AN Not too much happens in this chapter, but something is revealed at the end; I guess I should warn you it ends on a cliffhanger.
Disclaimer I Own Nothing.
Chapter 28 Pain and Truth
Saphira woke again a few hours later, opened her eyes, then moaned in pain as she became more awake but wishing she wasn't; if Loki hadn't already killed Malekith, Saphira would do it herself, because the more Saphira laid there awake, the more aware she became of everything, like how bad her body hurt again due to the pain potion beginning to wear off, Saphira felt a little tired, and her throat felt dry and needed a glass of water, and she had to pee. But Saphira was in too much pain to move, so she just laid there, listening to Loki's breathing; he still had his arm across her waist, opposite of the side with the injury. Saphira looked to the left to see Loki lying there asleep; he mumbled something and looked a little restless; other than that, he looked to be sleeping alright.
Saphira reached out to push his hair out of his face and stopped, seeing a bandage on in the crock of her arm, she hadn't noticed before, frowning. She looked to the left to see a metal rack with an empty IV bag that looked to have had blood in it, guess she had lost so much she needed some. Saphira looked away, not wanting to think about it anymore.
After a few minutes, Saphira's bladder decided she needed to go to the bathroom now. Groaning while holding on to her side, Saphira forced herself to set up; despite the pain it caused her, Loki's arm fell from her waist into her lap; she looked over to make sure she hadn't woke him, then slowly, and painfully turned to the edge of the bed, and put her feet on the floor.
Saphira hissed in pain and sat there a moment before grabbing hold of the metal rack and pulling herself up from the bed. She looked back to make sure Loki still hadn't woke before walking into the bathroom; using it was very painful and hard to sit down, then stand. When Saphira got done, she made it to the sink to wash her hands, then looked up in the mirror and was startled by what she saw looking back at her.
She looked so beaten up; cuts and bruises covered her arms and face; her neck was black and blue from where Algrim kept choking her, and she was very pale. Saphira also had two serious injuries. She both wanted and didn't want to see the stab wounds; Saphira lifted the night grown she somehow had not noticed she was wearing to see a bandage going around her side; Saphira undid and pulled away the gauze, to find stitches. She felt of them frowning, feeling upset. They were most definitely going to leave ugly scars on her body, the one in front where the sword entered, then the exit wound on her back; the wounds were going to make her ugly.
Seeing enough, Saphira put the bandaged back in place, then put down her grown; that was when she realized she was not only in different clothes but clean also, all the mud and blood gone from her body, her hair even had been washed, probably Loki's doing. Either by hand or by magic. Signing, Saphira turned and opened the door, went to step out out of the bathroom, stumbled and fell; Saphira swore and smacked the floor and just sat there for a few minutes, before trying to pull herself up, the noise must have woke Loki, because he was suddenly there, reaching down and helping Saphira to his feet.
"Saphira, darling, are you alright?" Loki asked, looking her over.
"Yes, just clumsy at the moment because it hurts to walk," Saphira replied.
"Then why are you up?" Loki asked, helping Saphira walk back to the bed.
"I had to go to the bathroom," Saphira told him as Loki helped her sit on the bed.
"You should have woke me to help you," Loki told her, now helping her move up in the bed and lean against the headboard.
"I can go to the bathroom on my own, Loki," Saphira told him as Loki pulled the blanket over her legs.
"How do you feel?" Loki asked, sitting on the edge of the bed, facing her.
"Painful," Saphira answered. "But I'm fine."
"I'm glad you're okay; I was frightened there for a while," Loki told her; Saphira reached out and slipped her hand in his.
"It'll take more than a Dark Elf to take me out," Saphira said. "You are stuck with me, I'm afraid."
"I'm glad, my love," Loki told her. Saphira gave him a small smile.
"What happened after I blacked out?" Saphira asked. "What did I miss."
"You passed out when I was teleporting us here, which almost scared your sister to death; I do not think I have ever seen her so frightened and panicked," Loki explained. "You were and probably still are in bad shape; Malekith putting his sword through you did a number on you; once Enid was able to calm down, she went into healer mode, is what Thor called it, she ordered him to get all kinds of potions and stuff from her office made me bring you in here, gave me a list of Midgardain medical supplies she needed, Mystique and I teleported to a hospital and got them. Then with the aid of a video on the internet, Enid operated on you, shockingly with Thor's assistants. She needed to fix your torn muscles and nerves; Enid also had to give you blood. Then sewed you up, with what she called stitches, you have been sleeping on and off for two days."
