Fatal Attraction
An attraction so powerful it defies logic and reason but ultimately it ends in flame.
Ice carried through the wind in wisps of cold that frosted the windows shut in the palace. Fury tossed in her bed, clinging the quilt closer to her curled body. Sleep didn't come easy during the night. A groan escaped her lips. It seemed futile to even try so close to sunrise. Her blue eyes flickered open, darting to the shadow against the dim light.
"Oh, for fuck sake, Loki!", The God once again made her startle with his sudden closeness in the dark. He rested at the foot of her bed... What the hell? It wasn't her bed. She looked around. It was his room. His white skin glowed under the dim light that illuminated his smile.
"I think It would be wise to replace the sigil on your arm", He spoke without raising his glance to her. The protection tattoo? What did it matter to him?
"Why is that?", Fury questioned with accusation, her voice was hoarse. He replied swiftly, flicking through the pages of a tatty red-covered book.
"Seeing as Valerian knows where you reside. Where my magic resides",
Is that why she was in his chamber? Because he didn't want Valerian to find her?
"Why do you care?", Her eyebrows furrowed and the guttural drawl of her voice rose in a higher pitch.
"...I spent centuries learning to master that magic. I don't wish to see them in the hands of...Valerian.", Loki breathed out and scrunched his face at an accusation she had made.
"Oh, spare me the sentimental bullshit! You could hand out magic for free and it would make a dint.", Her feet landed hard against the square of carpet beneath the black-framed bed. They carried her towards him with a vehement swiftness. "I know what I am to you...A goddamn toy.", Fury gritted her teeth, lowering the veil to the magical world. Iridescent streams of white, purple, blue, green and red crawled behind her in a pulsating catalyst of light. "Valerian thought the same and I burnt him alive",
"I wouldn't require fifty years of marriage to forge you into something unbelievably wicked", Loki taunted above her in that tall and slender form. To hit him would've been too kind. She smiled without any real retort or response that could justify her agitation. Her mind closed the oculus into the world of magic.
"And I wouldn't marry you"
"That protection tattoo", He ignored her, changing his glance toward the book he had discarded upon the end of the bed.
"I have a better idea, King Odin. Don't let him in!", She growled. He must have thought she was an absolute idiot. Why wouldn't Loki be responsible for Valerian returning to Asgard?.
"You...", Loki cleared his throat with a smile, "I'm impressed", He commended. He had been living as Odin. Taking his disguise. She hissed
"You know I really wish that I had stayed dead and your goddamn power was taken from you for all eternity.",
"Oh, no you don't truly mean that", Loki chided, dramatically gripping at his chest.
"I hate you", She breathed out. "And I hate that I was your friend",
"A terrible mistake, really"
"But you know what I love?", Fury smiled a sinister grin, catching Loki's attention.
"What's that?", His eyes rolled with boredom, gliding to her.
"How easily you gave up that information.",
"What?", Loki glared at her with fire. His emerald eyes burned with rage.
"I thought of the most asinine thing one could do and there you were. Right on the front line. At least now I know why the realm is falling into ruin. It's because you're a miserable king", She spoke with a cheerful grin.
"I am the rightful king!", He spat. His ghostly transparency shuddered against her walking through him. She spoke with abhorrent anger.
"Well. No. Thor is the rightful heir.",
She sauntered to the bookshelf, her hand skimmed the spines of the many books that filled it. Fury stopped at a particularly tatty book and picked it up.
"Say, which was your favourite book again?", Her voice was unsettlingly calm.
"What..why?", He asked quickly and she watched his form become solid at a single thought. Perfect.
"No reason", She smiled, kindling the fireplace to life with the curl of her hand.
"Fury", Loki warned with a sharp breath, gasping as she launched the book into the flame. While he fixated on the book she kept her astral form in place and sent herself behind him. Her dagger jumped into her palm and she drove it deep into his back.
"It doesn't feel good does it, Loki?", Fury growled into his ear as he crumbled at her feet and she held his arm behind him like she did her prisoners. His blood spilt onto her hand. "If you ever try to fuck with me again, I will destroy you, even if it means destroying myself you maleficent little cockroach", She spoke close to his ear, gripping tighter against the blade that immobilised him. He groaned with pain through the evil smile that painted his lips.
"Noted", His soft voice chided with a wince. She let go and reefed the dagger from his back. Her iridescent magic followed his rising form, sewing the wound shut.
