."
Neidra lunges forward quicker than Thea can blink. In an instant, Thea is thrown against the wall so hard, the wind is knocked out of her, and her dagger falling to the ground beside her with a clank.
The sorceress smiles, her long black hair curtained against her sculpted face, the adder like a necklace of blood around her pale skin. She holds Thea against the stone, and the girl struggles, but Thea is still gasping for breath and can't do much against Neidra's strength.
"You think you can play mind games with me," snarls Neidra, "Mind games like your father. But I beat your father at his own game, and I can beat you at yours."
Thea reaches her quivering hand forward and sends a streak of flames at Neidra. But the flames, although they hit the side of Neidra's sharp cheekbone, do nothing but sizzle and then burn out.
Neidra smiles as Thea's eyes widen from shock, "Has your father ever told you the power of the phoenix's blood? To drink it merits one incapable of being harmed from your pesky inferno."
"You really are a witch," spits Thea.
"Perhaps I am a witch, but a witch of woman can do more harm than the failed struggles of a child."
"Let my father go."
"Your father will be released when your last breath runs out," says Neidra, and then unsheathes a pointed dagger from her waist. She holds it up to the light, and Thea can see a glistening liquid on the wicked tip. "Do you see this, little firebird? To a mortal, this poison will mean instant death when skewered through the heart. To an immortal like yourself, however, it will only mean bitter agony."
"Go ahead," wheezes Thea as Neidra's fingers wrap around her throat, "Torture me. See if I care."
Neidra ignores her and then touches the girl's hair. In an instant, it turns completely black, "It has been said by many that you greatly resemble your father both in appearance and in behavior. It is true. Practitioners of magic and a nasty temper. Such green eyes, the eyes that blaze through anyone without the strength to overpower you. But not quite identical, you are."
She runs a long finger over Thea's left cheek. In an instant, Thea remembers the terrible cut over Loki's face, and in the next instant, Thea realizes that Neidra is about to do."
Thea grits her teeth, and refuses to say a word. But as Neidra tilts back her neck, Thea struggles and growls, kicking the witch with all her strength, but to no avail.
Neidra touches the tip of the knife at different parts of the left side of Thea's face, as if trying to distinguish which part of the girl's skin she should rip. As Thea continues to kick fiercely, Neidra sinks the blade on the top of Thea's cheekbone, right under the edge of her eye.
Although Thea tries to resist the pain, the burning fury that courses through her blood is too much for her, and she lets out a sharp shriek.
Neidra keeps the crying, struggling girl against the wall and as she continues to draw a line down Thea's face, she says in a shaking tone of victory, a wide smile on her red lips, "How pathetic. Your father refused so much as to cry out in that dungeon, knowing that his screams would draw you to him, and so would kill you. But you?" Neidra's knife digs deeper, and Thea howls, beads of sweat pouring down her forehead, "You scream at this small bit of poison."
With a flourish, Neidra whips the knife down Thea's jaw and releases the girl so that she goes tumbling to the ground. When Thea looks up, the entire left side of her face is covered in glistening blood, and her entire body is trembling.
"Twin scars," says Neidra, looking down at daughter of the man who has so often tried to thwart her plans, "Twin scars, suitable for twin souls."
Thea staggers, but manages to stand, swiping for her dagger at the same time. She doesn't attack Neidra, though, knowing not only that she may lose, but that this will only send Neidra away from her, and towards the Avengers.
At that moment, a third guard comes hurrying from the hall Thea had emerged from. This one does not seem to be acting out of his own whim.
"My lady, the intruders are nearing the vaults!"
Neidra jerks up and stares at the man, "You are certain?"
"Yes, my lady, yes!"
The sorceress whips around and glares at Thea, "You!"
Thea smiles, and blood drips into her mouth.
"You thought you could stall me?" snarls Neidra, "You tricked me."
Not waiting for a response, Neidra whirls and walks down the hall, towards the corpse room, the three guards following.
"Well," says Thea as Neidra turns the corner and vanishes from view She wipes her face and flings the blood to the ground, wincing from the pain, "You did say that Loki and I are a lot alike."
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Sierraxx