Saphira looked at the empty blood bag hanging there, then to her bedroom window to see the sun setting; the pain potion had knocked her out for the rest of the day.
"I owe my sister a big thank you?" Saphira said.
"I already thanked her enough for the both of us." Loki replied, "Enid and I may not have been getting along as we used to, but I will forever be grateful for her saving you."
"I knew Enid was smart, but she was able to operate on me from watching a video on the internet?" Saphira demanded, a little surprised.
"Indeed she did, " Loki replied, "If it had not been for her, I doubt you would be alive now; it was her using a combination of magic and Midgardain healing that saved you."
"You said Thor helped?" Saphira asked. "How? Wouldn't think that oaf would know anything about healing."
"He mainly just got Enid what she needed and handed her tools and held your wounds together while Enid stitched you up," Loki replied. "I was in here the whole time watching, refusing to leave your side."
"Yeah, I figured you were," Saphira answered. "Where is Enid now?"
"Probably in her room still asleep, she wore herself out trying to save you, on top of the amount of blood she had to give you," Loki answered. "I can wake her if you wish."
Saphira shook her head and yawned. "No, let her sleep. It sounds like she needs it; I could use a glass of water if you don't mind."
"Of course not, darling." Loki leaned in and kissed her forehead before standing. "Please do not get up while I'm gone."
"I won't," Saphira answered. "Promise."
Satisfied with her answer, Loki left the room. Saphira let out a sigh and looked down at her hands to see them shaking, what happened with the Phoenix still fresh in her mind, the images it showed her, and Loki's screams of pain she could not get out of her head, she would try though, until Saphira was ready to tell him what she agreed to. She had to get better before she could do anything like that anyway.
"Saphira." A loud voice suddenly yelled, making her jump. "You are awake, finally."
Saphira looked up to see Thor walking into her room, and for some strange reason, he had Mischief on his shoulder as if they were good buddies.
"Thor, you dumbass, you scared the hell out of me." Saphira frowned at her brother-in-law, who was now standing at the foot of her bed, smiling at her.
"You should be proud of yourself; you are a true warrior," Thor told her. "You did not give in, and you fought and refused to give up no matter your injury; I am proud to call you my sister."
"Sister-in-law." Saphira replied, frowning at him, "And what are you going on about, idiot? I was attacked while asleep in my prison cell."
"Still, you showed yourself a true Asgardain warrior," Thor replied; Saphira rolled her eyes. "The blue women told us all about your battle and how you refused to give up the aether no matter how many times Malekith stabbed you."
"I was mainly fighting to keep myself alive." Saphira lied. "And If you remember, dummy, I am no longer an Asgardain; you can think your father for that. And why do you have my cat?"
"Mischief is my friend," Thor explained, as the cat jumped off his shoulder onto the bed, then up to Saphira and sniffed at her neck; she pushed him away and started scratching behind his ear. At that moment, Loki came walking into the room carrying a glass of water; Enid right behind him, Loki stopped and glared at Thor.
"I told you not to come in here harassing my wife," Loki told him before walking around him and over to Saphira.
"Don't get upset, brother," Thor told Loki; Saphira smiled a little when she saw him roll his eyes. "I was just telling your wife she has proven herself a true Asgardain warrior."
"And as I said, I am no longer an Asgardain, and I'm not a warrior," Saphira said, glaring at Thor.
"Saphira, you may not be a citizen of Asgard any longer, but you are still Asgardain," Thor told her. "No one, not even father, can take that from you; it is in your blood."
"Ah, yes, an Asgardain no longer allowed on Asgard," Saphira mumbled, taking a drink of water.
"Saphira, "Thor said quietly and slowly. "I feel for you and Loki..."
"Thor." Saphira snapped, "If you were going to say Loki and I being lock-up was our own doing, then don't because you don't know what the hell you are talking about."
"Thor, leave her be," Loki demanded as he walked over and sat next to Saphira on his side of the bed.
