Chapter 26 –

"What do you mean by that?" Zila questioned, taking a step forward and examining the wall behind Maura. All she could see were the various bricks that formed the wall as well as the dirt and dust that had collected on it over the years. The door was old and starting to rot, but was still strong enough to keep whatever it needed to contain in that room for as long as was needed. The lock was a strong metal that looked as if it was at least 1,000 years old or older. Nothing was out place. Nothing led to her to believe it was anything more than an ordinary wall. "It looks just like any other wall that I've ever seen."

"Precisely!" Maura exclaimed, turning on her heel with a smile on her face. "That's precisely it."

Loki stood with his lips pursed, trying to follow Maura's logic. Time was of the essence and his patience was wearing thin. Every moment spent in that dungeon was another moment of leaving the Avengers in Midgard to fight the demons on their own, and another moment of leaving Lina to Fayne's devices.

Maura turned to face Loki with a calmer demeanor and asked, "Loki, if you were Fayne and knew you had powerful beings who knew a good deal of magic locked away in a dungeon, what's the first thing you would tell your servants to do?"

Loki took in a deep breath, his eyes not leaving Maura's. He understood now. He got it.

It was a silent confirmation besides Loki's sigh which frustrated Thor even more.

"If you have a means by which to get us out of here," he growled, "then what are we waiting for?"

"Without any extra precautions taken to make the cell impervious to spells," Maura explained, ignoring Thor's outburst and walking towards Loki, "we can get out of here with a simple flick of the wrist." She looked at Loki like a puppy begging for a treat because it did a good deed. It was obvious that she was still trying to display her loyalty.

Although it was a clever deduction, Loki pushed past her and did a once over of the wall for himself, ensuring that she wasn't tricking them again.

"She's right," Zila agreed, also looking at the wall for herself.

Loki looked towards Thor and nodded. "We need a plan. Fayne is still angry and we don't want to do anything drastic."

"As if trying to escape isn't drastic enough?" Maura pointed out.

Loki clenched his jaw briefly before he continued. "In terms of Lina's safety, we need to make sure we can get her out of his range before he does anything that could hurt her or us."

Thor sighed, looking towards the ground in deep thought. His eyebrows furrowed as he thought hard of a plan to save the princess and get them all out alive.

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Several hours later, Lina found herself in the same position she had been in before her sister had interrupted her day. Fayne wasn't as furious as he was earlier, but she was sure to tread lightly. She ensured that he didn't have to pull her chains in order to get his fruit so that she wouldn't get yanked around like a marionette on strings. Any wrong move could have Lina flying across the room due to Fayne's rage.

He was focusing on a portal similar to the one he had used to show her the beginning of his attack on Midgard. Through it, she could see more and more demons starting to awake from their slumber in their hosts. Watching her friends battle each one was heart breaking. The demons not only outnumbered them by more than Lina could count, but their strength was undoubtedly much greater than the Avengers'. They were growing more and more tired by the second, but the waves of demons were just starting.

Fayne smiled for the first time since he had returned, watching his plan unfold with no glitches. "It's good to have a plan that flows smoothly."

Feeding him another grape, Lina replied, "Yes, my lord."

He turned to her, noticing the change in behavior from earlier. He studied her face and her body language. She was as stiff as a board, her eyes not making contact with his. "You surprise me, little one." He turned to face his portal once again. "I would have expected a remark about how your Avengers will be able to pull through as they did with the Chitauri." Shrugging, he waved his hand and the portal disappeared into thin air. "I would have told you that you were wrong, though."

He pulled her chains so that her face was merely a few inches from his. "I. Always. Win."

Outside the door, Maura peered inside and watched Lina and Fayne's exchange. Seeing how Fayne was able to manipulate Lina to do as he pleased made her blood boil. She knew that he now wanted to make Lina his queen-to-be. All he had to do was break her and she'd be willing to do anything he wished.

Up to now, she and the other three rescuers were sitting outside of the door. Most of the servants had scurried away when they saw Maura, fearing that she would hurt them or kill them. There wasn't much of a fight to be had, which was better for them.

She turned to face Loki and sighed deeper than the ocean. "Are you ready?"

He didn't answer, but rather looked towards the door with determination and steadiness.

Thor stood with his hammer in hand, having called it when Loki had blasted the door off of its hinges. Wielding his weapon, he was confident and ready for battle.

