"Are you sure you're going to be okay?" Fandral asks.
"Yeah, I'll be fine..." I say, "I hate flying."
"Well, after this, you'll never have to fly ever again."
I laugh, "Probably because I'm going to die."
He laughs, "There they are. Hold on."
I close my eyes and hold on to the edge of the ship.
I open them just as a body hits the floor of the ship, I let out a small scream before it turns to confusion.
"I see your time in the dungeons has made you no less graceful, Loki."
My Father and an unconscious Jane board the ship.
"You lied to me." Loki says, "I'm impressed."
"I'm glad you're pleased. Now, do as you promised and take us to your secret pathway."
I hold my hands out, breaking their focus on eachother, "Wait. Since when is he part of this? Why is he not in his cage?"
"Enlighten us with your opinion." Loki mutters from the vessel's control.
"I don't care if you are in control of this damned ship, I will kill you."
"Missed you too."
The ship dips down and veers left and I quickly find a seat and grab the edges of the ship. The ship continues to turn and dip and I squeeze my eyes shut, "I miss Midard. Only one boat flies, and even then you can't feel the thing."
The sound of another vessel approaching catches my attention, but is quickly disregard it because the ship moves again.
"Fandral."
The blonde knight gives a sarcastic nod, "Right... for Asgard!" He leaps off the ship and lands on the one below.
Our vessel turns toward the mountains.
If I weren't so sick to my stomach, I would say some rather nasty things.
"Loki..."
"If it were easy, everyone would do it."
"Are you mad?!" I shriek before shutting my eyes.
"Possibly."
I open my eyes as we go through a portal and into the dark world.
"Ta-da!"
The land is familiar, almost terrifyingly familiar.
This is the land of my power. Perhaps my stone returned here. Maybe this is where Malekith found the Aether here, but why would it bond to him? Why would any Infinity Stone bond to him?
"What I could do with the power flowing though those veins." Loki mutters.
"It would consume you." My Father bluntly replies.
"She's holding up alright, for now."
"She's strong in ways you'd never know."
"Say goodbye."
My Father shakes his head in doubt, "Not this day."
"This day the next, a hundred years. It's nothing. It's a heartbeat. You'll never be ready. The only woman whose love you prized will be snatched from you."
"And will that satisfy you?"
"Satisfaction is not in my nature."
"I'm here to confirm." I say, looking away from the landscape.
"The son of Odin-"
"Not just of Odin." My Father stands up and steps toward Loki, "You think it wasyu alone who loved Mother? You had her tricks, but I had her trust."
Loki scoffs, "Trust? Was that her last expression? Trust? When you let her die!"
My breath hitches as I remember the dead look in her eyes.
"What help were you in your cell?"
"Who put me there?!"
I slam Delvaeg into the deck of the ship, causing it to shake violently, "You know damned well who! Now sit down and shut up."
"She wouldn't want us to fight." My Father says, backing down.
"She wouldn't exactly be shocked."
We all half-laugh and half-grumble.
"I wish we could trust you."
"Trust my rage." Loki says almost silently.
We continue to sail across the empty landscape, putting my stomach to ease.
Jane slowly sits up and begins muttering. Loki and I exchange this-is-exhausting-spare-me looks.
We slowly land on a cliff and leave the floating boat behind, thank everything good.
"Alright, are you ready?"
I nod, nervously rubbing my arm.
"I am." Loki says with a smile.
We look down on Malekith.
"You know this plan of yours is going to get us killed?"
"Possibly, yes."
Loki holds his hands out to My Father, who hesitates.
"You still don't trust me?"
I turn to him sarcastically, "Would you?"
"No, I wouldn't." Loki takes his dagger and stabs it into my Father's abdomen, and then slashes upward on my face.
I fall back and he grabs me by my hair, pulling me down the hill after my Father.
"Do you really think I cared about Frigga? About anybody? All I ever wanted was Odin dead at my feet!"
My Father reaches out for Mjolnir, but Loki throws me down and slices his hand off. He grabs Jane and puts the knife to her throat, "Malekith! I am Loki Of Joutunheim, and I bring you a gift." He qickly throws Jane down at Malekith's feet, "I ask of only one thing, a good seat from which to watch Asgard burn."
Malekith's pet begins to speak to him in an ancient tongue that I can't understand. The dark elf pushes my Father over with his foot, "Look at me."
The elf raises his arm and Jane quickly ascends into the air. He quickly pulls the Aether from her body, the gravity-defying liquid floats between the two beings before Jane drops to the ground, weaker than ever.
"Now!" My Father orders.
I stand and reach out to the Aether, and it quickly flows toward me.
"No!" Malekith wails.
The Aether begins to enter my body, the shard-like pieces flowing in my veins. I can feel the stone settle, but only for a moment before Malekith begins to draw it from my veins.I do everything in my power to hold onto it. A silent, motionless battle takes place between us.