"Or you will put me to sleep again, eh, brother?" Thor demanded; Loki glared at him and went to say something, but Enid spoke up
"Come on, let's not fight, please," Enid told them, then sat down in a chair next to Saphira's bed, pulled the covers up tightly around Saphira's waist, then carefully lifted her nightgown, and asked Loki to hold it in place, and began to undo the bandages around Saphira's waist.
"Sister, what are you doing?" Saphira demanded.
"Checking on how your injury is doing," Enid answered, "I'm also going to change your bandages and gauze."
"I thought Loki said you were asleep?" Saphira asked.
"I was, got up about an hour ago, it looks to be healing nicely," Enid said; as she looked over the wounds, she removed all the bandages from around Saphira, then got out more from the nightstand next to her so that she could put fresh ones on her.
"When Loki forced Mystique to explain to us what happened, I was a bit surprised by her answer; I couldn't believe you went through all that and refused to give up the aether," Enid told her.
"If I had given him the aether Malekith would have caused chaos and destruction with it, would you have wanted that?" Saphira demanded; Enid paused in putting on gauze and looked up at Saphira in surprise. "Besides, he attacked me while I was asleep and defenseless. The son of a bitch wasn't getting anything from me."
"Ah, yes, that last part makes sense; it's more like you," Enid replied, getting back to bandaging up Saphira's wounds. "I was worried there for a moment."
"Ha, ha, you are so funny, sister." Saphira rolled her eyes as Enid got done and put her grown down and stood.
"How do you feel?" Enid asked.
"With my fingers," Saphira joked, holding out her hand and wiggling her fingers.
"Be serious, sister," Enid demanded.
"If you truly want to know," Saphira replied, "I am in pain, I hurt, my whole damn body, especially my side and back, are killing me; I can barely stand it, but other than that, just marvelous."
"You're just like Loki, always a smart answer for everything," Thor replied. Saphira grinned a little.
"That's because great minds think alike," Saphira said; Loki smiled at that.
"Glad to see even though you are in so much pain, you're still the same old Saphira," Enid told her. She was relieved her sister was alert and talking, but she was still in a lot of pain; she was also pale and looked as if she had been to hell and back.
"Loki has not changed either; all he did when locked up was read, try to break out and smart off at everyone." Thor announced, "Oh, and he sewed."
"Sewed?" Saphira asked, looking at Loki as she handed Enid her empty glass to sit on the nightstand next to her.
"I made myself a new outfit, remember you did not like the old one," Loki explained. "I'll show you later when you are not in so much pain."
"And all that reading you were doing? You were trying to find out what happened when I went through the tesseract, weren't you?" She stopped talking once she realized what she said and turned to Enid and Thor, who was now frowning at her.
"Sister, what are you talking about?" Enid demanded; Saphira didn't say anything. Instead, she looked down at Mischief, who was glaring at Loki. "Answer me now; what are you talking about, and when did you go through the tesseract?"
It wasn't until Loki reached over and squeezed her hand before she was able to take a deep breath and explain what happened; she hated thinking about it; it still sent shivers down her spine, especially when she had just had another visit by the Phoenix just hours ago.
"When I was on Stark tower with Selvig waiting for Loki to show up, I got a little too close to the cube, and it kind of like sucked me in." Saphira explains, "I was floating in space, then this firebird shows up, above me, just staring, then suddenly flew at me, I know now it put the aether in me, then sent me back to Stark's roof."
"What's so special about this aether?" Enid demanded, "How is it so powerful?"
"It's the Reality Stone, well not a stone," Saphira said. "More liquid or sludgy stuff."
"Reality Stone?" Enid asked.
"Yes, you know what that is, Sister," Saphira answered. "Remember Grandmother told us stories about the Infinity Stones when we visited Alfheim as children..."
"Yes, I remember. Did the cube have one too?" Enid asks; Saphira nodded.
"Loki's scepter does too." Saphira pointed out.
"So, three Infinity Stones have shown up on Midgard lately?" Enid demanded. Saphira nodded. "And one was inside you?" Again Saphira nodded.
"Thor, is the tesseract still on Asgard?" Saphira asked, making Loki look at her suspiciously.
"It is," Thor replied. "In father's vault."
"Good, it can stay; it should be safe there," Saphira replied. "The Reality Stone is safe at the moment also. That's two; I wonder what SHIELD did with Loki's scepter?"