Zila was worried as to what would happen during this fight. There were too many unknown variables to factor into the plan the group had come up with. It wouldn't be as simple as grabbing Lina and leaving.

Loki knelt next to the opening in the doorway and put his hands near the floor. An icy blue glow formed at his fingertips and began to travel unnoticed towards Lina. The floor began to create white webs of ice as the spell worked its way to Lina's chains. It crawled up the metal, causing the metal to become fragile and easily breakable.

"You'll never leave, princess," Fayne said, his grip tightening on the chains. "No one can save you now."

The spell had finally reached Fayne's hand, biting it so severely with a vicious cold that he cried out in pain. Lina jumped back in surprise, looking at Fayne's blistered palm that was covered in frost. Looking down at her chains, she saw the same frost as well as the trail it had left on the throne room's floor.

Fayne angrily cried out to one of his servants, but none of them came. He wondered what was going on, but his question was soon answered when Maura came bursting through the door.

His eyes grew narrow as he watched Maura's every step. She was angry, her hands balled into fists.

"Let her go," she demanded.

Lina was confused with Maura's change in attitude. She was just telling Fayne how she had tricked Thor, Loki, and Zila into bringing them here for a fake rescue and now she was demanding Lina's freedom.

Fayne's laugh brought her out of her thoughts. He looked at Maura with an evil glint in his dark eyes.

"You don't seem to understand do you?" he asked, standing up and striding towards her.

"Do not take another step," Thor called out, stepping cautiously into the room with Loki and Zila following. He gripped his hammer in his hand, allowing the strap to rest on his wrist lightly.

Fayne's laughter grew heartier at the sight of the trio. "Is this your plan of attack?" he mockingly asked Maura, stepping toe to toe with her. He bent down so he was face to face with her stern expression, her face unyielding to his large stature. "I own you," he stated.

Lina looked at Loki with a tinge of fear. Something was going to happen. Something no one was anticipating.

"Raes," he called, an evil grin appearing on his face.

Maura's eyes went from brave to frightened as she stepped back and doubled over in pain. She cried out, falling to her hands and knees. She felt extremely weak, unable to even sit up straight. Her vision was blurred and her stomach was in knots. After a few seconds, she knew what was happening. No amount of fighting would help her contain what was coming out of her.

A dark plume of inky blackness began to seep out of Maura, floating steadily in front of its master that had called it. It was glowing an eerie red, just as it did when Loki had freed Raes from Lina's mind. Maura's body dropped to the ground, lifeless.

"Yes, my lord?"

"I'm disappointed in you for allowing this to get so out of hand," Fayne answered, standing up straight and folding his arms over his chest.

"My apologies," Raes answered, her black form moving slightly closer to the floor as if she was being scolded like a child.

Fayne looked towards Thor, Loki, and Zila and scoffed. "Take care of our pest problem, Raes." He turned to face Lina. "I have a new queen to crown."

Raes' form seemed to turn towards the trio. They weren't sure what to expect as the darkness started to float towards them slowly.

Lina held her breath as she watched the demon approach the people she loved most. More frightening, though, was the twisted look on Fayne's face as he walked towards her. She was frozen in fear as she saw the hungry look in his eyes and the determination that grew with every stride he took.

Without warning, Raes lunged towards Loki and Thor. The inky blackness suddenly became streamlined and moved with incredible grace and speed. It was like an animal hunting for its prey, pouncing when the time was just right.

Pushing the two gods out of the way, Zila soon found herself tangled up in Raes' darkness.

Lina cried out for her, causing Fayne to turn around. He was met by Thor's hammer hitting him square in the jaw. It zoomed past him as he fell over onto the floor in shock, not entirely sure of what had happened.

Loki watched as Zila's body fell to the floor, lifeless. At first, he thought she was dead. Looking up, the mass of darkness was now twice as big, a glow of red and a glow of green being emitted from the demons' fight. Zila had come out of her human form to fight the demon that had brought her into the situation in the first place. He knew it was her battle to fight, but he felt helpless knowing his efforts would be for nothing if he were to try and assist her.

Focusing his attention on Lina, he sprinted for her. He shattered the shackles that gripped her neck and wrists and pulled her behind the throne. "Stay here," he ordered.

She was in shock, not knowing what to say. Lina sat feebly as she took a long look at Loki before he darted away from her, going to the aid of his brother.

