Dissonance
To disagree
The Gods of Asgard who belonged to the small planetary body all clamoured in the hall, arguing loudly amongst themselves. Fury's presence was like a silencing spell to the extravagantly dressed gathering. She saw herself as a subject to be picked apart by the vultures of Odin's council. The tread of her boots echoed against the polished floor as she neared. Each echo drummed a dreading strain within her chest.
Odin was the first to speak from his throne. His descent from the raised platform was torturous.
"Furya",
Fury bowed her head in acknowledgement while he motioned her by his side. Exactly where she didn't want to be. Thor followed her footsteps, coming seemingly from nowhere. Gold. There was so much gold from the pillars to the tapered ceilings and crafted throne.
Her bones rattled with anxiety. It made her wonder if she'd be leaving on her own accord.
"These are but a few of the gods of Asgard. We have Enchantress", A blonde woman bowed her head, her costume the same emerald of Loki's eyes. "Lady Sif, Balder the brave, Hermod god of speed, Heimdall, Thunderstrike, Karnilla the Norn Queen, Kurse, Fandral, Volstagg, Thor, Hogun and Ulik the rock troll."
Fury's red eyes settled on the hulking rock creature that matched her crimson orbs. He growled. Creepy.
The Enchantress spoke in a silky voice, her skin-tight suit shifting under her movements. She spoke with an irritable tone.
"So you stole Loki's magic",
"Correct", Fury mirrored her tone. Her feet shuffled to Odin with Thor at her shoulder.
"And now you think yourself a Goddess?", The light green crown shifted against her brow.
Karnilla, who had stayed silent but hadn't averted her prying glare, stepped forward, halting Enchantress. Her silver headrest encompassed the wildness of her black hair like a grapevine, swirling and twisting. When she moved her chest looked like it was going to burst from the revealing crimson dress. Its plunging neckline that dipped to her navel would be illegal to wear in public on Midgard. The thin taut chains held in what they could of her breasts but even steel chains had their limit. She was surprised nothing had come out thus far.
"I know every soul within our planetary system. You thought you could evade me...While I can't read your mind I do remember you. Wife of Valerian The Defiler.", Those white eyes looked into her soul and she was void of being. A collective silence filled the hall.
"Ex-wife", Fury growled, feeling like she would fly away if she breathed.
"What a brilliant plan to infiltrate our gathering. We didn't even suspect you would be able to steal from Loki. What will you do now? Siphon Valerian our magic, our immortality perhaps?", The Norn Queen hisses, the fishnet of her sheer sleeve twisted upon her agitated muscles. It sparked an argument amongst them.
A breath hitched in her throat as she reached for the zip on her jacket. The loud zip didn't distract the Gods from arguing nor did the drop of her jacket on the shiny floor. Fandral's eyes narrowed to her. He was the only one to see her tattoos in their entirety, to see her skin bare. It made her shiver. Her tight tank clung to her form that was sweating up a storm.
This was ridiculous.
"Scan it", She held up her prison brand for anyone that would listen. The company glared at her with distaste. Thor was silent by her shoulder.
"Before you crucify me I dare you to scan the damn barcode and tell me if I am still in allegiance with Valerian!", Fury commanded in a growling annoyance that expertly shielded her shaky breaths. Though her heart felt like lead in her chest she wouldn't allow the council to mindlessly convict her. She would stand her ground even if it crumbled beneath her. Even if she failed.
Hermod appeared next to her. God of speed he was. His appearance could only be described as a brown-haired Thor, they looked eerily similar barring Hermod's orange eyes. He touched the black ink on her forearm without any formalities.
"The castle of Vaniria", His voice was a higher pitch than she had expected. Those amber eyes stared sideways with curiosity and question. "She burned it down with Valerian and his court inside",
"It could be a lie. I say we summon Valerian", Thunderstrike's voice boomed in a low rumble. He didn't believe her and If she thought Hermod to be similar to Thor's appearance then Thunderstrike was his doppelganger.
Breathing seemed to become obsolete in her mind that bounded off her cranium walls. No. Valerian wasn't the answer. He would destroy them. She felt like she was floating away. She was out of her body witnessing the disaster from a birds-eye view.
"Valerian would do more harm than good", Sif's commanding voice pierced the air and Fury snapped back into her conscious mind.
