"Nobody whom this war has touched will ever be happy again in quite the same way. But it will be a better happiness, I think, little sister - a happiness we've earned."

― L.M Montgomery, Rilla of Ingleside


Since she was little, Darcy had always thought that she was strong. Not stronger than other people, just strong enough to endure more than it was usual for kids. Her mother used to say that she was never a wayward girl, and she had never caused too much trouble growing up. She adapted to stuff rather easily, and though sometimes she missed the choices she couldn't make, she did not regret her life.

Yet, her eyes seemed to be unable to focus on the destruction in front of her. She could only see fragments: burned clothing. Scattered food. Broken weapons, both Asgardian and from Thanos army. Her brain could not register properly the entire view: the entire city was in ruins. Half of the palace had collapsed to the ground. The debris was all around it, still shining gold. The magnificence it once held was gone, forever. She tried not to see the Asgardian corpses trapped under the building, failing miserably.

Then her eyes fixated on a tiny Mjolnir, clearly made for a child. It was just there, the handle broken in two. She could still see the runes in the burned hammer, and it broke her heart.

There was no one around, not a soldier, not a maiden, no one. Nothing but the dead bodies. And the silence.

Darcy took off her mask when nausea invaded her throat, and the smell of blood, war and burned meat made her gag. That hadn't happened since years ago when she was twenty-five and had recently started to defend herself from the enemies. Now, she was twenty-nine. An experienced killer, a spy. Sometimes, a friend. But mostly a soldier.

With that thought, Darcy's senses came back. She put the mask on again, breathed deeply and focused on her mission: she had to find Loki and Thor, no matter the cost. She had to know that they were alive.

Her senses alert, Darcy surrounded the debris and entered the palace. She passed several rooms, and in all of them, there was a trace of the war: cracked walls, broken hangings, even the mark of a bloody hand on the floor. But not a single person whom she could ask about Loki or Thor.

Cold fury froze her veins when she understood that the same was being done to Earth and many other planets around the Universe. And then she wanted to find an enemy, to find it and kill it in order to relax a bit the grip on her weapon.

For that, it didn't take long.

It was a Vanir woman, covered in dirt and staring right at the ground, where a body was lying, inert. She held a sword in her hand. Her quiver was empty and her bow broken in two.

The body at her feet had golden armor, and in a shocking moment of realization, Darcy realized it was Odin. His blue eyes were empty of life, and blood was still oozing from his mouth. Faintly, she could hear ravens squawking.

The Vanir hadn't heard her coming, but Darcy didn't want to kill someone treacherously, so she spoke.

"Proud of your victim?" Her voice was every inch as cold as her veins. The Vanir girl turned around quickly, her sword thrust forward. Yeah, Darcy could fight someone with a sword.

"He was an oppressor and an old man."

The girl had intelligent black eyes, but completely devoid of feelings except for apprehension at this sudden enemy. Darcy supposed she wasn't used to fighting with swords and preferred poisoned arrows.

"Because Thanos is much better than him." Darcy allowed herself to mock the girl.

"Our forces will end the Odinson brothers, Thor and the Dark Prince. But we are only going to kill Thor. Thanos wants the other one for himself, human." The woman sneered at her mixed battle attire with disdain, like most aliens tended to do when they saw an Earthling.

They had been getting closer to each other, their steps light and careful.

Darcy smiled. It was always better when they thought a human couldn't be as strong as them. She had trained with Loki, and the only reason why she hadn't killed that girl from behind was because she was also friends with Thor and Thor had always been proud of the battle code. Not Loki, of course, but she liked to think that the code was something good. Honorable.

"I imagine he does. Been looking for him a long time. Loki escaped once, so he must be very angry. Of course, the..Dark prince, as you call it, is also looking for Thanos. But the thing here is that you killed Odin. And that can't go unpunished. Of course, you can choose: it could be Thor. A powerful enemy, almost impossible to beat. It could be Loki, but I don't think he'll be quick to kill you. I bet he would have you tortured first. Or it could be me." Darcy said and allowed a hypocrite smile in her lips.

The girl didn't answer, and her black eyes assessed her carefully. Darcy knew what she was seeing. A girl with human battle attire, an oxygen mask and a black hood that put her eyes in shadows. Also, Earthly weapons.

When the Vanir girl smiled, Darcy knew she was being underestimated.

