Part Two : Chapter Thirty-Three.
Astryd wasted no time and raised her hand up, aiming it at Loki. With no hesitation, she blasted him with bright blue sparks.The cuffs around her wrist may be restraining her from her power, but it's still strong enough to hurt Loki. He let out a grunt and regained his balance before it was too late, leaning against the wall for support while pressing his hand firmly on his right side. Despite his pain, he chuckled at her.
She glared at him, her eyes meeting with his. A smirk made its way to Loki's face as his eyes burned into hers in concentration.
Astryd's vision began to blur, head pulsating. She let out a cry as her hands flew to her head, gripping it tightly. She felt as if her own skull was going to collapse and smash into her brain. "It's all an illusion. Fight it," the voice in her head told her.
It's not real. The pain is not real, Astryd told herself. The more she repeated it inside her head, the less pain she felt. Then the pain stopped all together. Her hands left her head and in less than a second, she had conjured up a massive ball of energy. With a flick of her wrists, Astryd sent it on its way towards Loki.
The energy never hit him. Loki disappeared; his illusion faltering and the energy melted away the entire wall instead of affecting him.
Astryd stood there dumbfounded, but the confused feeling faded away as she felt a sharp pain. She gasped, eyes widening. Her hand met with the sharp end of a shard that was stabbed into her back. Turning around, she came face to face with the real Loki.
He mimicked her facial expression, mocking her. "Oh, I'm sorry. Did that hurt?"
"You're a monster." She spat, pulling out the glass shard. The wound began to heal and Astryd composed herself. Loki took notice and took a few steps back, distancing himself from her. "You've lied to me."
"I'm the god of mischief and lies. It's only in my nature." He defended himself, clasping his hands together,conjuring a green orb of energy in his hands.
Astryd eyed him carefully, scrutinizing him. Fury began to boil up inside her. "You took my father away from me."
"Your father is Odin."
She scowled at him. Both of them knew that when it came to Odin, they were on the same page. He's not her father.
Taking advantage of Astryd's distraction, Loki threw his orb of energy at her. It hit her right in the heart and left her gasping for air. Astryd collapsed to the floor. Her body trembled as the energy surged through her. She started towards Loki, dragging herself along on the floor. Her breaths were loud and shallow and her body still shook, but it didn't stop her.
Loki walked backwards, but Astryd was too quick for him. She stretched out her hand and yanked him down with her by his ankle.
"Stop this, Astryd. You can stop this before it gets to worse." A tiny voice in her mind said. Her nails gripped Loki's ankle tightly, digging through his leather boots and grazing his flesh. She knew the voice was right, but as much as she tried to put a stop to this, she couldn't. Another voice in her head wouldn't allow it.
"We started working on the prototype after you sent the Destroyer. Even I don’t know what it does. Do you want to find out?” Phil questioned as he pressed a button and the gun turned on, flashing in a bright orange color.
“Phil, no!” Astyrd warned, but she was too late. In a matter of seconds, Loki appeared right behind Phil and violently stabbed Phil's back with his scepter.
“No!” Thor and Astryd cried out.
Thor pounded heavily against the glass wall, and both Astryd's jaw and heart dropped in horror.
The flashback faded from her mind, but the emotions she felt at Phil's death didn't. Anguish, fury, disappointment, sorrow, and loss overwhelmed her causing the cuffs around Astryd's wrist to abruptly snap in half, leaving her wrists bare and free. Loki's eyes widened in realization as he stared up at Astryd in horror. "Astryd, don-"
"You killed Phil." Astryd growled, too blinded by her anger and loss.
"No. Don't do it. This is not you." The voice, the same one who tried to stop her before, pleaded. She recognized it as her own voice. Her cruel demeanor faltered and she found herself staring at Loki blankly, in a confused manner. She was confused and lost, but it only lasted for a short moment.
"Go on. Kill him like he did so with Phil. Make him suffer like Phil did." The other voice, the dark voice, in her head said. The image of Loki stabbing Phil resurfaced, messing around with Astryd's head. She wanted no more than to comply to the voice. It's what Loki deserves, she told herself.
Turning back to Loki, she hovered over him as he lay on the floor. She gripped Loki's wrist roughly. Her skin was an icy white, different from its usual pale blue color and it contrasted against Loki's. At her touch, Loki's skin color began to change as well. They both watched in awe as his skin changed into its original frost giant color. Red eyes replaced his blue ones and they pierced into her, trying to plead with her. "Astryd-"
She wavered her hand over his mouth, forcing him to shut up by sealing his lips with her magic. This terrified him and brought a sick smile to her face. He truly did not know what she was capable of.