"I do apologise for your death", His words meant nothing. A chuckle escaped her. "Now I can sleep at night"
His Emerald eyes examined her face with an angry pout.
"Your eyes are blue", He breathed out. Fury snapped her gaze behind her but there was no decoy behind her. No trick.
Her eyes narrowed.
"Not so predictable?", Loki asked with that sinister grin that bared his perfect teeth.
"Perhaps not", She breathed out, staring for a moment. He enquired.
"What?",
"Valerian is scared of you", A smile grew on her crimson lips. "That makes you my new best friend",
"How unfortunate",
"Very"
Sunlight bathed Fury in much-needed warmth against the concrete bench in the garden. She watched with eager eyes as the orange mass rose higher into the blue sky, heating her skin. In her hand, she held a steaming pastry of sorts that came apart in crusty chunks of caramel goodness. The kitchen staff had been strangely kind to her, even gifting her with a cup that would keep her coffee-like drink warm in the morning frost. A book was perched in her other hand, one from Loki's collection. A strange book of spells and enchantments.
She breathed out a sigh and blinked away the soreness from her eyes, spotting a furry creature amongst the rose bush. It startled and leapt beyond the shrubbery in a fluid motion.
"Hello", Her voice echoed in the vast emptiness of the garden. The creature's glowing eyes watched her. It was small and resembled a cat with pointed ears and glowing paws.
"It won't kill you", Loki's silky voice spoke from beside her. She didn't startle this time and even became so civil as to offer him some of her pastry, he took it.
"It's cute", Fury observed the creature's little nostrils that flared at the scent of her food. "They are also quite vicious. Asgardian's don't warm kindly to Fels",
The Fel's ears perked at Loki's voice and its glowing paws stepped closer to the God of Mischief, who offered the creature some of the pastry. It seemed to purr with joy and rubbed the black fur on its head against Loki's hand. A subtle gesture of trust. Her lips seemed to hang open in a gape at the gesture. The Fel trusted...Loki?
"Is it yours?", Fury questioned with surprise, softly petting the creature that tracked circles around the black-haired man. He smiled.
"Somewhat",
"What's its name?", The Fel glanced at her with vibrant glowing white eyes.
"...Fenrir",
"Very imaginative", Fury laughed and hauled the creature into her arms. "Hello, darling", She spoke and offered the Fel the remaining bits of her food. Its sharp little teeth took it from her palm. She traced shapes into Fel's soft fur while she ate. Fury spoke.
"What's with the glowing paws?",
"Fenrir and his kind live in complete darkness, he uses the light to see. That and the other personality within that form is a wolf, quite a magical being", Loki explained like it was common knowledge. Fenrir glanced at her with those glowing eyes and tiny little nose. Excitement grew in her heart at the thought of the tiny little cat creature transforming into a wolf.
It was silent between them barring the thunderous purrs that escaped Fenrir. Loki contently stroked his fur with a ginger nature that was unnatural to see in her eyes. She stared with narrowed eyes and he spoke with a soft smile, his eyes stayed on Fenrir.
"I find this quite unnecessary, Furya...teaching you how to fight Valerian", He added with hesitance and tore his sight off the Fel.
"How so?", Fury question with a raised brow, sipping at the bitter drink in her cup. A light flashed in Fenrir's eyes that asked 'What's this? More food?'.
"I hate to admit it. In fact, it is rather painful to do so...You don't need it. Valerian bested you with the trick you've never fallen for. Had it been me that snuck behind you, I'd be in chains.", Loki petted Fel under the chin and breathed out. "Valerian relies on the fact that he scares you",
"So we must make him fear you"
"And how do we do that?", She asked with pursed lips.
"By dominating the Wildmen", Loki smiled that wicked smile. Fury's eyes lit at an oncoming idea.
"...Where would I find more of these Fel?",
"In the dark forest", That smile widened. "You'll find the wild Fel are fond of Asgardian flesh",
"Don't smile too wide, You're coming with me",
"Why?", Loki's eyes rolled in his skull.
"Just for that comment", She matched his smile that faded into a scowl, crossing his arms over his chest. She chided.
"And would you look at that, I've got a day to do it. Come along", Fury's smile extended as she gripped onto his arm and nudged him toward the forest.
