Welp. Listen….we all know what's about to happen here. And even though we know this is not Loki's true end, this chapter was still difficult to write. Ohhh Loki why did you have to do this to Tessa? Anyways. As always, feel free to let me know what you think! I live and breath for your reviews guys! They always make me so happy! Alright, here's your daily disclaimer that I have no rights to Marvel or any of it's characters. Hope you like it. Xoxo-NickyLynn
It seemed that Tessa needed far more than a moment's rest. Once she was deep in the folds of slumber, it refused to give her back up. She had only meant to close her eyes for a minute, but her body was more drained than she thought and soon she found herself curling up on the bow of the ship, swept away into a deep, nightmare-ridden sleep. Loki watched as Thor pulled a blanket that he had found on board out, and swept it over her body. They watched as her eyes moved back and forth under her closed lids, caught in the midst of a dream. She let out a whimper as her eyebrows furrowed together, tormented by something they could not see. "Such a dotting brother." Loki remarked as Thor brought a comforting hand up and down Tessa's arm, trying to soothe whatever haunted her. "It must have been so nice having a new sibling to help you comfort you from the disappointment I have wrought upon you."
"Is that what you think of her? That she was taking your place in our lives?" Thor asked, looking back to him with a lifted brow.
"I think that the shine from the return of the golden princess helped cast an awfully large shadow over the prince you were all so eager to forget." Loki said disdainfully.
"Poor Loki. Always standing in the shadow of an Odin, is that it?" Thor scoffed at him. "Tessa has shown you nothing but kindness and offered you trust, and yet you would think upon her with such animosity?"
"You have no idea what I think." Loki bit out at him.
"Don't I?" Thor challenged. "Tessa comes back into our lives as you are locked away and is showered with the affection of a family which was stripped from you. Your jealousy is palpable brother." Loki snapped his jaw shut, for there was a part of him that knew that Thor was right. He was jealous, but not of her. "And to think she has given you so much time over these past months. Tessa has shown you kindness and you return it with contempt. Do you realize she practically fought tooth and nail with Odin to give her that time with you? He didn't want to give it. It was only because she demanded it of him that he granted it. She told him, out of all the things she could have desired, that she wanted the chance to get to you know as we once did."
Loki was quiet for a moment, as he never knew Odin had tried to stop her from visiting him, but of course it didn't surprise him that Odin had tried to rob him of that too. "Your jealousy is palpable, brother." Loki responded after a moment.
"And your indifference is maddening." Thor told him, upset that Loki seemed to be treating Tessa with such disdain. "And if she were to die from this force slowly draining the life from her, would that satisfy you?" he bit out at him, hoping to elicit a real reaction from him.
"Satisfaction is not in my nature." Loki shot back, refusing to give Thor the reaction he was searching for.
"And surrender is not in mine." Thor responded, growing weary of Loki's callousness.
Loki let out a bitter laugh at that, shaking his head. "The son of Odin." He said in deep mocking voice.
"No, Loki, not just of Odin!" Thor yelled out at him, coming to a stand. "Do you think you and Tessa were the only ones loved by Mother?!" he demanded of him. "You had her tricks, but I had her trust!"
"Trust?" Loki repeated in anger. "Is that what her last expression was? Trust!?" He growled back, the turn in conversation drudging up an anger in him that yearned for violence. "When you let her die?!"
"What help were you in your cell?!" Thor fired back at him, stepping up to him angrily.
"Who put me there?" Loki asked, angry tears burning in his eyes. "WHO PUT ME THERE!?" he bellowed out with rage-filled words.
"YOU KNOW DAMN WELL WHO!" Thor shouted back, throwing Loki back against the back wall, towering over him with a raised fist.
