So I haven't updated my other stories yet...been thinking about how to write this chapter. You guys didn't really think I'd killed off my character did you? I have to admit that I was tempted to say it was complete, but then most of you guys would hate me. Anyway, enjoy the chapter.
It had been a week since Cora sank; Loki refused to believe that she was dead. At first Thor just thought he was in shock, for even he felt that curious happy Cora couldn't be gone, but after he continued to search for her Thor had a different theory.
He was afraid to admit that she was dead, because if he said it, if the thought passed through his mind and off his tongue, it would be true, and he didn't want to live life without her. Tony felt very much the same as Loki, except that he would occasionally curse at Loki for being the cause of what had happened. Saying things like, 'If she had never met you, she would still be here!' and, 'I hope you're happy now,' which of course he wouldn't be. That didn't matter to Tony, he just knew that he was angry and he wanted to yell at someone. At least Pepper had gotten him to stop drinking.
Over the course of that week all the members of the Avengers came to stay at Tony's place for a little while. Bruce heard the tragedy and came to help Tony get back to normal, which was working great until he found a picture that Cora had drawn for him a few years back. Steve and Hawkeye came and lazed around for a while before they left. Hawkeye couldn't stand the fact that Loki was so close and he couldn't do anything to him, and he also felt party at fault for what happened to Cora. If he hadn't gotten mind controlled they could've escaped together.
Of course everyone was having those types of thoughts, if they'd done this differently, or that differently, they played the blame game for a little while.
Friday night Bruce, Natasha, Tony, and Thor went out drinking, Pepper was the chaperone, much to her dismay, this left Loki alone to brood in his room.
It had been a horrible week for him, everyone knows why, he missed his little bird.
For a moment Loki was just lying on his bed, he hadn't felt tired before, the whole day he hadn't wanted to do anything, as soon as he got into his room he felt as if he would fall over from exhaustion. Closing his eyes slowly he entered into a world of sleep and dreams; he didn't know that there was someone there waiting for him.
He found himself walking through the maze in the garden, a memory that he wanted to relive, but not one he wanted to see, for it hurt him so.
There was a small laugh that seemed to echo all throughout the walls of the dream. With a small stab of realization Loki realized it to be Cora's laugh, and so he darted off into the maze to find her.
Loki. The echoing voice called out to him gently. It was definitely Cora's voice, but where was she?
"Cora?" Loki shouted into the dream. Unlike her voice his seemed to be muffled and soft, even as he tried to scream her name so she might hear him it sounded as if he were in a different room then her. "Where are you?" He shouted desperately into the leafy walls of the maze.
Find me. Her answer was simple, but it left a hole in his heart. He couldn't find her, they'd searched and searched but they never found her.
There was movement from the corner of his eye, turning to catch it he saw wisps of white hair disappear behind a corner followed by another echoed laugh. Running after her Loki felt a drip on his head, looking up to see that the sky had turned cloudy and murky he shrugged it off and ran faster to catch her. It started to rain, at first it was a light rain, but then it was as if the sky was raining waves as it seemed buckets of water kept falling in front of him and behind him.
Loki! Her voice called out to him again, this time it sounded frantic, as if she was struggling for something.
"What? What is it? Why won't you let me see you?" He shouted getting slightly angry. He was soaking by now, and the rain had begun to fill up the dream as if they were inside a pool. The water was up to his shins, making it hard to run after the frantic voice of Cora.
You have to find me! She shouted at him now, but her voice was very faint. It sounded as if she was sick.
"But I can't, where are you?" He yelled rushing through the ever growing amount of water. Even the walls of the maze seemed to be leaking water.
Loki. This time her voice was very soft, it still echoed throughout the dream, but it was a sad sound.
Desperate now Loki trudged through the water as fast as he could, it was about up to his knees now. The light was turning dark; it almost felt as if it was hard to breath, almost like he was under water.
I love you. She said with a shaky hollowed breath that was very faint.
Suddenly Loki made it to the middle of the maze, where furniture seemed to have been thrown around and was now floating in the rising water. With a faint glow surrounding her body Cora law submerged in the water, body limp and unmoving.
"Cora!" Loki shouted for her. With the water now at his waist he struggled to get over to her, moving through the water like one would move through mud or thorns. Finally he got over to her, and picked her up from beneath the water, holding her in his arms he looked at her hopefully.
She didn't move, her skin paler than usual in the darkening light, it looked like she was only sleeping but Loki knew better than that, he just didn't want to admit it.
"I found you," he whispered to her gently. Putting his hand on her cheek he leaned his forehead against hers and spoke to her with a shaky sad voice. "Please," he murmured before hugging her body close to his.
She didn't move, of course she didn't, he knew why!