"You seem to forget that I am a-"
"Whiny little brat? Pain in the ass? God of whinging?", Fury ridiculed in a monotonic voice, not having realised he had stopped talking. She laughed. "Sweetheart, I know you're a God. So put your big boy pants on and Act like one",
"Your manners are quite astounding. You must allow me to paint you", Loki breathed out, walking carefully through some thicker grass. Fury stopped, her teeth flashed into a smile.
"What animals do Asgardians trap out here?",
"Animals?", He laughed, "There are things worse than wild creatures out here",
"Then I better stop you before you mindlessly walk into that trap", Fury smiled wider and motioned her hand to the metal rod sticking out from the thick grass. She'd seen the bite of an electrified field before.
Loki stopped in his track and diverted back to the thin dirt path where the forest created a dark arch made of vines and tall trees. The ground was paved in leaves of orange and green all coated in unmelted frost that also clung onto the branches. As the name explained it was extremely dark within the forestry. It defied logic and reason. The further they walked the less she could see and with Loki striding ahead she had to trust that he wouldn't test her. The steel of her blade felt comforting in her palm against the darkness that groaned and cracked. Something growled.
"Loki", She whispered, halting in her tracks.
"Fear not, I'm here", His voice briskly cut through the wind. She couldn't see a damn thing. He reached for her and she latched onto the buckle of his jacket, nudging him forward. Her mentality of transporting prisoners took over her mind.
Sorry
That hand uncurled from his buckle and rested on his outstretched arm. At that point, they were in total darkness but he kept walking through the shrubbery that scratched at their skin. His bravery at continuing through the dark was commendable when she felt completely bare against the shadows that consumed their sight. That licked at their skin. It gave her a feeling of being watched. The feeling of being in Valerian's keep, surrounded by evil. Her whole body shivered at the thought.
"Furya!", A voice most evil whirred past her head. Valerian. She gripped onto Loki a little harder
This forest is corrupted by dark magic. The creatures within are powerful. Fortunately, we are shielded by the dark. Glancing upon them would steal your sight and render you a mindless slave. Though they cannot harm you now, they revel in infiltrating your thoughts and casting echoes of painful memories.
It made her wonder what he was hearing as he cleared through the dead forest without falter.
"I'll love you until death does us part", Valerian's soft voice paused her steps. She did recall the memory but she still heard that voice in her mind. 227 years had faded and skewed the memory but that voice remained as clear as ever. That promise. "Don't do it, Furya. You can't...Furya!", She remembered hearing that voice as she cast flame onto his court, onto him. It was the only time he had ever pleaded. When she saw the glistening tears in his eyes, it was the only time she believed he loved her.
"Come along", Loki spoke in a hushed voice.
He didn't slow even when the ground became soft mush beneath their feet. He didn't tell her that he had either. Her body collided with his back and she almost jumped from her skin.
"Loki!", Fury hissed and smacked his arm with the back of her hand. His hand clamped over mouth.
"Shhh",
What?
We've found them
A low growl echoed around them.
Lift the veil
What?
Do it
Fury exhaled a breath. She thought of the world between her own. A world of pure magic.
The darkness lifted. Luminescent light crawled through the forest in streams of brightness. The trees pulsed blue with life, emitting tiny green particles that floated in the air. The shrubbery danced in the wind in colours of glowing pink and purple. And around them, tiny flying creatures swarmed to their light like moths to a flame.
"Wow", She exclaimed, running her fingers along the ribbons of white that hung like fairy lights above her head, so bright and beautiful. The silky texture made her smile. Loki watched her, waiting patiently. His green aura crawled in vibrant tendrils around them. She seemed to forget how powerful he truly was. Only in this world did she remember. It stripped her of any illusion.
He was a frost giant but he remained in his Asgardian form under the veil. She looked closer at his white skin that glowed a slight blue colour. It made her wonder if he hid his identity for her benefit. She wanted to see it. Perhaps it would inch her closer to normalcy.
Her breath hitched in her throat and she cast her awareness around them. She was light, wind and pure magic. Her iridescence bathed him in light but he didn't startle or retaliate against it. Not even as that blue skin crawled forward and cast swirling runes over his face and skin. Red eyes stared back at her.
She smiled.
"Impressive", He growled and darted his eyes from his blue skin. She questioned.
"Can you form ice?",
"No", Loki dismissed her in a low growl. He was uncomfortable and quick to change the hue of his skin back to white.
