Phew, another chapter out to all you wonderful people out there!
An early warning though. We are going away on holiday on Friday. A lovely long bank holiday break on the Isle of Wight - a little tiny island off the South of England. Anyway, end of Geography lesson. So I will be taking my computer with me but I don't know if they'll have wi-fi access - I'll be honest, probably not. Buuut I will be typing when I relax in the evenings so will definitely get out chapters up from Thursday onwards next week... so really huge apologies. Please don't give up on it because I promise that I know exactly where this story is going and there is an ending in sight... although still got a few more chapters to go. I do hope to bring out another chapter before I leave but please don't hate me too much if I don't manage - I have got so much to do!
Jane collapsed onto the ground and tried to catch her breath.
"Thor. Hammer. Asgard. Odin." She said clutching her head. "Oh God, I'm safe."
She felt giddy and sick remembering how close she had been to losing everything she cared about most. The Jump hadn't helped matters, she felt utterly disorientated. She tried to stand and giddily flopped back to the ground again. She crossed her legs and rested her head on them taking deep breaths. Eventually she started feeling better. She slowly raised her head and couldn't feel that horrible swirling dizziness any longer. She looked about her, trying to dispel the horror of the previous few minutes. Her feelings for Thor were a double-edged sword. She felt so alone, miserable and lost without him but on the other hand at least she could still remember him. Odin's horrifying promise of forgetfulness actually made her appreciate even more what she had lost. She took another deep breath and let it out shakily. She needed to get herself sorted out and even though she felt happy at still having possession of her memories she needed to forget about the past, at least for a little while. She stood up slowly and the room turned around for a second before equilibrium set in. She walked a little woodenly towards the tiny fridge and opened it taking out the preiquisite coke. She opened it and gulped the familiar sweet drink and whilst glugging it down walked over to a chair and dropped down into it. She pushed her legs out and pointed her toes, her head resting on the back of the chair.
"Erik? Darcy?" She called.
She closed her eyes at getting no reply. It wasn't like they should actually be in the room with her right now just because she called. Who knew where they were? It had been eight days since she had last seen them and she hadn't exactly warned them about her sudden departure. She started to feel a little guilty. She hadn't once thought about her two closest friends whilst she had been in Asgard. She had been so distracted with the beginnings of her new life and had totally forgotten about them. Now she felt really lousy. How could she neglect them in this way? Her attention returned to the room. There was nothing to keep Erik and Darcy in here when she was not with them. They had helped her with the research but they couldn't work on it without her. She felt more and more alone and the need to speak to them was overwhelming. She got up and groaned at her stiff muscles. If there was any immortality stuff running through her veins it had definitely stopped working.
She walked over to the machinery. It was all in exactly the same place, untouched by anyone else. The machines were off and the silence in the large room was oppressive. The dark grey outer wall of the building was supposed to deflect sound but she had a sudden need to hear something familiar. Even though she was now on Earth she felt a wave of homesickness so powerful she almost fell to her knees again.
"Calm down Jane. You really need to get a little under control." She said aloud and then laughed at the empty room. "Okay then, first sign of madness. Got to stop talking to myself."
She started walking over to the double doors but stopped in her tracks at the mobile phone that was perched on a pile of papers in the centre of the table. It was Darcy's. Why had Darcy left her mobile here? It looked like it had been lying here a long time.
The phone was dead and she bent and plugged it into the phone charger attached to a socket in the wall. She decided to check the room more thoroughly then she had originally intended. She went around the room, checking the machines, looking over her untouched notes and under the furniture. Nothing untoward anywhere. Her personal phone and black book and computer were nowhere to be seen but she assumed Erik or Darcy had taken them. Jane shrugged her shoulders. Darcy's mobile was a small mystery but undoubtedly a solvable one. And then that mystery bleeped as it awoke. She reached over for it and whilst it was still plugged in and charging she dialled Erik's mobile number and waited. It rung once and Erik's voice instantly came through.
"Oh Hi Erik." Jane said before he interrupted her.
"Jane. Get out. Go back to Asgard. Don't go through the doors, just..." His voice was cut-off abruptly and she heard nothing else. Jane pressed the end-call button, her mind going into overdrive and her movements getting slower. She looked at the phone and redialled Erik's number but she got that empty space sound that happens sometimes when the caller has forgotten to end his call. The phone dropped from her fingers and landed with a hollow thunk on the floor. A tiny sliver of dread trailed down the back of her spine and she shivered.
Jane's eyes travelled over to the doors.
# # # # # #
Sif tentatively knocked on the door. There was so answer from within and she knocked again patiently. Still no answer and yet she could feel his presence beyond. She slowly lifted the large latch and nudged open the large door to his chambers. The large greeting room was empty but she could hear breathing coming from one of the slumber rooms.