A cracking sound in the sky caused him to look up quickly, everywhere around him the maze was gone, it looked like there were walls of murky water all around him, pure darkness could not match the feeling of dread that came with being underwater. The walls seemed to be coming closer to him, and then they enveloped him.
Knocking the air from his lungs he lost his grip on Cora, watching the bubbles swarm around him he looked for her to find that she was gone. He tried to call out for her but now his voice was totally muffled by the water, if the dark water he could see a single feather glowing faintly above him. Feeling the strain on his lungs Loki closed his eyes tightly, the dream was breaking, he could see the light cracking in through the water.
Find me. Her voice said breathlessly.
He woke up with a gasp, breathing heavily he looked around the room remembering the feather; Tony had kept it by the bar to look at solemnly. Stumbling his way to the bar Loki walked in faint darkness, it was night after all, not nearly as dark as it had been in the underwater dream, but still dark.
Coming into the living area he could see something glowing faintly from the corner of his eye. Going in that direction he could see that it was the feather, sitting on the counter of the bar, glowing like one of those glow in the dark stars you would stick on your ceiling.
Picking up the feather gently Loki looked over it carefully. Had it always been glowing? Thinking back to his dream Cora had said over and over again, find me, find me.
Did that mean she was still alive?
In another room Tony was sleeping fitfully, he hadn't been sleeping well for the past week, having dreams about Cora when she was younger and they had first met. There was one dream in particular that he kept having, it was a childish memory, but there were a few words that kept resonating within the dream.
'You're it! You're it; it's your turn to find me!' It was Cora's voice, there was no mistake about that, but it was from when she was younger. Those were the words that kept wafting through his dreams; no matter what happened in the dream no matter what memory he was in she was always hiding from him. The only time he had actually found her she was already dead, and before he could even touch her the dream ended and he woke up feeling lost.
Whenever one of the dreams ended she always said one thing before he totally woke up.
'Don't leave me here,' her voice was always a soft whisper when she said this. Tony hadn't told anyone about the dreams, not that he was selfish with them, but he didn't know what to believe yet. If Cora was still alive, if she was waiting for someone to find her, then he would look for her.
There was just one thing he didn't want. He didn't want to feel that she could be alive, he didn't want to believe that she was alright, and then if he didn't find her. All of his feelings of loss and hopelessness would be renewed, and he would be back to where he started.
Sitting up in his bed Tony was breathing heavily, it was dreams like these that made him hate going to sleep every night. Pepper had had to leave for a meeting just after she seen them back to the tower, so this left him alone in a house that contained two gods from a different realm and a green Doctor with anger issues. Not the best company one would want to have, especially since he blamed one of the Gods for his loss.
Walking to the bar shakily Tony stiffened when he saw that Loki was already there, holding the feather in his hand, which seemed to be glowing with a faint light. With painful relevance Tony realized that Cora had been glowing the same way the night she died, like a glow stick.
"She is alive," Loki said breathlessly. At first tony wasn't sure if he had said anything or not, but the way Loki looked up at him he was sure that he had spoken.
"What makes you say that?" Tony asked bitterly. He really didn't need any false hope, even though his metal heart jumped with anxious yearning to say that she was okay he wouldn't lie to himself.
"She wants to be found," he said looking back at the feather longingly. At this comment Tony froze slightly, it was just as his dreams had been telling him, Cora was reaching out to them, and she was still alive!
"Do you know where she is?" Tony asked feeling that it would be the most valuable information.
"No," Loki said sadly. He had been thinking about his dream for a long time, it had been an hour since he'd gotten up, and during that hour he deciphered his dream. "But if we don't find her soon, she really will die," he murmured thinking back to when he found her limp body.
That was what she had wanted to tell him. She was probably injured, so it would hinder her ability to communicate in dreams, hence the short messages, that meant that they would have to find her fast.
If he found her too late she would be just as she had been in his dream, lifeless. He couldn't imagine the feeling of dread and hatred he would feel towards himself if he found her too late, he didn't want to find a corpse.
He wanted his Cora. He wanted to see her blush like she did when he kissed her unexpected, he wanted to see her playful sad face when she was messing with him. He wanted to hold her in his arms and never let her go, whisper sweet things into her ear.
He would tell her over and over again, I love you, I love you, I love you, and he would never leave her alone again. Which she might not like, but he wouldn't care as long as he had her.
Are you happy?! She's alive, but for how long? I was a little afraid to read the reviews because I knew you guys would hate how I ended the last chapter, and most of the reviews said they hated me. :c
So hopefully you have regained your liking of me. I now have surround sound in my room, so when I'm writing new chapter for my stories it feels like an epic event, its pretty cool.
Thanks for reading!