People thought Darcy was the devil. It was something that she had come to terms with years ago, but it never stopped being a reality for her. Wherever she went there were whispers, sometimes there was pointing, there was always fear.
No one had wanted to explain it too her when she was younger, but she had discovered it herself before too long. Your shadow wasn't really your shadow, it was your soulmate's shadow. So what did it say about her, that her shadow was this intimidating figure with horns on it's head? It was jarring for those around when she was small, having this large, horned male figure spreading out from her tiny body.
The conclusion they had come to was as obvious as it was ridiculous.
Darcy knew that her soulmate was not a devil or a demon or whatever else people said. Even if they were, though, it would be pretty cool. How many people could claim that their soulmate was a demon?
By the time she was in college she had learned to own it. To walk with the confidence of someone with a devil on their side, to stop caring about what other people thought of her and said about her and live like she wanted to. Sometimes, she even went so far as to match her soulmate, getting small fake horns and wearing them on her head in solidarity.
She wasn't sure why her soulmate had horns most of the time, why they seemed so much older than her, but never seemed to age from what she saw of the silhouette, but she had learned to keep an open mind.
When an alien fell from the sky and into Jane's life, she was pretty sure she had her answer.
Jane's shadow had always been larger than life, inspiring a confidence in her that most either hated or admired. Darcy had always done the latter, while most of Jane's colleagues did the former. It was fitting that she spent her entire life watching the sky and that's where her soulmate came from.
It was a while later that she met Loki. He appeared in all his horned, caped glory, and she couldn't help but to look between him and her shadow, just to make sure she wasn't imagining it. But no, there was her own image, standing behind this man.
"Where is my brother?" He asked, just as Thor came bursting out to greet him.
"Loki!" Thor bellowed, hugging the man tightly, holding him in place while Darcy got her barrings. The man's name reverberated in her mind as she stared at him. Their words quickly drifted into the background as she gathered up the power to speak.
"Loki," She said. Her voice wasn't weak, as she had feared. It was strong, excited. He looked at her with a raised eyebrow. "Hey, soulmate. Nice to see you in the flesh."
The words seemed to be a switch. Loki looked at her more closely, at his shadow, then moved around Thor to stand before her. "You are the little one that has been following me for so long."
"And you're the devil that's been stalking me all my life."
Loki grinned, taking her hand and kissing it. "It will be a pleasure to stalk you in the flesh," He told her.
She was really looking forward to it.