"Why does that matter, darling?" Loki asked; Saphira shrugged in answer.
"Can you tell me anything about the firebird you saw?" Enid asked.
"Please, sister, I wish not to speak of it now," Saphira told her, then shivered, making Loki get a bit concerned with Saphira's reactions to Enid's question.
"You are frightened of it," Thor commented; in surprise, Saphira forced a laugh.
"Me, please, I'm not frightened of anything," Saphira replied.
"Yes..."
"Thor, honey, stop, please," Enid ordered, then turned back to Saphira. "It would be helpful if you told me what it was. If you know."
"It calls itself the Phoenix Force," Saphira explained. "When it sucked me through the tesseract, it didn't say anything, just stared at me for the longest time, then came at me, flew through me, that's when it put the aether inside me."
"And the second time you encountered it?" Enid asked.
"Who said I encountered it a second time?" Saphira demanded.
"Considering you know what it's called, and you said the first time it didn't say anything," Enid said, Saphira groaned.
"Fine! " Saphira snapped. "Yes, I saw it after I blacked out after repeatedly getting stabbed; it told me what it was called and mentioned the stones.
"There is more to it than that, isn't there?" Enid asked; Saphira started petting Mischief.
"Yes, but it doesn't matter at the moment, sister; please, I don't want to think about it," Saphira answered, her voice raising a little.
"You don't have to right now, sweetheart." Loki spoke up, "Just calm down."
The room fell into an uncomfortable silence as Saphira went on petting Mischief.
"I have a question." Thor said, "What happened with the aether?"
"I'm not sure about the aether, but Phoenix said the Reality Stone is no longer in it," Saphira said. "Said when I pulled it back from Malekith I was wielding the actual stone."
"Okay, then what happened to the stone?" Thor asked.
"I hide it where only two people have access to it," Saphira answered.
"Where did you hide it?" Loki asked.
"First, I put it in the necklace that belonged to my great grandmother," Saphira explains. "Then I sent the necklace to your pocket dimension,"
Loki smirked; that was a smart move on Saphira's part; it meant the stone wasn't even in this dimension anymore, and he and Saphira were the only ones who could get to it while there.
"Why did Malekith want it so badly?" Enid asked.
"Same reason he wanted it last time, most likely," Loki replied. "To bring darkness to the nine realms, and make war and distraction without, in a way Saphira saved the realms not letting him have it and putting up a fight, and my wife didn't even need the Phoenix to do so."
Saphira was surprised to hear the pride in Loki's voice as he made a book appear in his hand and opened a marked page, and held it out to Enid.
"Your great grandmother, Queen Aurelia, who has a striking resemblance to Saphira; called on the Phoenix force to help in the first battle over the aether; after the battle, Phoenix gave Aurelia the aether to protect she did so by being its host but was not strong enough, and it slowly drained her, feeding on her energy until she died a few months later," Loki told her.
"Can I see her picture?" Saphira asked; Enid held the book out for her to take. "I know her; there is a portrait of her hanging in the thrown room on Alfheim."
"Aurelia the brave and kind." Enid said, "We haven't been there in so long. I hadn't realized Saphira grew up to look so much like her."
"The aether did not kill Saphira, though," Thor pointed out. "She's a little pale and weak-looking, but I believe that is from..." He stopped talking when Loki glared at him.
"Thanks a lot," Saphira said sarcastically.
"She's a lot stronger than her ancestor," Loki explained, "I believe the fact she is half Asgardian has something to do with it."
"We're hybrids, basically," Enid put in, "not only that, but Saphira holds a great deal of power, something she never realized herself, because she has never been good at magic, spells enchantments that kind of thing."
"God, you managed to compliment me and insult me in one sentence," Saphira said; she was starting to get annoyed with everyone talking as if she wasn't there.
"I apologize, Sister; I did not mean to," Enid told her.
"I'm not powerful anyway," Saphira denied. "I can do fire tricks, make things grow, big deal."
"You have power over nature, and the elements, that itself, shows how powerful you are, darling," Loki said. "Plus, Odin granted you and your sister godhood upon birth, meaning your powers like mine and Thor are greater than the advantage Asgardian."
"I'm guessing Malekith isn't the only one after the stones," Enid spoke up.
