A/N
I know this is late but happy holidays! I wish everyone the best for next year. :)
It wasn't long before Peter and Nylah had successfully "borrowed" Flash's car, and that left Nylah sitting in the passenger seat with someone who had only ever driven in car-parks to drive the vehicle. She could admit to herself that at first, she assumed Peter would magically know how to drive, but boy was she wrong. They sped past cars and almost crashed the car about a thousand times, but the worst part was when Peter had to make a sudden turn and rolled the car.
Thankfully, the only injury either of them had was a mere scratch and maybe a bruise if they were lucky. Nylah made a mental note to heal him later, when all this was over – because she had a bad feeling that he was about to get more than just a scratch when she found herself standing in front of an abandoned warehouse.
It was dark and gloomy; it reminded Nylah of a horror film she had once seen the Avengers watching only a few years ago. There were cracked and broken windows scattered along the building and it the wood had looked so old that it was about to collapse; it had not looked safe at all. Her hand slipped into Peter's out of fear, finding comfort in his warm hand and the way it instinctively wrapped around her small hand.
"It's not too late to back out." Peter spoke up quietly as his thumb gently caressed the back of Nylah's hand to calm her nerves.
Nylah shook her head at him. "I'm not letting you die."
An awkward silence had fallen over the pair as they climbed up untrustworthy building; both teenagers concentrating on getting to the top. Nylah had thoughts in the back of her mind whether she should put her Asgardian strength to use and grab onto the brown-eyed boy and take him back to the tower, but she knew she could not. The winged man needed to be stopped, and deep down, she knew that Peter was the only one who could.
Peter, however, for once in his life, he was scared about losing it. He knew he would not let himself die, but he couldn't help but wonder what would happen if he did. He knew about Nylah's past, and his aunt had already lost so much in her life. And poor Ned... the boy would be left to go through high school without his best friend by his side. But putting aside his own life; he worried about Nylah's. She was the most selfless and kind goddess of them all (even if Peter had only ever met one goddess in his life), what if she lost her life tonight to protect him? Or what if she got hurt because of him? She could heal Peter before he has the chance to die; but who would heal her if she got hurt?
Peter had to push the feelings aside as Nylah peeled back one section of the roof with her strength. It had not gone unnoticed by Peter; he was amazed at her strength, but he was still worried for her.
He chewed on his bottom lip nervously and shot a web against the corner of the roof before ensuring that it was secure. The pair of them had sat down and allowed their legs to dangle in the building before Peter slowly and gently wrapped his hand securely around the girl's waist. Nylah's breath hitched in her throat as she was brought closer to him; her faces inches apart from his. Peter's heart was beating faster than it has ever before; but he could not let this distract him.
With a gulp, Peter slid off the roof with Nylah in his arms and slowly lowered them down until their feet was safely planted on the ground. As soon as Nylah had recognised that they were safe to walk around, she parted from him – and she was not sure why. She would give anything to be in his arms, but perhaps her mind was too preoccupied with making sure that nothing was lurking in the shadows that could possibly harm Peter.
The open-spaced room had not looked as run-down and broken as the outside of the warehouse had. The walls were cement and looked as if they would not be breaking anytime soon with no cracks in the wall; nothing. There was a large desk in the middle that had many computer screens scattered along it, each with their own keyboard. Pictures and videos of the tower and inside of it were shown with time stamps, and Nylah could only assume that the winged man had been watching Tony Stark this whole time. However, the only question that ran through her mind was – why?
They continued to walk along a hallway before they turned a corner that had led them into a large room like the one, they had just been in; only this room had nothing in it. It was completely empty and had no sign of people. She wanted to continue to walk out of curiosity and to find the winged man, but Peter's hand had wrapped around her wrist and he stopped her from taking another step.
"Nylah..." Peter sighed as his hand gently moved from her wrist to her hand. "I want you to stay here."
"No." Nylah replied in the same stern voice her own mother used when she was disciplining her brothers. There was no way that she was going to let Peter die down there. "You'll go down there, where he is, by yourself, and you will die, Peter."