Then, the girl jumped forward.

Darcy let all her cold fury consume her, and everything around her faded.

Fifteen minutes later, she found herself on the ground above the girl. Blinking rapidly, she realized what she had done.

The Vanir girl was lying on the ground, her black eyes lifeless and fixated on her with an expression of amazement and horror, her mouth agape and her teeth covered in her own blood. Darcy's knife was right next to her neck, and dark blood oozed from a deep wound there. When Darcy ran her hand across her forehead, she realized she was covered in the girl's blood, and she confirmed it when she saw her chest.

The fact did not disturb her like sometimes did, and she was able to fully stand on her feet and put the oxygen mask back on. She had taken it off when the fight became hand to hand. She also noted a wound in her left arm. It was deep and it was bleeding, but she had nothing to cure it and she could only manage to tie some fabric to stop the hemorrhage. There was nothing she could do to disinfect the wound.

Darcy walked silently until she reached the other side of the palace and found the back gardens, the flash of a memory in her mind. Fireworks. Those were Frigga's gardens. They were also destroyed, but there was a stream nearby and she washed her face in it. She had to keep walking and find Loki and know what had happened with Thanos and the end of the world. He couldn't be...dead. She knew he couldn't die. If he and Thor were dead, then sure as fuck she was dead. And Jane as well. And the kids.

Darcy walked for another hour, barely aware of the bodies strewn across what once had been a beautiful, peaceful garden. The place where she had honored her dead family.

She continued going forward until the smoke was so dense she could barely see in front of her. She knew the sun was rising because there was more light, but she could not see ahead, and her feet kept bumping into body parts. She had barely any strength left. Unable to continue, she fell on her knees and closed her eyes. At least if she could see nothing the enemies would not see her. Besides, everything was silent.

And then she heard it. Steps. She raised her eyes and saw a glimpse of red in the smoke. Her breathing became labored and she stood up, uncertain but alert. She had some bullets left and her knife. She would put up a fight, however pathetic it would be. But then her eyes could finally identify the people in front of her.

Loki walking beside Thor, both of them silent and with the shadow of tiredness around them.

When his green eyes found her, Darcy gasped and tried not to fall to the ground again.

She barely perceived the moment where Loki collapsed against her and his arms squeezed her against his chest. Her legs gave out, but he held her still.

"We beat Thanos. We made it, Darcy, we made it." He kept whispering in her ear, and his words dripped relief. Darcy blinked.

"Odin is dead." She said suddenly, not wanting to look at Thor while she said it. Loki stiffened.

"Thor?" He asked, for once his voice barely audible.

The sound of thunder echoed in the sky, and Darcy finally disentangled herself from Loki and stood on her own feet. Thor was on the floor on one knee, the right hand touching the left side of his chest, over his heart.

"May the memory of Odin Borson live forever." He said. Then he stood up and Darcy saw there was nothing left from the slightly immature, playful Thor she had met in New Mexico all those years ago. He truly looked like the God of Thunder now, and she inclined her head to the new King of Asgard.

"You are free now, brother," said Thor detachedly. "If you wish to remain here as the Prince and Ambassador of Asgard, you are welcome. if you want to leave the realm, I shall provide the means for it as well. Odin's punishment has lifted, and you may proceed as you please."

There was a moment of silence in which Loki just stared at his brother, something new in his eyes. They seemed greener than ever, and Darcy realized it was because his magic was entirely his again. He too had changed.

"How did Odin die?" He asked suddenly, looking at Darcy.

"A Vanir woman did it. I found her right after she...killed him."

Loki took in her blood-covered clothes, the bleeding wound in her arm, her dazed, sort of absent look and nodded once.

Thor closed his eyes and extended his hands. Moments later, the sky darkened and a heavy rain started to fall. Loki lifted the fog around them.

Darcy could never clearly remember the moments that followed. Asgardian people appeared out of nowhere, most of them terrified, and Loki went with Darcy to the cave and found Jane sitting between her children, tears streaming down her face, a knife in her hands.

"We won," Darcy stated, and Jane threw her arms around her with so much force she knocked Darcy to the ground.

"I knew it. I knew it," she repeated many times. Darcy stood up and embraced her friend one more time, ignoring the growing pain in her injured arm. Then she turned around and grabbed Loki's hand.

"I...want to go home." She said before passing out.