"ENOUGH!" Tessa yelled out, sending a blast of energy out at Thor, sending him stumbling away from Loki. All their arguing had woken her, and they turned to find her watching them with dark, discolored eyes, her shoulder heaving up and down in deep breaths, their words rising hurt and anger in her that made it difficult to control herself. "If you wish to blame someone for Frigga's death, then blame me!" she shouted over to them. "It was I who brought the Aether into Asgard! It was I was watched as that beast slid his blade into her! It wasn't you!" She said, casting a hand towards Loki. "Or you!" she said, doing the same towards Thor. "It was me! Her blood is on my hands!" She yelled out at them, pain-filled tears dripping down her cheeks. "Frigga is dead because of me!" she exclaimed before stumbling back against the frame of the boat as a wave of dizziness sent her vision swimming. She latched onto the edge as she caught her breath, before looking over at the two men again. "And if you both would stop trying to pick at the faults of the other for five bloody minutes then you would see that." She breathed out. "Honestly, the two of you always trying to outdo the other is exhausting. God knows how Mother was able to put up with it for over a thousand years." She complained, rubbing at her still-pounding head.
"Tessa-" Thor began, not sure what to say.
"Now I may not have known her as well as the two of you and now I never will, but I do know that she loved us….all of us…and she would not want the two of you fighting. You're brothers for Christ's sake, weather that's by blood or not. Why don't you get over yourselves and start acting like it." She said, letting herself drop back down on her bottom, suddenly so unbelievably tired of it all.
"She's right." Thor said, having the decency to look abashed. "Mother would not want us to fight."
"Well, she wouldn't exactually be shocked." Loki said back to him, the anger in him dissipating into a small rise of humor as the corner of his lip pulled up at Thor. The smile dropped when he remembered Tessa's previous words. He looked back over at her form, slumped against the side of the boat and something broke in his heart as he watched her. "No one blames you for Frigga's death, Rania." He told her softly, suddenly realizing how foolish it was to blame Thor when he couldn't even find it in him to blame her.
"I do." She muttered back despondently, letting her head fall against the ledge. She let out a sigh, rubbing at her burning eyes before memories of the dream she had been swept into filled her. "We're going to stop Malekith." She said determinedly, brining her gaze back down on Thor and Loki. "But if we're going to do this, it has to be together. Which means you've got to stop fighting and trust each other." She told them.
Thor looked over at Loki, shaking his head sadly at him. "I wish I could trust you." He said with a joyless laugh, moving back from him, over towards Tessa.
Loki's eyes followed him. "Trust my rage." He said dangerously.
They continued over the dark and gloomy terrain of the Dark World, moving closer to where she could feel the Aether pulling her. Tessa could feel the Aether drawing her to Malekith, the two dark forces yearning to be together again. She directed Loki where to steer them and after a while they watched as one of the long elven ships descended through the clouds in the distance.
"Malekith is on that ship." Tessa said, turning to face Loki.
"Bring us down here." Thor instructed him. "We need to devise a plan." So, Loki brought them down and that's what they did. After they hashed out the best plan they could come up with, given the vast amount of variables, they made their way closer to where Malekith had brought down his ship. They crept onto a ridge that overlooked the ship, finding a large group of dark elves emerging out from the ship, all brandishing weapons. They were heading in their direction, following behind Malekith and the creature who had murdered Frigga.
Tessa could feel a roll of anger emanate from her gut from the sight of the large creature. Her muscles tensed up as the memory of Frigga's death passed across her mind and she had to take a steadying breath. "You ready for this?" Thor asked her from her left.
Tessa sucked in a deep breath, letting the pain and anger in her help fuel the power that was boiling so closely under her skin, begging to be released. "I am." Loki said from her right, before Tessa could respond. She looked over at him, then back to Thor before nodding.
"Let's end this." She said as they all stepped out onto the ridge, letting themselves come into view. They looked down and Tessa locked sight with Malekith, him having sensed the Aether stirring within her.
"You know, this plan just might get us killed, right?" Loki said, looking over at Thor and Tessa.
"Possibly." Thor responded, knowing the odds were not really in their favor.
"Well, I'm dead either way, so." Tessa said, shrugging. "Mind as well go out guns blazing." She said, turning towards Loki and taking hold of his cuffs with her powers and releasing him from his binds. "You're up." She told him, locking eyes with him for a moment. "Make it believable."