"She's right. He is not worth the destruction that would befall us", Fandral spoke with soft eyes.
"If she faces Valerian then we will not prosecute her for stealing a God's grace", Karnilla, the Norn Queen of Bitches concluded, curling her fingers over one another like she wielded an invisible staff.
No. No. She had to leave. To run far away. Valerian would hunt them. He would kill them for being in association with her. Thor, Fandral, Sif even Myra. All dead. Fury growled with bared teeth.
"That's brave of you, Karnilla. Being that you are like a blinding damn beacon of magic, I'd be surprised if he noticed me here at all after he pried your magic from your veins",
Laughter echoed in her mind, a low chuckle that reminded her of Loki's power. Karnilla might just distract Valerian from noticing the aura of iridescent magic that pulsed around the hall in tendrils of white. Karnilla was second only to Loki. It would be easy to pass off.
"Enough!... Summon him", Karnilla spat back to Odin who repositioned his hands on his golden staff. Ruthless bitch.
"No. You won't put our people in harm's way for the sake of this petty revenge", Thor's voice boomed at Karnilla but she didn't acknowledge him. How dare she ignore him.
"So be it", Odin replied without having heard a word his son had said.
"How about you listen to your council?", Fury shot at Karnilla in a voice of unwavering rage that had never escaped her lips before. It was deafeningly loud and terrifyingly convincing. A god-like perk.
"It is done, Furya!", Odin overpowered her voice that seemed small in comparison.
Oh God, she felt like she was going to die. The last time she took a breath seemed a lifetime ago. She was going to float away into the sky. Away from Valerian. From these people.
Then Thor softly placed a hand on the small of her back and she felt grounded. He whispered in her ear while Valerian was a safe distance away.
"Don't let them see",
She was on the verge of tears. Not sadness. Anger. She wanted to kill Valerian all over again. She wanted to watch him writhe in pain against her wrath. To make sure he was dead underneath her.
She was breathing hard to compensate for the breaths she held. She hadn't realised under the anxiousness that plagued her.
Oh shit. Her jacket. Her tattoo of Loki's contract. She hurried to redress herself, even though she felt like she was forgetting something.
Footsteps dulled on the red runner of carpet and Fury met those black eyes with a glowing gold ring circling them. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.
Loki, my eyes
My, aren't we stooping extraordinarily low for compliments?
No, you don't understand. If Valerian sees my eyes he'll steal your power within a second.
Valerian is powerless against you at best. He's a demon.
Fine. Don't let a demon steal your damn power
A disgruntled sigh echoed in her empty mind.
Repeat after me: Loki is unequivocally brilliant. Loki is my saviour.
Loki!
Fine: My eyes are blue with a ring of white electricity running around the circumference. My eyes are the colour of cobalt with the intensity of a ferocious flame. My eyes are the colour of the Tesseract but much more dangerous.
My eyes are blue. My eyes are blue.
"Furya", She met the tanned skinned demon who settled in front of her like she were the only one in the hall. Those almond-shaped eyes glared into her soul. She didn't recall the height of him exceeding her so successfully, but it did. It shadowed her in his black chained leather that jingled when he walked.
A smirk shadowed her lips at the sight of his singed skin that ran a small line from the midnight black hair at his temple to a mangled scar at his collar. He purred.
"How I've missed those blue eyes."
The pace she slithered from his rough hand on her cheek was unchallenged. She growled.
"How I've missed seeing you on fire",
His expression soured, forcing his scarred eyebrow to dip.
"You signed a death warrant Furya and I will come to see it through", The voice that had once been so calm wavered with fury. His spiked hair stayed still in his movement of observing their current company. His expression became that of a child in a candy store and her chest began to ache. No. He couldn't. Had she not pissed him off he wouldn't have.
"Unless...",
"No!", Fury knew that smirk, she had been the victim of its bite for decades. His black orbs connected with Karnilla and it was like fire lighting in his eyes. She was a source of magic. A catalyst of power, bright and burning. A catalyst he would defile with dark magic.
Fury threw herself at him. Her sword jumped into her palm. The leather hilt in her hand comforted her rage as the iridescent flame licked the steel blade. She imagined it splattered with Valerian's blood.
Those jagged teeth flashed her a wicked smile as the jingle of his chained jacket chimed. An orange veil crawled around her skin and she felt her form unwillingly thrust backwards by it, launched into the air from its energy. A yelp escaped her.