"Okay, Jack Frost. Where are these fuzzy little demons?", Fury ignored his strangeness and examined the luminescent forest. A whining growl answered her question. In her sights, a creature like Fenrir padded forward with fur alight in spots of glowing blue, pink and purple. It was bigger and its cuteness was tainted by the thick scar across its eye.
"How do we befriend it?", She whispered. Loki ushered her to his side and knelt in front of the creature, speaking respectfully.
"Noble lord of the Fels. We require your aid",
Do not kneel
Fury watched the creature eye his aura of green then snap its attention to her. Loki was obsolete as the Fel eyed her off. It growled a low growl and before her eyes, it transfigured into a large wolf. Its growl shook the earth at her feet.
Your sword. Brandish your sword
Are you insane?... You know what don't answer that.
Instantaneously her blade jumped into her palm and lit the shadowed woods in a bright purple iridescence. The Fel howled and shied away from her in a whimper. Her breath hitched as It shrunk down to cat size and sat at her feet, summoning a hoard of luminescent creatures to scurry from the shrubbery. They beheld her blade and sat before her in a strange gathering.
"Does this mean they'll help?", She asked Loki as he brushed the dirt off his leather jacket.
We will help the bearer of the shadow blade, In return for the banishment of the darkness.
A husky female voice rattled in her mind.
"Did it? Did the cat just talk?", Fury question in a high pitched voice.
"Magical creatures, my dear", Loki justified, petting the creatures at his feet. He explained.
"The mother of that blade used to protect these forests from the shadow creatures. She was kind to the Fel and the other creatures of the forest. That sword could cast the shadow demons out of the woods which in turn kept the Fel alive. It chose you to wield it.",
"Let me guess she was a Queen of the 'Wildmen' and this is how I dominate them?", She bit and he returned.
"No, they loathed her. They burnt her alive, actually..."
"Loki!", He shushed her with the motion of his hand and continued.
"But...they feared her",
This was ridiculous. What the hell was she doing trusting Loki? Listening to anything he had to say? Was she that deluded?
The whole damn plan was so very insane. It wasn't her. She was scheduled and calculated, not whatever this impulsive and irrational person was. She felt wrong.
She found a decrepit log on the ground that's moss glowed an aqua colour and sat. Loki watched her with those emerald eyes that reflected the glowing colours around them. He approached her, shooing the Fel off his lap, and found the space beside her. The log shook under his weight.
"Remember what it is you are fighting for", His tone was low and webbed with knowledge. It made her feel less afraid. Loki gingerly touched her arm where she had rolled up her jacket sleeves and presented Valerian's swirling ink against her white skin. He breathed out, "What you are fighting against",
Fury smiled weakly and diverted her sight to the cat-like creatures that lazed around them. Just when she thought she had Loki figured out he showed her that he was somewhat redeemable. He held a kindness that Valerian had never possessed. And it annoyed her. She wanted to hate him. She wanted him to make it easier to hate him.
She laughed, a sad and out of context chuckle at how fucked up she had become.
"What?", His low voice asked in its enticing accent.
"You're making it very difficult to hate you",
"I apologise, it is usually second nature to Asgardians", Loki sucked in a breath of air and crossed his ankles of one another.
"If it's all the same, they don't like me much better", Fury huffed with her sights on a Fel with pure white fur beneath its glowing spots. Loki spoke.
"It is because you are different. Asgardians are so fond of their pure bloodline", Loki met her eyes, sweeping the line of dirt off her cheek from the wet branches. He seemed to silence every howling creature or swaying tree within the forest. His slender fingers lingered on her skin. She saw a light in his eyes, a relief from the ghosts of demons that haunted him. Around him, his aura pulsed an almost blinding green, mingling with her iridescent magic. The feeling was euphorically powerful.
"And that's usually why Asgardians cannot do what we can", Fury smirked, her eyes watched the tendrils of magic intertwine above them. His hand retreated from her face and she grasped it in her palm. The light show was impeccable but he didn't watch it. In her peripheral vision, she saw his green eyes glittering at her with wonder. His skin was like ice under her grasp and he was frozen in place. She had the feeling any affection had been reserved for Thor. That Loki himself was irreparably broken by it.
"You know what this means?", Fury met Loki's shining eyes. His eyebrows furrowed. He asked in a low voice.
