[Third Person]
Hanna took a step back as the remains of her whip clattered to the ground. Corroded iron and tarnished barbs scattered as Loki's golden sword emerged from the glistening green smoke that swirled around his arm. She didn't dare let him see her fear. A grin sprawled along her lips. An inhuman smile that stretched from ear to ear, exposing her yellow and jagged teeth. It seemed as time progressed, the less Hanna she became. Loki could see violet veins fissuring throughout her paling skin like blackened webs. Her fingers sprouted infected yellowed nails. They jutted out like thin knives coated in foul scented poison. Her ebon eyes narrowed to thin slits as her smile spread. The scarlet halo glowing. Loki's chest heaved as his heartbeat quickened with anger. The wrath of a frost giant pulsed from within him as he squeezed the cold grip of his sword. Laevateinn quaked as magic rang through the blade. The sound was like a snow coated wind howling through a crystalline cavern, high and wistful.
The hag's fingers twitched with anticipation. Knuckles and bones cracked with each sporadic movement. She was a ghastly creature. Drool poured from her lips as she eyed Laevateinn. He knew that look. Hunger. Like a beast that hadn't fed in days. As more of the Illerhag's characteristics surfaced, it became clear to Loki just how hungry she was. Frizzles strings of coarse silver hair stuck out from Hanna's unwound fawn-colored bun. Her skin weathered past her age. Wrinkles carved into her face in deep thin lines, especially around her eyes and forehead. In the few seconds they stood there, Loki watched her age in decades. Little by little, whatever was left of Hanna was slipping away.
"I'm sorry," Loki whispered to the pieces of Hanna's soul before lunging forward with his blade.
The creature contorted her body, arching her spine to the right in a garish display as she dodged. She laughed deviously as the sword slipped past her ribs. Quickly, Loki brought the sword back and swung, cleaving the air was he lowered the blade to the hag's head. She threw up a hand, catching the enchanted gilded steel. It gashed her hand, but she still wrapped her gnarled fingers around the sharp blade. Gelatinous globs of black ichor seeped from the wounds. The stench of infection assaulted Loki's senses. He tried to drag the sword away, but the hag had a strong grip. She squeezed the blade, embedding it further into her hands. By now the sword was stuck between her fore and middle finger, wedged into her palm. It had sliced through muscle and tissue. Still, the Illerhag cackled as if it tickled. The more Loki struggled, the deeper it cut.
With her other hand, the hag gripped the base, just above the rain guard. She quickly jerked the blade. Loki stumbled forward but regain his footing in time. The blade lingered just an inch above the hag's wretches face. A drooling black tongue unfurled from her gash of a mouth, uncoiling like a snake as she dragged it along the sharpened edge of Laevateinn. She lapped the congealing gore, moaning as her tongue split in two.
"Delicious. I can't wait to suck the marrow from this treasure before I suck your soul dry," the Illerhag growled. Gathering courage, Loki ripped the sword from her grasp and stepped back. Her severed hand stitched sinew and skin back together by magic. Flicking the remaining blood to the floor, she grinned. "No witty remark? Don't tell me you're scared," she cackled like a sick crow, "Loki Laufeyson, the little frost giant, frozen with fear."
Laevateinn pulsed with a resounding burst of magic as Loki charged forward once more. With swift and calculated attacks, he slashed the hag's chest before she threw up her arms in defense. As her arms crossed, a rippling force of magic pushed the Jotun back. He slid about a foot before charging back at her. The cuts he made vanished before they could bleed. Every gash resewn. Despite this, Loki didn't stop. His blade ripped through the air as he poured all his strength into each assault. Fury building and boiling inside.
"Are you stupid, boy?" the hag hissed with a crooked smile. "All this hacking and where is it getting you?"
Loki stopped. Sweat gleamed across his brow and slid down his face as he inhaled the thick obnoxious air. Laevateinn fell to his side, slick with the hag's septic blood. All of her wounds healed before his eyes. The gash in her shoulder, the cuts along her arms, and the slash he left across her sickly hollow chest. All melded back into themselves. "You wouldn't so happen feel charitable enough to tell me how to kill you?" Loki huffed. The Illerhag let out a jolly giggle.
Her grin spread. The corners of her callous lips stretched to the corners of her crinkled black eyes. Jagged rows of decaying teeth chattering together as a series of giggles rattled out of her beaten throat. "You're funny," her voice split in two different pitches; one childishly high, one fiendishly low. "You'll never kill me. Not with that pathetic secondhand Vanir magic."