"I won't – and besides, if I happen to get hurt, you can heal me, Nylah." She was unsure if she had ever seen Peter look so genuinely scared; his puppy brown eyes were filled with so much fear, not for his own life, but for hers. "But... you can't heal yourself. I read about it. You can heal almost everyone and anything around you – but yourself. I'm not letting you risk your life to save mine."
His words were true and the hurt in his eyes made Nylah freeze. She did nothing but watch him as he rose his hands to cup her cheeks before he leaned in and planted a kiss on her forehead. She did nothing but watch him as he walked away; fading out into the darkness as he turned a corner, raising his voice in attempt to find the winged man.
Her back found a large stone pillar and she soon found herself sliding down it, bringing her knees to her chest as she anxiously waited for Peter to come running back to her. She could feel her heart thumping in her chest as her brain continuously told her that she was stupid for letting him go without her – why did she have to listen to him at a time when she should not?
But Peter had already lost his parents. Nylah knew what it felt like wanting to make sure that the loved ones you have now are safe; she wanted that for him. So, she was not sure why she listened. Maybe it was because she wanted to him to be happy that she was safe, maybe it was because she was in love with the boy and would do anything he asked. All she knew that if he didn't come back in twenty minutes, she was going to run after him. But only five minutes had passed, and it felt like it had been hours.
A loud crashing sound had echoed throughout the warehouse that had sent the Asgardian to stand up in a matter of seconds; eyes wide in alert. She expected to see Peter emerging from the smoke with a smile on his face because everything is okay now; but she got quite the opposite. She watched hopelessly as the ceiling began to fall – and she refused to wait there when Peter could be in danger.
She stepped out from her shield and she began to jog; dodging the pieces of stone that were falling from the ceiling, and everything else that had been crashing down around her. She called Peter's name out; but no one answered. There were no screams for her name, the only thing she could hear was the sound of stone crashing against the concrete floor. Her eyes were stinging with tears and she was yet to give up; she couldn't give up on him.
But when she saw a tall figure emerging from the smoke; she stopped in her tracks. For a moment, she hoped it was Peter – she thought it was the boy she loves. Her heart shattered when large metal wings came into view and person that she could not recognise stared at her with glowing emerald green eyes. It was not Peter. It was Vulture.
Nylah found herself frozen with fear. The last time she had seen this man was when she and Peter had been dumped in the lake; but even then, she was not as close to him as she was now. She knew what this man was capable of and the weapons he owned. The sharp metal wings were enough to leave her in that state – but the glowing eyes and the tilted head made her feel like death was upon her.
An evil-like chuckle erupts from the back of the man's throat as he strides forward. With each step he took forward, Nylah took one backward until her back hit the stone pillar. It was in this moment that she wished that she could show that she was not weak; that she could fight, despite what everyone on Asgard thought.
But she couldn't. She was frozen.
His metal-covered hand wrapped around her throat and he placed an immense amount of pressure on her airways – leaving with no air to breathe in or out. She could barely process what was happening until she found herself gasping for air as he held onto her throat tighter. She was left to stare into the glowing green eyes of the vulture as her consciousness slowly began to fade; and all she could think about was Peter. Was he dead too?
But what if he wasn't?
She watched hopelessly as he unattached his metal wings from his back before they begun to rapidly break down the remaining stone pillars; all except the one she had been pushed up against. The ceiling around them slowly began to fall and the stone pillars fell against the concrete floor, the sound deafening her ears.
Yet still, all she could think about was the possibility of Peter being alive. And if he was, she needed to get to him before it was too late.
She could feel herself losing consciousness as each second passed, and she already felt weak, but she still had strength preserved. She did not exactly know where strength was coming from, but in that moment, it did not matter. Her hands grabbed onto the metal arm that held her against the pillar and she dug her nails into the scraps of metal, peeling each layer before she made it to a cotton long-sleeved shirt that covered the man's skin. One last time, she looked into his eyes and dug her long nails into his skin until it pierced through – leaving the vulture to do nothing but let go of her.
