Chapter 38
"Wake up...Vitalini you must wake up," a gentle voice called out to her deep into her unconsciousness. Vitalini resisted wanting nothing more than to stay there forever where the pain was so blessedly absent. "Wake up!" The unfamiliar and unexpected female voice shook Vitalini awake. Her eyes snapped open her body immediately reacting to prepare itself for the pain she fully expected to feel but for whatever reason could not remember why. Yet, the pain didn't come. Her body only felt numb.
Vitalini woke to darkness, the familiar cold and terrifying darkness from her nightmares. Recognizing the darkness that surrounded her panic set in, taking over her completely. And with that recognition memories came flashing back to her. Vitalini saw Thanos' fist through her chest, felt the pain of the experience. She saw Loki as he held her his eyes lost and begging for her to stay with him. Her hand rose to her chest fully expecting for it to come away full of blood but instead found the wound completely gone as if it had never been. Even her gown was pristine its emerald satin flowing softly around her.
"Loki!" Vitalini called out gaining her feet and running into the darkness in search of her lover. "Loki!" she continued to call out searching for some light in that darkness. Tears streamed the sobs that wracked her body leaving her breathless in her desperate search. Blind in the darkness something caught her foot sending her stumbling to the ground. Vitalini sat there allowing the tears to stream her numb body refusing to move.
"Follow my voice," the same unfamiliar voice called out to her through the darkness.
"Who's there?" Vitalini demanded her breathes heavy with fear stepping toward the direction that voice. Despite the fear there was something that told Vitalini that she could trust the gentle voice calling out to her. Somehow it even seemed familiar but yet she could not place it.
"Follow my voice," the unseen woman called out again drawing her further into the darkness.
Taking the risk Vitalini followed. She walked and then walked some more until she felt as if she had been walking for hours- and years. With each step she went deeper into the darkness the voice driving her on.
Then suddenly everything snapped. Vitalini felt the change, the black void melted away revealing a whole new world that seemed- strangely familiar. Gone was the darkness as she found herself standing in the middle of an ancient but beautifully preserved city hidden within the flowering branches of a forest. The sun that rose high in the bathed the land in a silver glow reminding Vitalini of the moonlight on the river's surface. To see that cool mysterious glow light up the world around her it was all so beautifully it stole her breath. There was one building that loomed above the others; a mighty castle made of polished stone reflected the silver rays of the sun making it shine like a beacon within the forest.
Slowly making her way toward the castle Vitalini marveled at the tree leaves rustled gently in the cool breeze
"Welcome to your home," the same woman's voice spoke calmly this not echoing within the darkness but seeming to come from directly behind her. On instinct Vitalini spun her eyes widening at the sight she found waiting for her. A woman tall and elegant stood there staring back her silver eyes gleaming in the light. Her lean figure lined with delicate curves emphasized by the flowing white satin gown that draped her form and perfectly braided silver blond hair set with blue diamond's made her seem like a ray of the strange sun's light as if she were part of that world. Even as the thought crossed her mind Vitalini knew that the woman was very much part of this strange world she found herself in.
Vitalini stared at the woman openly her beauty nearly awe inspiring and yet so frightening. There was something undeniably frightening about the woman- she felt some strange connection to this strange woman. There was something so familiar and yet Vitalini knew she had never seen the woman before in her life.
"This is where you should have grown up," the woman suddenly spoke her silver gaze looking sadly upon the stone castle. "That window at the top is the nursery I had created just for you."
"What is this place?" Vitalini demanded her mind reeling chaotically as she tried to center herself. In all of her confusion the woman's words did not even register fully in her mind before she asked her first question.
"A memory imprint of mine," the woman answered indulgently turning to looking at Vitalini sorrow still glimmering in her luminous expressive eyes. "Alfiem before Thanos destroyed it all."
Gracefully the woman stepped closer her steps nearly silent on the forest floor. Vitalini could only stare in wonder as she approached her.