It was brutal fight, Fayne standing at least a head taller than the two brothers. Thor struck Fayne with his hammer as many times as he could, Fayne returning the favor with blows from his fist. Loki used his daggers and spells when he could, but Fayne also had magic up his sleeve that he aimed towards the dark prince.

The seconds felt like minutes and the minutes felt like hours to Lina. She didn't dare peek out from behind the throne, fearing she would see something she didn't want to see or get hit by some stray spell. She felt the tears starting to roll down her face. They weren't because she was scared, though. She had quickly become frustrated with herself, not being able to help. After a while, she concluded that she was going to help in whatever manner she could. The strongest attribute she had at the moment was her magic.

Rising from behind the throne, Lina cast a spell randomly towards Fayne's face. She had no idea what that particular spell did, but it stunned him and caused one of his eyes to swell shut.

With more confidence, Lina started to join in with Loki and Thor to try and take down the sorcerer before he could do any real damage to her friends.

As she took in her surroundings, something caught her eye that she couldn't ignore.

Because Loki was so transfixed on fighting Fayne, he wasn't devoting a lot of his magic towards hiding his Jotun form. His hands were a blue that Lina had never seen before. She shot him a look of panic and fear when they made eye contact.

With that look, Loki's heart dropped. With his lack of focus, he soon got knocked off of his feet by Fayne and he hit his head hard on the floor beneath him. In a daze, he looked at the wall to his left just in time to see Lina go flying into it.

She curled up in pain, regaining the wind that had been knocked out of her. She tried to look up towards Fayne, barely making out the outline of Thor's hammer flying into the sorcerer once again. He was distracting him well, trying to give Lina and Loki time to recover.

Loki was on his feet first, stumbling to the left slightly as he tried to regain his bearings. His head was pounding and his ears were ringing. He looked towards Lina with a trace of sadness, then continued to assist his brother in the fight.

Lina's heart raced as she tried to process what she had seen. Her thoughts soon were distracted as she watched Zila and Raes fight on the other side of the room. The only thing that differentiated the two demons was the color that was emanating from their forms. White sparks flew out from random sides of the mass, Lina hoping it was Zila that was dealing more of the damage.

Almost immediately, she saw Thor and Loki fly in front of her vision and slam into the wall perpendicular to the one she crashed into. They groaned as their bodies adjusted to the blow. Thor's body was screaming in pain at him. Never had he met an opponent stronger than Fayne. He was a skilled fighter and was very good with his magic. It was unfortunate that he and his brother were no match for this sorcerer of old.

"You thought that you could stop my plans?" Fayne panted, facing the three wounded fighters. "You thought that you could save your precious realms and keep my evil at bay?"

He took a step with each sentence, his hands beginning to glow a dark color. The frost-bitten blisters on his hand were much worse now, but it wasn't slowing him down.

As much as Lina wanted to run, her body wouldn't allow it. It was already protesting enough that it pained her to lift her head.

"I. Always. Win," Fayne repeated. It sounded like more of a growl than anything else.

Without warning, an ear deafening scream rang out through the throne room and the castle. Fayne crouched down and covered his ears, unsure of the source by which it was coming from. It was as if something was dying one of the most excruciating deaths they could ever suffer from—like a person was being ripped limb from limb in a slow, agonizing torture.

Lina looked towards Loki and Thor. They too covered their ears, but unlike Fayne, they knew the source of the scream. They had heard it once before and although the shrieks were piercing, it was a welcome noise.

Fayne turned to the two battling demons and watched as Raes squirmed in Zila's wrath. Her powers were much weaker than Zila's due to Zila's extra contributions from Lina and Loki.

The group watched in awe as Raes' inky form began to separate and shake in mid-air.

"No…" Fayne whispered with wide eyes. "NO!"

With a bright light flooding the room, everyone shielded themselves from the powerful blast. It was nothing like what had happened between Loki and Lina when they had first met. This one was more forceful, pushing everyone back against the walls. A much louder scream was released as Raes let out her final wail.

Whatever glass windows were in the room shattered, glass raining down on Lina's head. She felt the pieces leave large and small cuts alike on her hands and arms, the sting reminding her that she was still alive.

Just as suddenly as the light came about, it stopped. Fayne was the first to look up as he saw only one dark form floating in the air in front of him. He was frozen in fear, unknowing of what was going to happen next.

None of this was supposed to happen. In his mind, he thoroughly regretted bringing back Maura from the dead. If he had come up with a better, more thought out back up plan, he would be ruling the nine realms at that very moment.