Pouncing forward, the Illerhag swiped at Loki with her claws. His Asgardian leather tunic ripped as she slashed across his chest. He was just quick enough to dodge, deflecting her other hand with his sword. They traded a flurry of blows. Laevateinn aurelian steel clang against dagger-like nails as Loki dodged the hag's furiously charges. She managed to cut his cheek with a swift dive forward. The wound sizzled with an acidic heat. Poison crept into the cut, searing pain fissured under his skin. Loki clenched his teeth as he winced. He didn't have time to falter or heal. The hag cackled and slashed as they danced around the room.
"Frigga failed you, boy," she chuckled. Hearing his mother's name run off the hag's tongue sent a wave of seething rage through Loki's veins. "She must have known your blood was weak. A pathetic little frost giant, not worthy of her time. If she truly cared, she would've made sure you were stronger," the hag caught Loki's blade. Her fingers quickly tightened around the edge, bleeding down the sword in a fit of laughter, as she tugged Loki's forward. "You couldn't even summon your own sword." Her mouth opened revealing three rows of sharp and broken teeth. She dug her claws into Loki's unoccupied arm, paralyzing it to his size as she pumped a cursed poison into his veins. Sinking her teeth into his shoulder, Loki cried out in pain. He dropped to his knees. Her blackened tongue wiggled into one of the wounds and the hag began to drink. Lapping blood and poison into her mouth, the Illerhag moaned deeply. Loki could feel something leave him. Something warm. It was like she was draining all joy from his soul.
She reeled back sighing pleasantly, mouth stained with dark crimson. She released the sword and pushed Loki aside with an invisible force of magic. "Even that idiot can summon his weapon," she gestured to Thor, still limp and unconscious, "but with you, I had to kill your pathetic human pet. Look at you...I almost feel bad."
Loki curled his body as fire burned within his blood. The air stung his open wounds like a thousand fire ants were burrowing into his skin. He clung to his sword with an inflexible grip. Warmth pervaded through the cold steel. Not the sweltering burn of the poison, but like a hearth warming his hands after playing in the snow. A radiant heat that pulsed like a heartbeat. It filled him slowly. As he tensed and churned from the pain, memories of days long past flashed in his mind. Baking sugar cookies in the palace kitchens with his mother. Picnics under the wisteria tree. Enchanting the sky with brilliant bursts of fireworks, just to make his mother smile. All the things he wanted to show Elaina once he earned his place at S.H.I.E.L.D.
The glow grew. A hum rang under his skin, rattling his very bones. He stifled a scream as he made an attempt to uncoil his arms and bring himself to his knees. "Fuck,"he gasped as the poison splintered, embedding like spikes in his veins, but he couldn't stop. Slowly, agonizingly, he sat up, resting on his knees. He gasped and panted, but still managed to keep a tight grip on the sword.
"This is just sad, little giant," the hag cackled. "Do you think that if you believe with all your heart, you'll somehow manage to kill me with your little golden twig?" Her laughter rang like a cacophony of hyenas.
Laevateinn droned on. Loki ignored the hag's taunts as he rose to his feet. The dreams he shared with Elaina played in his head. The warmth of her skin breaking the chill of his. Her soft kiss and gentle voice. The way her delicate mortal body curled into his so perfectly. He wanted to make those dreams real. Not just touch her again, but take her somewhere beautiful, were flowers glowed. He wanted to watch her face light up as they walked through some magical garden. He wanted to show her that her faith wasn't misplaced. She showed him that he could be a better person. He wanted to make sure that she saw that person, not the monster beneath the glamor.
Staggering to his feet, Loki gulped the rank air as he stared down at the twitching giggling creature. Comfort and warmth filled his grip as Laevateinn blade erupted in flames. The sword crackled like logs in a hearth.
The hags eyes widened. For the first time, there was fear as the dancing flames reflected in her glossy black eyes. "Interesting..." she quirked. Her smile had gone. Instead, her lip twitched with irritation, each eye darting around the room in desperation.
"Don't tell me your scared," Loki mocked in a raspy growl. He twirled the burning sword in his hand with finesse. Pain, anger, sorrow, and longing all merged into one brutal rapture. The cerulean prince leaped forward with a précised score. Flames licked the hags arms. She recoiled, prancing backwards with a heinous hiss. "Interesting," Loki smirked.
Heat and steel maimed her flesh as the hag deflected the flaming sword. Loki lunged forward, piercing and cleaving. She wasn't grabbing the blade now. Instead, she avoided it at every turn. Limbs bending backwards in gross displays of contortion. Her bones cracked and snapped. Loki headed further, like pushing back a beast with a torch. "All you do is kill the girl!" the Illerhag screeched as the blade caught her hand. The throbbing wound along her palm didn't heal.