"Argh", Air heaved from her lungs, deflating as her body burst through a stone pillar, shattering and crumbling the golden structure. Her sword clattered to the ground. She needed to grab something, anything to save her from the vast fall. There was nothing but white dust and disrupted chunks of stone that joined her flight. Oh, fuck. The world rolled around her. It was a long drop into the garden below. Next stop: The medical ward.
Suddenly she stopped falling.
"What the?"
Green mist swirled around her in tendrils of magic. They lifted her gently back to the edge of the golden hall, where she had shot through the guard rail and pillar. The magic subsided in waves as it placed her feet back on the polished floor.
You're welcome
The Gods of Asgard wailed in despair. She saw it on her first glance. Karnilla laid out on the floor. Her body was still. Lifeless.
A sigh loosed from her lips. His cheap tricks had fooled a room full of Gods that now mourned their friend. She was going to kill him. She had to. Raged filled her. It made her whole. She didn't want to feel that way again. To feel so hopeless.
"Fury", Thor called her with Sif and Fandral by his side. They were dressed for battle.
Fury wouldn't let Valerian kill them if they found him. She couldn't. The thought made tears fill her vision through the chalky white dust that coated her.
She wondered where Valerian would go but she knew exactly where. To Loki.
Fury saw the chamber in her mind. She smelt the parchment and leather. She felt the softness of the black rug in her fingers and the fire licking at her skin. She was there. In Loki's den.
If ever there was A time when I needed you. It's now, Loki
Oh, such excitement
Just...whatever you do stay hidden.
Ah, is that care I sense?
"Get out!", Fury's eyes rested upon the shadow that lurked in Loki's deep green velvet chair. She wanted to stab him where he stood, to feel his bleeding flesh from the end of her sword.
"You know", Valerian violently shut the book in his palm and rose from the seat. "You used to be more obedient",
"And you used to be more dead", She hissed and slinked away from his incessant need to touch her. Valerian gritted his teeth and spoke.
"Where is my power, Furya?",
"Oh, the heart of Vanaheim is gone. Destroyed", She chided with fear making her fingers tremble. Red and orange eyes glowered at her. His fist curled at his side.
"Then I don't have use for you",
A wave of orange embers encompassed her being like little locusts chewing at her flesh. They swarmed her in armies, consuming her body.
Please, allow me. Incendia
Through her mind Loki exploded the insects into little blue flaming corpses. Charred and fire eaten they writhed on the floor.
"Or do I?", Those jagged teeth flashed her a sinister grin and his scarred but still undeniably handsome face lit up with intrigue. She frowned, noting the marks and sigils upon his once beautiful tanned skin, some were tattooed others were carved with what looked like a knife. She had told him his need for power would consume him and it had. He was held together by dark magic. More beast than man. She opened her mind to him.
I loved you more than I could ever explain and look at what you've done. You've sacrificed yourself for power. You hated being a demon and now look at you. You've defiled yourself.
Love? You don't know the meaning. I gave you home, A husband and unimaginable power. Was it not enough?
When it was good it was great. But you fell into old habits. You defiled my skin with dark magic. Dark magic, Rian.
Rian? Is this what we're doing, Furya? Pretending to be aggrieved?
I was kinda hoping one of these God might have burst in and stabbed you by now so death could finally do us part.
Without warning the black door burst open. Thor, Fandral and Sif poured in.
"I'll be back for you Fury but before I leave...", Valerian dissipated into the wind in thousands of black particles. She froze at her company's gaze that drifted past her.
"Never steal from me", His low growl whispered in her ear.
Furya!
She felt the blade pierce through her flesh, slicing through organ and bone. He knew she could heal but not from this. Not from his cursed blade.
"No!", Thor and Fandral rushed her, queuing Valerian's disappearing act.
Burning fire coursed through her waist but she didn't scream. It awaited her with open arms. An echoing bounced around her skull. Spells and enchantments rhythmically called in Loki's low albeit alluring accent that rattled with swiftness.
Is that care I sense
I...I can't heal it...
No one can heal it. Not even you, Loki.
"Fury", Fandral was first to reach her but Thor was the one to sweep her into his arms.
"I'm not having the best day", She softly murmured against the God's chest.
"Thor where are you going?", Sif quickly met the pace he set.