"Yes, well, I'll try not to enjoy this too much." Loki told her with a smile before she stepped back, and Loki walked over to Thor before he reeled back and struck him in the chest, sending him back over the ridge, rolling down its steep side.
Thor went rolling down the sharp stone wall, Loki trailing down after him, moving their plan into action. "Thor!" Tessa screamed out, loud enough that her voice was sure to carry over to Malekith. She ran down the cliff after them, her feet sliding against the loose stone as she trailed behind Loki.
When Loki made his way down to Thor, he stormed over to him. "Do you really think I cared about Frigga?!" Loki yelled out, sounding entirely too convincing. "About any of you?!" he shouted, bringing his foot up into Thor's gut, sending him rolling further down the hill with a grunt of pain. "All I ever wanted was you and Odin, dead at my feet!" Loki snarled down at him, causing Tessa to wonder just how much of this had been acting on Loki's part.
"Stop it!" Tessa shouted out at him, latching onto his arm, only to have Loki shove her off of him, sending her falling back on the ground behind him.
Thor used Loki's distraction to reach out and call Mjolnir to him, it having been knocked out of his reach from his tumble down the hill. Loki swung back around, and as he called his hammer to him, Loki summoned a dagger into his hand and swung it down on Thor's arm. Tessa flinched as the illusion Loki had cast looked far too real. His dagger seemingly cut through Thor's wrist, and Thor let out a yell as his hand dropped down to the ground and his hammer fell to the ground out of reach again.
Tessa pushed herself back up, running over to Thor, who had rolled onto his back, cradling his supposedly severed limb in faux agony. Tessa swung her eyes up to Loki, finding both of the mens' acting incredibly more believable than she had thought them capable. "WHY!?" Tessa yelled at him. "We trusted you! I trusted you!" she screamed, tears pooling in her eyes as she let herself get wrapped up in the fake narration.
"And you were a fool to do so!" Loki yelled down at her. "Do you really think I care about you?! You're nothing to me but a stupid girl who was too blinded by a forgotten past to see me for what I really was!" he seethed down at her, coming over and yanking her harshly onto her feet. Tessa stumbled into his hold as he wrapped an arm around her waist, pulling her back up against his front.
"Let go of me!" Tessa shouted, trying to pry his hands off of her, having found real pain in his harsh words.
Loki's grip on her waist constricted as he dragged her away from Thor and towards the elves. "Malekith!" he shouted as he pushed them both towards him. Tessa looked up in fear, as Malekith looked over to them in curiosity, having been swept into their narration. "I am Loki of Jotunheim, and I bring you a gift!" he called out to him, throwing Tessa down onto the ground with more strength than Tessa was expecting. She was sent sprawling out on the ground, the sharp stones digging into her palms as she tried catching herself. She landed at Malekith's feet and pushed herself up enough to look up at him in terror. "I ask only one thing in return!" Loki continued. "A good seat from which to watch Asgard burn!" he seethed, bringing a dramatic end to their performance.
Tessa watched Malekith take in Loki's words, real fear now taking place of the forced one. The creature next to him spoke in a language she could not decipher and after he spoke Malekith took a step forward. Tessa's muscles were shaking as she watched the stone crunch under his boots as he loomed over her. "Look at me." He ordered, and so she brought her eyes up to his. She found that a large burn marred the flesh of his cheek, something that she distinctly did not remember being there during his attack in Frigga's chamber. "You took something from me and left me with this gift of disfiguration in return!" he seethed down at her.
"You killed my mother!" she spat back at him and the angry tears that fell from her eyes did not have to be faked.