He continues his attempts to remove the Aether, and I continue my attempts to keep it in.
I can feel the Aether ripping through my body, leaving it in ruins, but remaining inside. It continues to destroy and mend my internal organs as we fight. I can feel blood dribble down my chin, but I continue to hold the Aether.
"I will have what is mine!" He bellows.
A sturdy hit to the skull makes me lose control.
Malekith doesn't pull the Aether out; he rips it out. It tears through my bones, my veins, my flesh; it destroys relentlessly.
My body no longer takes the pain, and the world slowly fades away.
>>><<<
I sit up quickly, sucking in as much air as I can.
I let out a slight cough before noticing all the dust and blood surrounding me.
"No, this can't be-"
A pair of bright eyes stands away from the dark nose that stares at me.
"I see you're back." I say to the small wild dog, which has not changed from the first time I came here.
It tilts its head and thumps its tail on the ground.
"Are you my spirit guide?" I ask sarcastically.
The dog continues to thump its tail.
"This must be what crazy individuals, such as myself, do for fun. We speak to spirit dogs that reside in a world where nothing but dust remains."
The dog perks its ears toward me.
"That's right, I'm talking to you. Not that you're going to talk back."
The dog quickly turns its head to the left.
I quickly stand up, "Lead me to what I seek."
The dog stands with me and trots away.
"That was unsettlingly easy." I grumble to myself.
I follow after the dog, which takes me an immeasurable distance. No matter how far we go, or how many steps we take, we don't show any signs of exhaustion, or thirst, or hunger.
The dog sniffs the ground and quickly scurries away, leaving me and the barren landscape on which my boots reside behind.
I sigh, "And I thought that we had something."
A beam of light flashes across my eye, almost blinding me.
I look down for its source, and I see a pale gem lying in the dust. The grey surface flickers in the light. I grab the stone and brace myself.
The stone doesn't burn at my flesh, but it burns at my soul. I can feel the stone cling to me in a way that the other two didn't. A way that the others couldn't. I can feel it mend to my soul, the two merging, becoming permanently attached. I fall to my knees as the stone finishes its attachment.
I take a few breaths as I realize where I am. I am still in the Dark World. I am still in Malekith's world. And I need to leave.
I get to my feet and start walking.
I follow my footprints back to my original location, the blood and dust still lying there, but nothing else remains. No signs of the small battle between me and Malekith.
No signs that they tried to save me.
They left me.
My breath hitches. They just left me lying in the dust. Even if I were dead, did I not earn an honorable burial? I've defended Asgard with my life for as long as I was able to. They left me. I deserve better. I've earned a better fate than this.
"How dare they." I growl.
I run from the sight, I run as far as I can from it, and I stumble across a small cave.
I can feel something is 'off'. I continue to walk into the cave, and suddenly I pass through a portal to Midgard. I'm in a very rainy area, presumably London. The cars drive on the left side of the road, and there's a slight chill to the air.
My armor shimmers and fades away. I look down to tall brown boots with thin black pants. Along with a heavy grey button down coat that almost reaches my knees. Delvameg turns into a thin black umbrella as I walk down the street.
"No way." A voice calls out from across the street.
I continue walking.
"Hey! Wait!" The voice calls again.
A young man runs across the road, avoiding a car and running up beside me, "You're one of them! Can I get a picture?"
I turn to the young man and shake my head, "I don't know what you're talking about."
"Come on, you were in New York."
I sigh, "Sir, I don't know you, and I certainly don't know what you're talking about."
"Oh, come on. You're an Avenger! You fought next to Captain America and Hulk! You're awesome! You even have your own action figure!"
I chuckle, "You people are so weird."
"Ah-ha!" He points at me, "You just admitted that you're not from Earth!"
I roll my eyes, "Fine, just, make it quick."
He pulls out his phone and holds it in front of us; I put on a fake smile and let him take the picture, "None of my friends are going to believe me."
"Have a nice day." I say, walking away.
"Hey! Hold on!" The young man calls, running after me.
"I let you take the picture. Leave me be." I say.
"Come on, just let me walk with you."
"No."
"I can help you."
I keep walking silently.
"Come on, don't be a hard-ass."
I turn around, "I'm only going to say this once: I am future Queen of Asgard, I can and will kill you with no trace if you do not stop bothering me."
His eyes widen and he falls back as I walk away.
The ground begins to shake violently. I stop and gain my balance on the inconsistent ground. A roar can be heard throughout the city. Screams echo between buildings.
I run to what I can decipher is the source, following the trails of people running away from whatever incident is happening.
A large black ship occupies the sky. The same ship that had met us in the dark world, the same ship that brought Malekith, the same ship I am going to destroy.
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HELLO, READERS,
This is your author speaking, thank you for staying with me this far.
I really appreciate all the reads. I'm almost to 500 reads. I finished my second project (although I'm still posting it piece by piece) so I'll be back to regular updates soon. YAY. Please vote and such. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.