Verdict

A decision

A light vibrant and glittering wafted through the night bound sky, the first of many lanterns to flutter higher and higher upwards. Underneath their luminous glow, Thor Odinson's face grew grim with grief. A soft smile was offered toward his band of friends but faded ever so quickly. In the darkness, his friends didn't see it. They retreated back to the comforts of the city, fading into the hoards of townspeople, leaving Thor alone. His fingers caressed the soft stone surface of the railing that held him away from the river beneath. His eyes seemed to place her before her steps met his ears.

"Fury, I suspect you will not be staying to call Asgard home",

Fury held her wool-lined jacket close to her in the brisk wind that no longer pelted with rain, replying softly.

"No",

"It was my pleasure to have fought alongside you", He breathed out with a dull smile, his voice so deep she thought she felt the earth sway under its thunder. Fury opened her mouth to reply, stilted by the black strands of hair that swirled into a blonde and ivory dreadlock. No doubt Loki's hair. It was a strange sentiment.

"That house we inhabited on Midgard. The one in the woods. It is owned by SHIELD. An Avenger could live out his days there without a single worry.", Her voice was gruff against the coldness. Thor smiled with thanks, his arms gathering her into a soft embrace. His hulking mass almost consumed her smaller form. The warmth he emitted was the polar opposite of his cold-skinned reptile of a brother. Those hulking hands settled against her shoulders. So affectionate in his actions that she was almost taken aback to be treated with such equality. A half-breed.

"You have been kind to me, Fury. Please, stay if you wish. Asgard will always offer you solace.", A smile peaked at the corners of his mouth. A smile unlike that he had offered Sif and The Warriors Three. They were warriors above people. Fury seemed a person above being a warrior. And though she didn't feel it he did see her as a warrior. Not a half-breed. Not a monster.

"I am no Asgardian", Fury replied with a sinking feeling in her chest. A thin line formed on his lips that followed a contemplative breath, his hands slid from her shoulders falling at his side.

"Heimdall", Thor's blue eyes peeked above Fury's silver hair, toward the golden-eyed gatekeeper.

"You're late, I assumed you'd still be here", Heimdall's deep voice filled the night air, his footsteps soundless in approach. His eyes hovered on Fury for a moment. Judging perhaps. Scrutinizing the fanged creature, maybe. Possibly just acknowledging her lowly existence. Thor resumed his depressed stature, not wanting to keep his friend waiting.

"I hope to see you again, Fury", Thor bowed his head toward her and walked past Heimdall toward the Bifrost. The dark-skinned man met her eyes, his mind pulsating with thoughts. He stared. How rude. Fury's lips curled into a smirk under his scrutiny. He spoke after a while.

"I'll keep the Bifrost open for you", And with that, he marched away from her, back to his post.

"How kind", She murmured hatefully under her breath. Behind her, she could hear the gathering of Loki's funeral, hushed voices that watched with no sadness, with no pity. Her eyes flickered to the corpse that was set alight, floating gently against the river. Asgardians gathered and sang in memory across the bank.

"Shit", Fury cursed, her heart beating still against her chest. She had signed over her powers to him, The God of Mischief. A blood contract that would come into fruition upon the release of his spirit. She walked slowly to the citadel, acknowledging the feeling of overgrown plants that touched her sensitive skin, the roughness of the stringy red leaves attached to a deep blue flower. The solid coldness of the grey cobblestone path beneath the soles of her boots.

The floating lights of Asgard lead her back to the palace, to the foyer that held those black stairs to her room. One by one the wooden stairs disappeared beneath her feet, then the landing. Seven more steps to the top. One. Two. Three. Four. Five...

She felt the grace lift from underneath her skin. No. Her power abandoned her veins with excited haste. She reached for them as they floated above her in an iridescent mist. One breath...two breaths...three-

A yelp escaped her lips from the blinding pain that forced her boots to retreat gracelessly down the stairs. Her fast feet reached for the lower step, regaining her balance. Her hands curled into claws at her side, gripping onto the wooden texture of the stairs. She dropped. Lower and lower onto the dark emerald rug that ran up the middle of the steps. Amidst the pulses of agonizing pain that tore through her being, she thought of her home on Vanaheim, A world of sorcery and magic. In her mind, she traced the dark bricks of Valerian's palace with her hand. Counting each one. She revelled one last time in building those walls in her mind to keep him out, remembering the first time she had. The indignant scowl that painted his face. For the first time in a century she laid down those walls and from the shadows, a black swirling entity prowled towards her vulnerable body. Slowly at first then quicker, she lifted herself as it slammed into her chest, thrusting her through the air and down the sharp decline of steps. Terror gripped her heart as her body began to fall. The stairs crushed and shattered bone with a malicious pace. The world span and span until it stopped at the nadir of the staircase.

Blood pulsed in her ears and dribbled from her lips in a crimson stream but her eyes stayed with the black creature that hovered at the top of the staircase, watching her broken body with a silent victory.

"Fury!", A muted voice caused the creature to flee with haste. Her eyes met the figure who knelt next to her. She wheezed softly.

"I thought you were dead",