"And now, I'll kill you." He responded, bringing his hand forward. Tessa felt something shift in her and it was like he had latched onto the Aether flowing inside her. He brought up his arm and she was lifted off the ground and brought up into the air. She could feel him pulling on her very cells and she let out a strangled breath, feeling like the air itself was being sucked from her lungs. Malekith held her high in the air above him as she struggled to breath. It felt like water was filling her lungs and moving up into her throat. Her head was thrown back as the Aether was pulled from her body, coming out in red streams from her throat, nose, and eyes. Everything burned. It didn't feel like the Aether was gently coaxed out of it….no, it felt like it was being ripped….ripped from every cell that it had attached itself onto. Tessa would have screamed, if she could, but found nothing would escape her throat but the steady flow of the Aether.
Tessa's vision tunneled in around her and she thought she would lose consciousness, but instead found herself being pulled into a strange, dark vision. She watched as an image of the Earth flowed past her eyes. The sounds of screams filled her senses as a darkness washed over her world, covering it with a blackness that consumed it. As the screams died out, the darkness spread. It spread until it consumed the planets around it, the stars near it, and kept spreading until the darkness swallowed everything in its path, covering the universe in a blanket of darkness. Tessa found herself floating in a pool of darkness and terror overcame her as she was swept into the numbing embrace of absolute nothingness for the second time of her life.
She fell from the darkness suddenly, the world around her burning with light once again as the last bits of Aether were drawn from her and she was dropped to the ground in a heap. "NOW LOKI!" Thor called out.
Loki removed his illusion as Thor called out for Mjolnir again, his hand appearing back onto his limb perfectly intact. He then threw himself protectively over Tessa as Thor reared back and sent a powerful blast of lighting out at the Aether that hung in the air above Malekith. Tessa looked up over Loki's shoulder, watching as the bright blast from Thor collided with the red substance, sending it flying out erratically. Tessa could feel Loki's arms tighten around her and she tucked her face into his chest as the Aether exploded out above them in a powerful blast that sent a roll of vibrations though the area, sending a thick layer of dust floating up into the air around them.
Loki pulled back as the area grew quiet and he and Tessa shared a look, both of them wondering the same thing….had it worked? As the dust settled around them, Tessa looked around them, trying to discern what had happened. Glowing fragments of red shards were spread out in the air around them, shimmering and floating unnervingly. Tessa's heart was pounding so hard that she knew Loki must have been able to feel it through his chest as well. They watched in dread as the shards began collecting together and moving through the air, flowing back into the direction Malekith stood. They collected back into a one flowing substance again, hanging in the air above their enemy and Tessa knew they had failed. "Oh shit." She breathed out before the Aether struck out at Malekith, seeping into his body and becoming one with him. When Malekith looked back down at the trio, his skin was dark and his eyes glowing with power. "Yeah, plan B." Tessa said, pushing up on Loki's chest, forcing him off her.
"Can you fight?" Loki asked her, looking over her still pale-looking body.
"Do we have a choice?" she tossed back at him. Truthfully, Tessa's energy had not returned like she had hoped it would after the Aether was drawn from her. If anything, she felt more drained, but knew she had to push herself.
Malekith had turned and began walking away with the monstrous creature as the other soldiers began advancing upon them. Thor moved to attack a few from the group as Loki quickly helped Tessa back onto her feet. However, as soon as she was on her feet, she was thrust back down again, Loki pushing her out of the way protectively as a grenade-like device was thrown at them.
Tessa landed several feet away on the ground with a grunt as the device exploded in a bright light in the air above them. It began sucking everything into it like a miniature black hole and Tessa watched in horror as Loki was swept up into its consuming winds. He was sucked back through the air, his eyes wide in fear. Tessa shot up and latched onto him with her powers, holding onto him and keeping him from being swept back any closer to the hole. Tessa struggled against the powerful force of the wind, finding herself unable to pull him back down to the ground. Realizing she could not pull him down, she instead pushed herself up and ran forward, while keeping her strong hold on him. She let herself be swept up into the current as well and she went hurling towards Loki. He reached out his arms to her and as she slammed into him, he wound his arms around her, and she teleported them out of the current, landing on the ground beyond its reach.
They dropped back onto the ground, Loki flat on his back, while Tessa was held against his chest on top of him. She pushed herself up and they both locked wide eyes onto each other's as they lay breathing heavily. "Thanks." Loki breathed out, realizing she had saved his life.