"Thor?" She said, taking small steps inside the room and latching the door behind her.
She knew he knew she was here. They were hunters after all and they had been able to sense one anothers presence since early childhood.
She walked slowly towards the room where Thor remained within and entered. Thor lay on his back in the centre of the large bed. A bed she had once shared with him many millennia ago. But the love she held in her breast was one of kinship and trust and a deep pervading sadness over everything that had recently happened. She loved him and had grown to love the mortal he had wanted to take as wife.
She sat down on the edge of the bed. One of his legs was raised, his arms outstretched on either side of him, one almost touching the Hammer that was resting on the side-table.
"I don't need comfort Sif." His eyes were shut and he sounded so very weary.
She reached out and wrapped her small fingers around his hand, closing around it loosely. They both stayed in this position for a long while, neither moving or ruining the moment by talking.
Finally, after many minutes he squeezed her hand gently back. He turned over on his side and faced her. He smiled. It was a horrible smile, filled with misery and exhaustion and she almost flinched back from it.
But she was Sif, born a Goddess and the greatest female warrior in the lands. She reached over and stroked his hair.
"You need to sleep Thor." She said. "You have lost much on this terrible day and you are no use to yourself or anyone else when you are in this state. You must sleep."
"I cannot." He muttered, shutting his eyes.
"You must. I swear by Odin's name that I will do all I can to help you be reunited with the woman you love, even if we must go against the God I swore by."
Thor nodded. He understood what Sif had promised him and it was a truly fearful thing indeed. He had been given a similar promise earlier from Fandrall in the company of Volstagg and Hogun. He truly had the best friends in the world. Even his mother, who never challenged Odin in anything, had offered all her support and love in helping him find a way through, careful with her wording so as not to be seen actively going against her husband.
Sif stood up removing her hand from his and showed him a tiny package concealed in her other hand. She walked over to the large table at the foot of his bed where a bowl of grapes lay beside a goblet of red wine. She ripped open the package and a pink-tinted powder fluttered into it. She watched it fizz briefly before it disappeared.
She returned to Thor's side who had watched her all the while. He grudgingly rose upwards and sat on his bed. She handed him the goblet and he looked at her solemnly.
"Please drink deeply Thor. You need to sleep." Sif said.
"I drink this only because I am of no use to anyone including Jane whilst so fatigued. I need to rest a little to regain my strength and then I will be able to find a way."
Sif nodded and Thor drunk from the goblet and then handed it back to her. He lay back down on the bed and closed his eyes. It would take but minutes before he would fall into a deep sleep. Sif bent down and kissed his forehead.
Thor smiled briefly. "Thank you for your council Sif. You are right, as always."
She slowly backed out of the room and closed the door behind her.
# # # # # #
Jane was no stranger to danger. And she wasn't about to shirk away from it now. The Bubble still rested against her chest and she touched it briefly. She knew she would never leave Erik and Darcy as she had done before. There was something through those doors that had done something with the friends she loved. She looked down at the Bubble and knew she would have to be strong yet again. She picked the Bubble up and pulled it off over her head and placed it on the floor. She didn't need such a temptation.
Jane grabbed the key hanging on the key rack and walked towards the double doors. She pressed the key into the lock but the doors just swung open. She looked through the doors and was momentarily blinded by the bright sunlight. She shielded her eyes and tried to see but all she saw were black imprints on white.
"Get back in the building Jane." Erik shouted, whilst Darcy screamed at exactly the same time. "Where's Thor? Get Thor."
Jane looked at where her friend's voices came from. She was almost able to see fully now the sun blindness was receding and she saw Erik and Darcy standing about twenty feet to the right of her. She started running towards them before she recognised what stood directly behind them. She recoiled quickly and stopped running, standing very still and absolutely terrified.
"Well hello there Jane. We meet at last." A voice said, directly behind her.
Jane couldn't take her eyes off the thing standing directly behind her friends but she somehow felt the threat behind her was even worse.
"Oh don't worry about your friends. They're entirely safe." The man said. "Well, safe as long as you cooperate."
She carried on staring at the large obscene monster.
"How can the Destroyer be standing? I saw its destruction." Jane said as she turned around to face the unknown man.
She stared at the being before her and knew a God when she saw one.
"I assume you're Loki." She said, looking at the magnificent raven haired being before her, dressed in splendid clothes with a horned helmet upon his brow.
"Well guessed Jane. And I've been waiting a long time to finally meet you."
And you're all going to have to wait a little longer to find out what happens next. ;)
Really want to thank each and every one of you for your wonderful encouragement with this story and for signing up for new chapters. I really will try and get another chapter up before I go away but please don't hate me too much if I don't manage.