"Indeed," Loki replied and rubbed his face. "And there is someone far worse than Malekith after them."
"We do have to find the rest of the infinity stones and protect all of them," Saphira suddenly said, "Or at least that's what the Pheonix told me we had to do."
"What are you talking about?" Enid asked.
"When the Pheonix came to me again." Saphira frowned, "Said I was to find and protect the stones, keep them safe from those after them; they chose me."
Loki just stared at Saphira as she looked close to tears. Thanks to his research, he knew what Saphira was talking about and didn't like it, but right now wasn't the time to think of this; Saphira's recovery was more important than any stones, so he decided the conversation could wait.
"We'll talk about it later," Loki told her. "Rest now, just concentrate on healing, love. We'll figure it out once you are better."
"I can't believe I am saying this, but listen to Loki," Enid replied. "Just calm down, get some rest; I am sure your body could use it."
"But we need..."
"Don't worry about it right now, darling, " Loki added. "I am not going anywhere; we have time to talk about it when you are better."
"You promise?" Saphira asked.
"I promise," Loki told her.
"All of us will be here with you." Enid put in.
"Even dumbass?" Saphira demanded. Enid couldn't help but grin.
"Even Thor," Enid assured her.
"Good," Saphira said, "I like having all my family with me."
"I have another question," Thor said as Mischief ran up the bed back to him, laid down in front of Thor.
"Of course you do," Loki mumbled.
"Who else is after the stones?" Thor asked, "If we know, we could stop them."
"No, " Loki snapped, "There is no way of stopping him, brother, so forget it."
"The best way to stop him and get revenge on him is to stop him from getting the stones," Saphira told Loki. "Once we have them, we can go after him and take him out."
"Darling, going after him isn't a good idea," Loki replied. "You shouldn't even be thinking it."
"That's all I can think about," Saphira said, "He hurt you, let his minions hurt you, he has to pay. And if he's so powerful, then we need the stones to take him and his minions out."
"Go after who? Take who out?" Thor demanded.
Loki said nothing; he just watched as Saphira went on about getting the stones to take Thanos out; he couldn't remember seeing her like this before, so vengeful, Loki didn't like it, nor did Loki like her wanting to go after Thanos and his black order, that will only get them both killed, Loki didn't know why Thanos hadn't sent anyone after them for their failed attempt to take over Midgard, maybe Thanos threat had been buff, or Thanos thought finding the stones were more critical, Loki didn't care the reasoning as long as Thanos stayed away from them, he just wanted to take Saphira back into space and travel the galaxy not staying in one place so be more challenging for anyone to track them down. But it seems like Saphira had other ideas.
"Loki, are you even listening to me?" Saphira snapped; Loki looked at her in surprise. Saphira has never snapped at him before, and as she just went carrying on her conversation, Loki was pretty sure she didn't even realize she had.
Loki signed and stood, walked a little way, then sat back down on the edge of the bed, turn facing Saphira. Then put his arm over her waist but not touching it cause of her wound; he had his palm flat on the mattress so he could lean in close to her.
"Saphira, look and me and listen," Loki said, in a serious but not demanding tone; she did as he asked. "I too would love to get back at Thanos and his minions as you put it, but that isn't a good idea, stones or not, it will only get us both killed or worst when you feel better, the best thing for us to do is go somewhere where no one..."
"I'm not hiding from anyone." Saphira interrupted him. Loki looked down a moment, then back up at Saphira when she started talking again. "Even if we did drop the revenge thing, we still need to find those stones, keep him from getting them."
"Why?" Loki demanded, "Let Thor get the Avengers to do it; they are Earth's so-called heroes, are they not?"
"It has to be me," Saphira said, "Pheonix said so, said the Infinity Stones chose me, I already told you this."
"Then tell Phoenix you do not want to do it." Loki ordered, "You can refuse...
"I already agreed to do it," Saphira told him. "I'm the new Guardian of the Infinity Stones; Phoenix opened up my connection to them. There is no going back. I can not change my mind.
Loki stood and walked a little from the bed, then turned around and walked back while running his hand through his hair; Messing it up, then dropped his hand looked down at Saphira, who was watching him. Both Thor and Enid stood in silence, watching what was the closest to an argument the two ever had.
"Why would you do that?" Loki demanded, raising his voice. "Why would you agree to something that will put you in so much danger?"