"Don't mention it." She said, pushing herself off of him and scrambling back onto her feet as he did the same. Once they were upright again, they watched as the group of elven warriors surrounded them as their ship disappeared above them, Malekith having gotten away. Loki and Tessa brought their backs together as the dark elves enclosed upon them. Loki summoned his daggers into his hands as Tessa drew on what power remained inside her. The elves lashed out at them, and Tessa and Loki moved into action. Tessa latched onto the elf closing in on her with her powers. She wrapped it around its head, and with a twist of her hand, she snapped its neck in a sickening crack. The elf went limp and as it dropped to the ground, Tessa wrapped her powers around all of it, and sent it crashing into two other elves, sending them flying back from the area.
Another elf came at her as she was distracted, and she had to duck back as he swung a blade down on her. She grabbed onto his weapon with her powers as she took a step back and yanked it out of his hand, bringing it over into hers. She spun herself around, bringing the blade in towards her body before thrusting her arm out, slashing out at the elf, catching him across the chest. He went stumbling back and fell to the ground, and another elf took his place. Tessa teleported herself behind him, thrusting the blade into his back before pulling it out and letting the body drop to the ground next to his comrad.
She looked up and watched as Loki took on several of the elves by himself, fighting with a skilled precision that came with thousands of years of practice. Her eyes quickly slid off of him and back onto her own enemies, as the two more came up behind her. Tessa ducked out of the way, dropping low to the ground as she spun and brought her stolen blade across the first one's knees. The elf dropped to the ground, onto its injured knees, as she pushed herself back up before swinging the blade down on its neck, sending a spray of blood out at her. The last elf went to bring his own blade down on her, but before Tessa could even react, a dagger came flying over her shoulder and embedded itself into its skull, sending it dropping to the ground with the others.
Tessa whipped around to find Loki standing several feet behind her, standing in a circle of fallen elves, same as her. They locked eyes and Tessa watched as a smirk pulled up his face as they did. She grabbed hold of Loki's dagger with her powers and pulled it from the skull and into her hand before striding over to him. "I suppose we're even now." Loki said as she walked up to him.
She held his blade back out to him, rolling her eyes. "I had that." She told him.
"Oh, I'm sure you did." Loki said, a wide smiling pulling across his face as he looked down at her blood splattered appearance. Tessa then caught sight, off in the distance, of the large creature lumbering towards Thor, who had been lying flat on the ground, and fear spiked in her.
Without thinking, she transported herself next to the monster, who was throwing his fists down on Thor in a barrage of powerful slams. She sent out a powerful blast of energy at him as she landed next to him. He was pushed back through the air, and Tessa looked down at Thor to make sure he was okay. Though he looked bloodied and beaten, he was still breathing. She returned her attention back to the creature as it pushed itself back onto its feet. Her breathing was coming in and out raggedly, that last blast having pulled almost all of her energy from her. She swung the blade around in her hand, knowing she had one shot at this. She transported herself into the air behind him, meaning to bring the blade down on into his skull, but he had sensed her movements. He spun around as she appeared in the air, knocking the blade away as she brought it down on him. He caught her mid-air, wrapping his large hand easily around her throat as he did.
The air was sucked from Tessa instantly. His grip was so tight, that she could not draw in a single particle of air, no matter how hard she struggled. She gripped onto his hand, trying to pry him off of her as her feet kicked helplessly in the air. She stared down at him with wide, red eyes, not being able to escape his hold. As her vision began to spackle with black, she drew down on her powers, gathering everything she could, meaning to send out a blast as big as could, but before she could, a blade suddenly emerged from his chest, and she was dropped to the ground.
Tessa began coughing violently, trying to pull in as much air as she could as she pushed herself up and looked up. She found Loki standing behind the creature, having thrust the blade that had been knocked from her grip into its back. Tessa looked up at Loki, finding him looking down at her in concern. She managed to get the coughing to subside and struggled to push herself up as the creature turned around to face Loki. He suddenly grabbed hold of Loki by his arms and brought him into his chest, thrusting the still-protruding blade through Loki as well.