"Do you know how much pain you caused Phil?" Astryd demanded, raising his wrist and bending it towards him. The bone snapped and Loki let out a muffled scream. She twisted her own hand, aiming it towards his chest as if he were a flexible doll. She used her free hand to carress Loki's face in a taunting manner, tracing the eleaborate designs on his Jotun face.
She's never seen Loki in his frost giant form in real life, but from her visions and knowledge, she knows what special qualities frost giants possess. Fixing her eyes onto his broken wrist, she forced it to turn into a sharp, thick shard of ice just like their hands always do when in battle.
"Do you want to find out?" Astryd cooed, lightly tracing his own ice, daggered hand exactly over his heart. Loki squirmed under her hold, trying to regain control over his hand but it was of no use. Astryd was more powerful than him.
Loki stared into her eyes helpless. He never thought that he would die at the hands of the one who claimed to love him most. Not able to bear with the thought of what was about to occur, he willed himself to remember the memories he cherished most. Among them, was a memory of Thor, Astryd, and Loki playing together in the palace gardens. They were free of worries, careless, and mischievous then...What happened to us? He wondered solemnly.
"Stop. This isn't you." Astryd's own voice repeated in her head again, begging herself to open her eyes and face the real enemy.
"Kill him. He deserves to die and at what better hands than at yours?" The other voice contradicted, trying to regain control over Astryd's mind. This time, it didn't completely win her over.
Without her full consent, her own hand gripped Loki's deformed hand tighter, piercing it through his armor and into the first layer of his skin. Another muffled cry that did not fully escape from his lips was heard. Hopelessly, he placed his free hand over Astryd's stuggling to pry it off as his daggered hand continued to go in deeper and deeper. Astryd's hand trembled violently as she fought to regain control over heryself. She was still in a daze, not knowing exactly what was going on, much less on how to stop it.
"NO!"
A heavy, hard object was flung at Astryd, sending her crashing into a wall. Her head hit the wall, sending chils up and down her spine. Astryd blacked out for a moment. Her eyes opened in alarm as the spell on Loki's lips lost its magic, producing a loud, blood curdling scream that finally brought Astryd to her senses.
**
What's going on? I thought frantically. I tried to sit up, but a heavy force on my chest prevented me from doing so. Panic arose in me and I glanced at my chest to see mjolnir. Thor's here.
I ran my hand through my hair and froze. Bringing my hands over my face, I let out a shriek. They were stained with blood. Loki's blood, I remembered. I struggled to get mjolnir off of me but it was of no use. The panic in me increased followed by the consummating anxiety. Why do I have Loki's blood on me? Is he...dead?
Mjolnir flew off of my chest and I could finally breathe again. I sat up, trying to regulate my breathing. Thor came into view and his hand outstretched itself towards me. I didn't take it. Loki's coughing diverted my attention to him.
His black hair was disheveled, chest covered in blood, green eyes wide in horror, and mouth agape. He was bad, very bad. And it's all my fault.
"Loki," I whispered, crawling towards him.
He flinched in response, moving away from me traumatized. I stopped, not wanting to inflict any more harm on him. Words couldn't describe how I felt. My emotions were chaotic and it took all I had left in me to not let them consume me. "Loki, I-I'm so sorry. I-"
I stopped midsentence. He wouldn't even look at me. My ears began to sting, tears blurred my vision, heart rate accelerating as my head began to pulse. I was falling apart. I wrapped my arms tightly around myself, hoping that it would help me hold myself together. It didn't.
I fell apart, both emotionally and physically. Choked sobs escaped from my lips and my body began to shake. I almost killed my brother today. Never in my mind will that be okay and never will the memory leave me. I'm haunted by myself, by my own doings. How could I have let this happened? Wherever I go, darkness follows...
I could feel Thor's heavy gaze on me. Sneaking a glimpse at him, I saw how torn he was between us two. He didn't know which one of us to comfort at the moment. I tore my gaze away from him. I didn't want him to come over to me. I didn't want his comfort. I don't deserve it.
"It's okay. Both of you are okay." Thor steadily said. Loki and I both glanced back up at him bewildered. As much as I wanted to believe it, the three of us knew the truth. It was written all over our faces.
We're not okay.
A/N: I had originally planned to write out more for this chapter, but decided not to. I thought this was a good place to stop. I apologize for the not so good action. It's my expertise in writing, so I hope it was somewhat interesting and suspenseful. So...what did you think about Loki's & Astryd's fight? Do you think Astryd would've killed him if it hadn't been for Thor? Or would she have snapped out of it before it was too late? Do you think Loki will forgive her? I'd love to hear your thoughts on this chapter. Please leave them below!