"The Gods will answer for what they've done",
Fury felt the wind against her face, they were flying. Fast and free. It was how she wanted to die. Free
The Palace rumbled with a vicious rage queuing Thor's violent landing that shattered the stone beneath him. Fury was in his arms, still and paperwhite. The remaining Gods gave him their attention. Hermod, Thunderstrike, Enchantress and Odin eyed the woman who Thor held with such care and defending with such honour.
"Heal her. I don't care how. Just do it!", The blonde-haired god's voice shook the remaining pillars in its might.
"Thor", Odin interjected.
"She doesn't deserve to die for you!", Thor boomed to the gathering of Gods. They didn't move. They didn't try to save her. He would ensure they listened. Those ignorant fools. His blue eyes trailed down to the lifeless body in his arms. She was better than them and she was worth more than to die for them. He spoke.
"She warned you and you didn't listen! Now you'll let her pay the price? You are not Gods you are cowards!", His voice was hoarse from the desperation that plagued it, from the anger he felt. Sif and Fandral entered the hall with hurried steps.
Thunder rumbled in the sky with a vicious growl as the Gods defiantly refused to acknowledge their ignorance. His heart felt like it was made of solid gold in the swiftness it dropped in his chest. No one offered him aid.
"You are the wisest of all God's Lord Odin. Can you think of nothing?", Fandral spoke in a raspy, wavering tone as his light eyes rested upon Fury. Odin spoke
"Thunderstrike", The king bowed his head in permission to the blonde-haired man.
Thunderstrike sauntered forward to Fury's body in Thor's arms. He was guilty. He should have been. In his hand, he held water from the eternal spring. It was healing water to the Gods. A non-magical fix. Enchantress swiftly grasped the metallic vial in his hand, holding the swirling liquid to her chest.
"What makes her worthy?!", She spat.
Rage settled in Thor's being. He saw no place for the scarcely dressed woman, no reason for her to exist except to irritate him. He held on Fury, readjusting her weight in his arms and glared through the Enchantress. Electricity sparked in his eyes, it burnt in his chest. Following the violent rumble of thunder that vibrated the floor.
"Because you're miserably in love with the Vampire?", She laughed. She dared to mock him?
"Enchantress", Odin's booming voice rattled with authority.
*Whack*
Sif smacked the vial from Enchantress' hand and it shattered onto the stone.
"I'm sorry", Thunderstrike bowed his head to Thor in apology and ushered a livid Enchantress from the hall.
He held his breath as Rose coloured quartz grew from the shiny floor in clusters of crystal. It formed a bath shape, just big enough to fit Fury. He lowered her into it slowly, flicking the silver strands of her hair from her eyes. The scooped out crystal cradled her bloodied body that matched the crimson of his arms.
"Thor", Sif called but he didn't stray from the side of the bath. It did nothing. Nothing.
"Come on, Fury", He whispered with unblinking eyes, on the verge of breaking. He closed his eyes.
Soft trickling met his ears and he snapped his sight to the water the filled the bowl-shaped crystal in swirls of iridescent liquid. It submerged Fury in seconds.
He waited.
And waited.
Until minutes had passed and all hope fell.
"This is your Fault!", All care that Thor had possessed left his voice as he confronted the King. Odin opened his mouth to speak but stopped.
Suddenly the crystal bath started to bubble and vibrate with life. It hissed and spluttered water all over the floor but he didn't move. Not even when the bath began to expand and shudder.
Fury burst through the water with a spluttering cough, centimetres away from headbutting him. Those blue eyes widened. She coughed.
"Loki?",
Thor covered the drop in his chest with a smile that expressed the relief he felt.
"Why am I in someone's bathtub?", She groaned.
He reached into the tub and lifted her from the crystal. The bath disappeared beneath them in a burst of water that knocked them onto the floor. He took the brunt of the fall willingly.
"Oh, Shit", She groaned upon colliding with his chest. He bolted upright to clear the water from his lungs. They were soaking wet. But Fury. She was alive. He held her close to his chest, breathing out for a moment just to enjoy it. She sucked in the air around her and tightened her embrace. He was breathing hard.
"I think I need a day off", Her voice was muffled against his chest. He chuckled.
"Will tomorrow be sufficient?", Odin interrupted and Fury's blue eyes observed the people in the hall.
"Yes", She answered all too quickly, crashing back into Thor's embrace.