"NO!" Tessa screamed as she watched the blade slide out of Loki's back, Loki letting out a yell as it did. The creature pulled Loki off the blade and threw him through the air. He hit the ground with a grunt and Tessa's anger washed over her, filling her with energy she didn't have before. She reached out her arms towards the creature, gripping onto its neck and head with her powers. With a scream of anger, she pulled up on its head with everything she had. Tears fell from her eyes as she pried its head up, while keeping his body held down on the ground. The creature let out a scream of agony and Tessa watched in satisfaction as the flesh of his neck began tearing open. With one surge of power, she ripped off its head, the sound of his screams muffled out under the sounds of it choking on its own blood. Once the bones disconnected from each other, Tessa sent the head flying back across the empty land and let its body fall to the ground, blood pooling out around its severed neck.
Tessa took off towards Loki as soon as the creature fell to the ground, dropping down onto her knees next to his side as she did. "No, no, no, no." she muttered looking down at his shaking form that had grown far too pale. Her eyes took in the bleeding wound in his chest and knew that based on where it was, there was nothing she could do to stop what she knew was quickly coming. "No! Loki!" she cried out as she pulled him onto her lap, wrapping her arms around him helplessly.
"LOKI!" Thor screamed out, rushing over, and dropping down next to them.
"WHY DID YOU DO THAT!?" Tessa demanded, tears streaming down her face as she cradled him.
"I-I couldn't bare him hurting you." Loki said shakily, looking up at her with wide eyes.
"And do you think I can bare this?!" she asked, drawing him closer to her.
"Oh Loki, you fool!" Thor told him, tears building in his eyes as well.
"I know…I'm a fool. I-I'm a fool." Loki said, looking down at Thor as the tremors worsened.
"No, no, stay with us Loki!" Tessa said, knowing their time was already running dangerously low.
"I-I'm sorry." Loki said, looking up at her with terror-filled eyes. "I'm s-sorry."
"Shh." She soothed, bringing her hand up against his cheek, the coldness she was met with pulling more tears from her eyes. "It's okay, Loki."
"I'll tell father what you did here today." Thor told him, trying to give him a comforting smile as he took Loki's hand into his own as Loki looked down at him.
"I…I didn't do it for him." Loki responded, his eyes coming back up to Tessa's. His other hand came up and cradled Tessa's face as her hot tears fell down onto him.
Tessa brought her hand up from his face, to hers, holding his shaky hand against her cheek, desperate to store his touch into her memory. "Loki, please don't leave me!" she sobbed as she looked down at him, suddenly realizing just how much she had grown to care for him. "I-I can't lose you too!"
"You'll remember me w-won't you?" he asked her, his eyes searching hers in desperation.
"You're the only thing I could never forget." she told him, her vision blurring with the flood of tears falling. "I love you Loki. I always have." She admitted to him.
Loki let out a small huff of happiness as the corner of his lip began to draw up in a smile. "I..I…" he began before his mouth sagged back down and his body stopped trembling.
A surge of panic washed over her as she watched his eyes slid closed and his arm went limp. "NO! LOKI!" she screamed out, pressing his hand into her cheek, desperate to keep it from falling. "PLEASE OPEN YOUR EYES!" she bellowed, shaking him.
Thor let out a scream of agony as they both realized Loki would never open his eyes again. "NO!" he bellowed before dropping down on Loki's chest to weep.
Tessa let out a sob as she brought down her hand from her cheek, the feeling of Loki's touch disappearing from her skin as his hand fell down onto her lap limply. Tessa felt the last shred of her control snap as she was consumed by the reality that she had now lost Loki too. Her breathing came in and out raggedly before set let out a scream and let the pain flow free with a stream of bright energy that she sent up into the darkening sky above. She screamed as all the pain and anger flowed out of her before everything had been released from her, and she was left slumping down onto the ground next to Loki, the last of her energy having been completely drained.