"I am your mother,"
"I don't have a mother," Vitalini replied flippantly before she could give the response much thought.
"You would have had fate not been so unkind," was the matter of fact answer she received. The matter of fact manner in which the woman spoke incited a rather unpleasant memory in Vitalini's mind allowing for her to see the string of truth that was beginning to stitch the pieces of the puzzle that was her life together.
"The story Thanos spoke of- the Light Fae- he said he destroyed this world," Vitalini began looking about only to see a perfectly intact and beautiful world.
"Thanos destroyed our world," the woman replied almost angrily. "I told you this place is only an after image created from my own memories
"Then how can I be here?" Vitalini than questioned trying to perceive all that was happening to her, still unsure if any of it was actually real.
"We didn't have a chance," the woman's story continued seeming to ignore Vitalini's question. Yet, still hoping that she would receive an answer she remained quiet allowing for the story to be told. "We were a peaceful people, war never touched us here. We never had a need for warriors training as those of Asgard. Even I with all my powers gifted to me by my royal blood I could not defeat such a foe. Today there are few of our kind left, wandering in a world that was left a barren dark after image of what it once was."
"I don't understand."
"Of course you don't you never knew who you were," the woman sighed walking to Vitalini her hand raised to her, reaching out to touch her.
"Alright who am I," Vitalini demanded stepping out of the woman's reach still unsure if she should trust what she was seeing. The woman sighed sadly once more watching Vitalini pull away her hand dropping in understanding.
"I am Queen Tatiana of the Fae and you Vitalini are my heir."
"How is that possible?" Vitalini asked her head reeling from such unexpected news. "I understand that you were queen but what does having royal blood have anything to your power?"
"As I spoke of earlier the Light Fae are not natural warriors. We can live for centuries yet we are not immortal like the Asgardian gods. We are peaceful people of the world of light who rely on magic to create and maintain the peace within our world," Tatiana spoke diplomatically her eyes never leaving Vitalini's silently begging for her daughter to understand.
It was a shame that she had never gotten to grow up knowing her own history, her own heritage. But even so, Tatiana could only image that it was yet another thing that had inevitably drawn her daughter and the Asgardian prince together even if the boy had not known the truth about his own parentage at the time. It was almost as if from the very beginning fate had been drawing the two of them together. The cruelty of the situation did not go unnoticed by Tatiana. She had watched her daughter find such happiness in Prince Loki's arms and she had seen how changed Loki had become thanks to Vitalini's influence. They had been drawn together it seemed only to be ripped apart by yet another touch of fate in Vitalini's ties to the Infinity Gem.
"Our magic is powerful and our lives long but war and battle is not our place. Those of royal blood are the only ones who could ever harness enough power to be considered as such
"But if I wasn't actually born...the gem was my life...I am the gem...I am not...Fae...I am not... anythi...," Vitalini stuttered attempting in vain to hold back the tears that the bitter realization brought to sting at her eyes.
"You are my daughter," Tatiana stopped her mid stutter her voice the adamant demand of a queen. "There is no more to say but that."
"What difference does that take now...why am I here...why are you here!" Vitalini demanded growing tired of this situation feeling the painful pounding in her head not helping her at all. All she could think about was what was happening to Loki at the very moment.
Vitalini wanted so badly to cry and embrace her mother but the happiness she should have gotten from such a moment was dashed by fear. The loneliness she had once felt as a child believing herself unwanted and unloved in the absence of parents or even the smallest memory of a parent had been washed away by Loki. To her he was her everything- her past and present- and she had hoped he would be her future. But now in death there was no more chance of that. Even so she could not bear the thought of his life being lost before his own future had the chance to come to pass.
"My biggest regret in life is never having the chance to watch you be born, to hold you in my arms and watch you grow up," Tatiana spoke gently sensing Vitalini's distress she stepped closer placing a comforting hand on the young woman's shoulder. "When Thanos attacked you had yet to be born but when he struck me down the power he sought found me."