Saphira didn't answer. First, she looked down at Mischief, who had stood up, hissing at Loki; and ran back up the bed to her; Saphira put the cat in her lap and started petting him.
"A few reasons," Saphira said, softly still not looking up at him. "I was scared, Malekith had just attacked me, I was asleep in my cell, unaware of the aether in me, when suddenly out of the blue the prison is being attacked, I get stabbed, blacked out and suddenly I was in space, no not space, I don't know where I was it was nothing but darkness. Then the Phoenix showed up. That thing scares the hell out of me. She started talking, explaining things, showing me visions, and she showed me flashes of what they did to you; I don't know; I was scared, hurt, angry, and confused, I agreed to get it to stop the visions; I couldn't take them anymore."
"Shh, it's okay," Loki said, sitting back down next to her and wrapped his arms around her. "Do not get upset, darling, it's okay. I'll help you, and it will be fine, we'll get all the stones, give them to the Phoenix, tell her to guard the damn things since that's its job, then we can go off and be happy together somewhere, anywhere you want is fine with me."
"I'm sorry," Saphira said, "Please don't be mad..."
"I'm not; I never could be mad at you," Loki told her. Saphira gave him a small smile but then looked down again.
"I'm just tired of everyone hurting us," Saphira mumbled; Loki pulled her to him again and held her, he knows she meant more than just physically hurting them, and now that he thought about it, her seeing those visions, her need for revenge made sense, he hadn't gone into detail when telling her of what happened to him, Loki didn't want to upset her and didn't want her to go after them and get herself killed, yeah she vowed to make them pay when Loki told her but thought she would forget in time, especially when not crossing paths with them. Now with getting the stones, he hoped she dropped it and just agreed to his plan; he'll wait until she was healed and thinking clearly before talking to her. His wife has been through a lot, was in pain, and with everything else, she wasn't thinking clearly at the moment.
"I'm sorry, I raised my voice." Loki apologized. "But I already almost lost you once; I will never forget the feeling of terror I felt when I thought you were going to die."
"I'm sorry I didn't think of how you would feel if I agreed," Saphira replied. "I was selfish to agree."
"No, you were not." Loki disagreed. "The Phoenix tricked you; no married prison who truly loves their spouse wants to witness them in pain."
"We'll try it your way first, I want go after Thanos and his minions." Saphira said, "Instead, we find the stones, then give them all to the Phoenix, and tell it to stick them up its ass. And then go live happily ever after."
"Not exactly what I said, darling," Loki said, chuckling, "But close enough."
"You'll need help." A voice said; they all turned to the doorway; Mystique was standing there leaning against the door frame.
"Mystique, you're still here," Saphira said happily; to see her friend was okay after everything. "I'm glad you're okay."
"Don't get mushy on me, brat." Mystique said, standing up straight and walking into the room. Brat was Mystique's favorite thing to call Saphira, and Saphira usually replied by calling Mystique a bitch. Yeah, they had a weird friendship.
"How could you help?" Loki demanded.
"You'll need to trick people." Mystique said, "I can help with that." Loki frowned as Mystique turned into Saphira right before their eyes.
"That's creepy," Saphira said as Mystique turned back to herself.
"I'm also good in fights, don't hesitate to kill if I have to, or even if I don't have to; I can also be pretty cunning and manipulative if I do say so myself." Mystique replied.
"Why would you want to help?" Loki demanded.
"Number of reasons." Mystique said, walking up to the bed. "For one, the brat is my friend, but mostly." She looked Loki right in the eyes and turned into a younger-looking woman with black hair, and green eyes, and an uncanny resemblance to him, especially his female form.
"I was hoping if I helped, you would forgive me for abandoning you in a temple on Jontunheim, 1048 years ago." Mystique answered.
The next chapter will be Mystique's story; it isn't much known about Mystique's earlier life, so I took what was known and added more to fit into my story.
And if I understood the movies correctly, the aether houses the reality stone, so I'm guessing it can come out, which is how Thanos used it; I don't know the whole aether thing was a little confusing to me. But in my story, the reality stone isn't in the aether but Saphira's necklace.
About Mischief, I thought it would be funny if Saphira's cat likes Thor, but not Loki, so that was done just for comedy reasons.