All of this realization came too late for him as he watched a small tendril of dark matter snake its way from the demon. It wrapped itself like a vine around his neck. He was too weak to fight back, his windpipe being crushed by the demon. He tried to reach up and pull Zila away, but Zila's grip was much too strong.

"How dare you," Zila started, "hurt my family."

He gasped for air, his dark eyes starting to glaze over with death.

Soon he fell to the floor, his body now as cold as his soul was. Thor stumbled over to him to ensure that he was dead, checking for a pulse. After confirming that their battle was over, he sat down on the floor next to Fayne's body, his and everyone else's deep breaths the only things heard in the room. The group watched as Zila's demon form flowed back into her human body.

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Steve was about to strike another demon with his shield when Natasha called out to him. He turned on his heel quickly to see her shocked face.

Wondering what had caused the sudden change in emotion, he turned to look at his surroundings. The people who had been possessed by Fayne's demons suddenly stopped what they were doing. They looked dumbfounded, as if they were no longer ruled by a leader, therefore didn't know what they were supposed to do.

Each demon then began to exit its host's body. One by one, the people fell to the ground, most grabbing their head and wondering what they were doing in the middle of New York trying to fight an Avenger. As each demon floated up, it disintegrated and screamed, just as Raes had screamed.

They knew then that it was over.

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Loki didn't know what to expect. He thought that when Zila reunited with her body, she would jump back up and be able to help them. But what happened was quite the opposite, causing his stomach to drop.

Crawling over to her, Lina watched as Zila's eyes fluttered open weakly. Her breaths were uneven and her voice had a slight rasp to it.

"Wh-wh-what happened?" Zila asked timidly, her gaze fixed on Lina's face. She felt relieved to see someone she had missed for so long. It was as if her purpose was fulfilled and she felt as if she had attained a great goal.

Lina took one of Zila's hands in hers and smiled reassuringly. "You did it. It's over." Zila's hand was alarmingly cold to Lina, but she ignored it and comforted her friend.

Zila forced a small smirk, but her face soon twisted into pain. Taking a deep breath, she looked up again. Lina was now joined by Thor and Loki, their faces hovering over the two women.

Between breaths, Zila said, "Thank you all for your kindness…I don't know what I would have done without you."

"Why are you talking like that, Zila?" Lina asked. She instantly began to panic. "Don't you dare…"

Zila smirked again as she looked at Lina steadily. "I guess when I was able to become my own host and prove that I could do better than what I was purposed for in the past," she started, wincing slightly, "I became more of a…pure being."

"No…no you can't go. You can't leave us…" Lina could feel the tears rolling down her face. She looked down at Zila's hand, then back up to Zila's face. "You promised you'd stay…"she whispered.

Thor looked away from the scene as he realized what Zila's sacrifice was. When Steve mentioned to Thor the gift that Zila had given him, that's when he knew that she had a secret she wasn't telling anyone. She knew wasn't going to return to Midgard. But she had been right—she was the pure sacrifice that they needed to defeat Fayne, and he felt guilty that it had to be her to lose her newfound life of being good.

Zila looked up at Loki. "No more throwing books," she teased.

He tried to smirk, but failed miserably. He too looked away from the scene as Lina's sobs started to grow louder.

"No…no…" she repeated, gripping Zila's hand tighter.

Zila's gaze floated up to the ceiling. She felt mentally at ease, as if all of her problems were melting away. "I'm sorry that I won't be there for the wedding."

Lina sobbed harder, resting her head on Zila's abdomen.

Lifting her hand and bringing it to Lina's cheek, Zila guided Lina's face to look at her. "You will make the most beautiful bride…"

The smile in her eyes was the last thing that faded away as her hand fell from Lina's face.

Zila was gone.

And here's a nice loooong chapter to make up for the weeks upon weeks that have been building up to this. I started writing and couldn't figure out a good spot to break it up so I just decided to put it all into one :)

Dreams in Azure: I should send you my chapters before I post them so I can get them proof read XD Thank you for catching all of my errors. And I can't thank you enough for your compliments on the story! I hope this chapter was to your liking

RosiePosie15: Do you approve of their Plan B? Now we'll see how things pan out from here. Hope you enjoyed the chapter

As usual, please comment/review me your thoughts! Thank you for the continued support and kind words!

With Love,
sparrowlina