She fell to the floor and her hands lightly grazed over the red marks that were left on her neck as she gasped for air. The world was still spinning and she knew that at any given moment she was going to faint, but she held on. She held on for Peter.
The Asgardian rolled onto her back and prepared herself to stand up and finish the winged man, but before he knew it, his glowing eyes were hovering above her. The fear had crept back into her and for the second time that night, she was left frozen in fear. She was in pain, she was weak. She could not fight him even if she wanted too.
Before she knew it, the man's metal foot collided with her face and everything went dark.
As quickly as the darkness had consumed her, the light had appeared again. With only a couple of blinks, Nylah found herself standing in her bedroom on Asgard... but something was not right. Everything in her bedroom was in place, of course, but there was a white glow to everything in the room – including herself.
Her eyes scanned the room in confusion, trying to find a clue as to why she was back home when she could not remember arriving home. Her eyes found herself standing in front of a mirror and that was when she knew that something was definitely wrong.
She was still dressed in her homecoming dress and shoes; but her shoes were no longer pearly white and her dress had dust and rips scattered all over it. Her smooth skin that was once pale was now covered in dust mixed in her cuts where blood had been slowly oozing out of. Bruises scattered her body and now she was beginning to feel the sharp pain of the trauma she had just endured. The hairstyle Pepper had given her was ruined as was the make-up; her blonde hair as no longer neatly tucked away in a low bun, but it was back to being long and loose and her hair had been sticking out in all sorts of places. Her face was covered in cuts, bruises and dust and there had been so much of it that no one would have known that she had been wearing make-up.
She began to think – what if I'm dead?
It would explain the white glow everything that to it, and perhaps she was in heaven. But she could not understand why she was still in so much pain or why she was dressing in her homecoming dress when she is supposed to be in Asgard. Perhaps, she was in hell?
"Sister." Her heart almost stopped when the soothing voice was heard, and her eyes instantly welled with tears. "Oh, sister. What happened?"
Nylah hesitantly, turned around. She was expecting that her brother would not be there; that maybe someone was punishing her for not staying awake long enough to save Peter. But when she did finally turn around and allow herself to take in the sight in front of her, she realised that her brother was standing there in front of her.
"Loki?" Nylah let out with a shaky voice and trembling lips.
Loki's eyes were filled with concern as his lips curved into a sympathetic smile and he slowly put his arms out wide, indicating for Nylah to hug him. Nylah had not wasted another second and ran to her brother despite the pain she left with every step she took. Her body collided with his in no time and she wrapped her arms around his neck as he wrapped his around her small and fragile body.
It was strange – this whole thing was so incredibly strange, but she loved it. She was sad that she died without knowing if Peter was safe or not, but she was happy that she was finally reunited with her brother after so long. She missed her older brother; she missed his scent, the way he made her feel protected and safe by just a simple hug. It warmed her heart to be reunited with him.
"It hurt to live without you by my side, brother." Nylah finally spoke once she parted from her brother, gently grabbing hold of his hands. "I missed you so much."
"I have missed you too, Nylah." Loki smiled as his thumb gently caressed the back of her hand – the same way Peter would when she was scared. "But you cannot stay here."
"What?" Nylah's eyebrows furrowed in confusion as she looked at her brother, her eyes scanning his own for answers. "Aren't I dead?"
"No, of course not, sister." Loki shook his head at her; but he still caressed the back of her hand with his thumb. "You need to get back. You need to wake up."
"I am so confused..." She mumbled to herself, and now, she could hear the faint voice of someone – but it had been so quiet she could not recognise them. "Where are we, then, if I am not in Heaven?"
Loki smiled. "We're in your head."
"But how?" Nylah asked as the voice in her head slowly began to grow louder.
"With a little bit of magic, of course." Her brother smirked; but she was still left in confusion. How could someone use magic if they are... dead?
"That does not make any sense, brother." Nylah admitted. "I love you Loki, but I thought that those who are dead cannot use magic. And, well, you are dead."
Loki chuckled. "Not exactly..."