"What is that?",
"You, my friend are going to help me dominate the Wildmen", She smirked at his expression of disbelief. He was quick to snatch his hand back.
"I think you overestimate your worth, monster", Loki bit and sauntered back toward the path. Fury returned his quick anger
"I think you got me killed and anything I ask isn't enough!", Fury thundered after him, violently turning his shoulder to face her. "I think you invited my demonic ex-husband into your land to fuck with me and I paid the damn price because you underestimated him after I told you. I goddamn told you!", She felt herself losing the grip she had on her emotion. That watertight compartment buckled from the memory. He opened his mouth to speak.
"You know what...don't bother", She growled and stormed through the forest at a swift pace, her chest felt like it was about to explode.
"Furya!", His voice trembled under the influence of the darkness.
"Furya!",
She ran through the darkness until she couldn't breathe. Sticks cracked beneath her and branches clawed at her skin with mean malice. Oh god. A sob escaped her lungs that burned with fire. Tears streamed from her eyes in unrelenting drops. Yesterday's excitement had caught up to her with a violent body slam. She still felt the knife digging through her flesh, the moment she knew she was done for. It made her feel scared. She hated it. She hated feeling so weak against Valerian.
"Fuck", Fury breathed out, pressing against her ribs in a futile effort to return her air. She felt like she was going to die through her uncontrollable sobs and lack of air that stung her throat. No voices from the dark forest could taunt her any more than that God of Mischief. She was a disaster.
Something growled and snapped the leaves underneath its mighty weight. She began to run again, this time faster and longer than before.
The creature stayed with her for a while but faded back into the darkness after a while. Wetness fell from her eyes with every footfall that crunched the earth beneath her. She heard the leaves lift in the brisk wind, she imagined them swirling and dancing in their freedom. Freedom was the prize for her was against Valerian. Fury stumbled on wet soil but regained her footing, sprinting faster and faster with no real direction, just cold air against her face and fire in her heart.
An unseen force halted her and jolted her back.
A body enveloped her. It's arm's wrapped around her waist and chest and flung her to the dirt. A soft gasp left her body as she slammed against the chest of her captor into the soft soil. She felt her legs dangling with no earth beneath them.
"Furya", Loki's voice boomed through his leather-bound chest. She struggled to catch her breath against the soft breeze. The arms that held her into his chest had saved her from a most unfortunate death. There was no malice in his eyes as he held onto her with God-like strength like if he let go she would disappear. She was mesmerised by his beauty underneath the fading light. His hand clenched against the bare skin on her waist, where her jacket had pulled away in Loki's swift movement. His breathing was just as hard as hers as she allowed him to pull her closer, away from the cliff edge. The heat from his leather binds soaked into her being.
Her tears had stopped falling but still wet her face with slick drops. She prayed that they would dry before admitting her weakness to him. She looked up at him.
"I'm sorry...I'm sorry", He breathed out with exhaustion in his voice, his tendrils of magic danced around her form as if the see if she had harmed herself when she fell.
"Oh, dear", He murmured as the green wisps hovered at her eye level. It exposed her reddened tear-stained face and her body straightened against him. She froze as his thumb wiped at the wetness underneath her eyesocket with the care that he hadn't shown anyone. He held her a little tighter and breathed a long-delayed breath.
He pitied her, she could see it in his eyes. He pitied was Valerian had done to her. The mess that he left. A tearless sob escaped her in the sound of a weak whimper. That grip turned her shoulder from his chest so that he might see the blue eyes she bore. Chest to chest he lured her closer. His raven hair was invisible in the darkness.
"It would have done you well to fear me like the others", Loki growled with desire burning in his emerald eyes. Her pride overtook her mouth.
"Why would I?",
"Because I'm evil and twisted. And unbelievably Mischievous", He hovered closer to her face in an almost voiceless whisper that disturbed the hair on her skin. She felt a warmth in her chest that flickered with excitement. She murmured.
"Ohhh. Scary",
His mouth grew into a wide smile that sparked laughter in eyes. Her fangs brushed against the roughness of her lips and she thought of those red eyes.
"Then what does that make me?", She purred and flashed the crimson orbs toward him, smiling a wicked smile.
"Quite mad", Loki replied in a growl that came from deep in his chest. It was silent. They were close. So close. But he shied away and released her from his grasp. He spoke.
"I think it's time we leave",
"Uh...okay", She replied with delay, clearing her throat.