"The gem?" Vitalini stated the question useless as she already knew all too well what Tatiana referred to.
"The gem of 'space' possesses the power of existence," Tatiana nodded in agreement. "It sensed the life within me beginning to flicker out of existence as I lay dying. You were dying because you were still within me but in reality you still had the chance to live. In my final moments I felt that power pass through me taking that life with it- taking you," this time it was Tatiana's silver eyes that shimmered with unshed tears. "The moment I felt it I knew what was happening and so in that last moment before you were ripped from me I used the last bit of strength and magic I possessed to seal a piece of my consciousness within you."
Vitalini stared at the beautiful image of her long lost mother shock crossing her face. It was a strange knowledge knowing that in all the years she had lived without a mother her mother had in turn, at least in part, had always been there watching over her. Once more the happiness that she felt in such knowledge was diminished by the rage that swirled and mixed within her knowing that once again Thanos had stolen something more from her.
"I watched you grow from an orphan on the streets. I watched you arrive at the palace of Asgard where you met the young princes. I watched you fall in love and I watched as you became the most selfless loving woman who was willing to sacrifice herself for those she loved most. You, with your selflessness and pure soul more than any deserve to rest in Valhalla."
"But I can't!" Vitalini cried not ready to accept leaving the Loki and the other behind to fight a battle that had in truth started with her. "Not yet."
"I am willing to give you a choice my daughter," Tatiana ended Vitalini's arguments with a gentle kind voice her raised hand signaling for Vitalini's silence. "Come to Valhalla with me to finally have some peace or let me use the last connection to my power to reawaken the true power of the Fae the resides within you."
"What does that mean?"
"The gem suppressed the Light Fae side of you when it reformed your soul around it as a shield. The magic you at times displayed was both that of the gem but also some of your Light Fae heritage breaking through the barriers containing it. You are right to say that the gem has in a sense taken over your body, its power intricately tied to your life making impossible to survive without it. Yet your Light Fae blood still lays dormant within you- the gem could not take that piece of yourself from you because it already existed. With the gem extracted from your body it is free to be released from its bonds."
"I am sensing a 'however' coming," Vitalini replied tensely her head spinning with all the information Tatiana spoke of.
"Your wound was mortal even by Light Fae and Asgardian standards," Tatiana replied nodding sadly in agreement with her daughter's assumption. "Such a transformation cannot heal you enough to live. It will heal your body only enough for you to use that power for what little time it can give you. Yet the power will be great, enough to stand against Thanos and his gems."
"How long?" Vitalini asked adamantly the knowledge of such power being possible inciting her curiosity. However, being honest with herself she could not deny that possibility of seeing Loki again was just as much of a driving factor as being able to stand a chance against Thanos. Even the pain of inevitably losing him once more would make it all worth it.
"With a wound such as yours...minutes."
"Then I will make the most of it and send Thanos to rot in hell," Vitalini replied in a simple matter of fact manner already having made her decision.
"Please listen to me my child. The power is only momentary and when it wanes your chance to enter Valhalla will have passed," Tatiana stopped Vitalini begging her to listen to her, wanting her to consider the choice more closely and not act too rashly. "I can only offer you this because the life you should have had was taken from you of a Universal Force and it is to be your gift for having that life unwillingly stolen from you. But you must be sure, because if you chose to go back to Earth for those few brief moments you understand the consequences. Your wound will not disappear with the awakening of your power and it will only be painful and hard on your body. You have died twice, a third time and death will taint you; the same sort of taint that draws souls into Niflheim ruled by Hela. You will not be offered a place in Valhalla if you take this choice. It is why I ask you to choose to come with me. Be at rest," Tatiana begged taking her daughter into her arms holding her close not wanting to let go hoping for her to chose for the first time what was best for her and her alone.
"How can I be at rest?" Vitalini asked sadly taking a moment to revel in the embrace of her mother. Sighing deeply Vitalini drew away from her mother's embrace silver eyes meeting blue and in that moment Tatiana already knew all too too well what decision her daughter would make "I need to go back. I must save Loki. If I don't what kind of peace is that?" Vitalini finished begging for the same understanding her mother begged of her.
"Are you sure?" Tatiana asked calmly sighing in deep resignation of the answer she would undoubtedly receive.
"Loki needs me," was the only reply that Vitalini gave.
"He does not deserve this," Tatiana told her tensely still hoping to change her daughter's mind to save her soul.
"Yes, he does," Vitalini shot back offense at the perceived insult against Loki her eyes flaring icy blue and her body tensed ready to continue to defend him if necessary.
"Very well then, it seems that you shall rise again," Tatiana sighed knowing that Vitalini would not back down. Her daughter truly was a remarkable creature willing to give up her place where her soul could finally find peace
You are deserving of the name I would have given you had I been given the chance to give birth to you
"Which is?" Vitalini asked curiously watching as her mother stepped away
"Phoenix," Tatiana replied with her serene gentle smile curving her lips as she seemed to shimmer away like the silver mist.
Suddenly the a ray of the silver sun shot down engulfing Vitalini so quickly that she didn't even have the opportunity to do more than gasp. As the light surrounded her Vitalini fully expected to feel herself burn in the intensity only to be surprised in finding that her body was instead wrapped a gentle warm light. All there was around her was light- warm- comforting and powerful. She felt it fill her, welling up from within filling every pore with the powerful light. Somehow she knew, this power was the same power of her ancestors, those that had perished in Thanos' attack years ago. Light was their element, the force that flowed through all the elements giving them power and life. It was there's to control just as it was now her's. For the first time as the magic filled her it was easy, she did not have to force it out but rather it was simply there the door and chains keeping it from her shattering to dust.
Thanos had killed them but that was all in the past. Vitalini felt the anger towards Thanos grow. He would pay for everything, all the lives they have taken, the destruction he's caused and for the pain, suffering and death he had put so many through.
Twice Thanos had killed her but now she was taking this chance. As the power of light filled her reawakening all that had once been out of her reach Vitalini felt something more join it, something familiar that continued to linger within her. Vitalini was different she was a simple Asgardian. Vitalini was the daughter of a queen. She was Light Fae with powerful magic running through her veins. . She was something more powerful than even that-and in every sense Thanos had helped make her into what she was.
This time she would not be so easy to kill.
With this power the light was hers to control, manipulate the elements in whatever way she wished filling them with her magic. The light called out to her, absorbing into her because of what she was. All the while the light continued to swirl chaotically around her making the beautiful world that had once been that of the Light Fae disappeared.
"Be brave," her mother's disembodied voice spoke out to her through the light. "Be strong. Die with honor my Phoenix. Die for love."
Vitalini could not see her mother's face yet she sensed pride even in the sadness of what was to come. And with that the voice faded away the light bursting around her like an explosion. All its power absorbing into her body releasing something buried deep within her. Vitalini felt it flow as if a dam within had broken, filling her with a power so strong and strange but even so it felt so natural and familiar.
As she fell Vitalini envisioned Loki, the man she loved more than anything else in all the nine realms knowing she would soon see him again. Her mind rang loudly with her mother's warnings of the fate that awaited her when her time for her return came to a close. She was reminded of the very beginning; the day she faced her greatest fear of having to walk away from Loki. That was the suffering she was afraid to suffer. Loki's salvation was all she ever wanted. And what she was unwilling to live with was for Loki to finally find himself once more only for his life to be cut at the hands of Thanos. With that thought in mind, the vision of Loki pulled her through the voice and she knew without a doubt it would take her back to him. Suddenly the light exploded out of her blinding Vitalini in its glow and everything disappeared in a blinding ray of silver light as Vitalini felt herself fall through the void.