Loki persisted. The hag pushed back with a magical surge, but the Jotun was too powerful. He steadied his footing, narrowing his eyes on the hollow cavity of Hanna's chest before charging forward. Her skin sizzled as Laevateinn pushed forward, piercing flesh, tissue, muscle, bone, and heart. A scream broke through the thick foggy air. Her hands desperately clasped the sword as her grotesque body writhed desperately. The fire spread, coating her skin like paraffin wax. The hag caught fire. Seeing her in pain was satisfying. Loki wanted more. With a final painful step, he pushed Laevateinn deep, skewering the hag's heart before falling to his knees.
Screams thundered along the room as the hag burned. Loki watched like a funeral pyre. The Illerhag dropped to her knees, engulfed in enchanted flames, crying into the void for salvation. Soon, the screams stopped. Everything Hanna was burnt away. Loki almost heard a thank you whisper in the air as her bones clamored into a pile of ash and dust. It must have been wishful thinking. He was sure the real Hanna, whoever she may have been, was cursing his name, lamenting that he couldn't save her. Laevateinn fell into the pile. It's metal clang against the floor as the fire smoldered to nothing but a white hot blade.
There was silence. True silence. No humming of distance magics or the high pitch ring of laden frequencies. No mysterious whispers in the background. Just silence.
Loki rest against his knees as the air thinned. He pulled soft relaxed breathes through his lungs as he wearily shut his eyes. But only for a moment. There was so much to do. Laevateinn fell reticent. A golden sword resting in a pile of ash. He clasped his hand around the leather grip and carried it over to Elaina.
He scooped her into his two lapis arms, letting her rest against his lap. She'd never been so cold. Loki brushed his hand along her cheek, hoping the friction would revitalize something in her. Nothing. No pulse. No air passing through her lungs. Slowly, Loki rocked her, gently closing his arms around her fragile frame. "I'm sorry," he whispered as he did a dozen times before. "Everywhere I go, everything I touch gets destroyed. Gods, I'm so sorry, Elaina," his voice cracked as he pressed his lips to her forehead. Her skin was like ice. A tear rolled down his cheek as he pulled her into his chest. Laevateinn sat next to them, humming softly as Loki wept. "For once in my life, please, let me do something right," he begged quietly. His heart beat firm inside his chest despite the firming grasp of sorrow digging their nails deeper with each pulse.
Laevateinn vibrated against the stone floor. Metal rattling against hardened earth. It almost played like a sang. Something sweet and soft to carry her soul somewhere nice. Somewhere flowers bloomed like neon lights and wisterias chimed in the wind. Loki hummed, muttering along with Asgardian. A mournful song. She always seemed to like his singing, so he sang for her now. It was the least he could do.
As his song reached its end, Laevateinn went still. Gold fluttered off the blood soaked blade like wisps of glitter into an unfelt wind. Shimmers of emerald and gold floating to the void. Loki rocked the cold corpse for a moment longer. As he kissed her pale frozen cheek, Laevateinn disappeared. For good.
[Elaina's POV]
I couldn't feel the currents anymore. My body was pulled and pushed beneath the frigid waters as my shining star disappeared into the vast black sky. I tried to pull myself towards the surface, but there was nothing. No needles piercing my skin or hot irons splitting my spine. I couldn't move. I couldn't feel the waves crash over my skin. It was numb here. Dark, hollow, and numb. Was this death? Purgatory? An eternal struggle to reach the surface only to be broken in half and weighed back to the bottom? No. Not being able to feel anything anymore...this was Hell.
My star was nothing but a dot weaving above the surface. Glistening brilliantly against the abyss. Despite the overwhelming nothingness, I couldn't help but smile. Knowing my star was still burning bright. It filled me with...something. Like a flash of warmth. As quickly as it came, it was gone. Melting into the darkness that surrounded me. It was nice while it lasted.
I froze with my hand outstretched, hoping the waters would bring me back to the top. "Please," I thought, "You're right there." My star sparkled brightly in response. I could see it grow like a ball of light rippling amongst the night sky. My finger skimmed the outer layer. A brush of heat, loving and uplifting prickled my skin. "Please," I begged quietly.
Cold fingers laced between mine. A frozen embrace that fished me out of the darkness. Light grazed my skin as my hand broke free of the bleak waters. My star grew bigger and brighter. Battling against the night, it grew into a sun, radiating life-giving heat.
My face broke the surface. I drank the fresh warm air, filling my lungs as I gasped and coughed.
I rolled off an inclined surface, falling onto the cold hard ground. I vomited water as I panted desperately. My head felt light and heavy at the same time, as if I'd forgotten how to breath.
"Easy, easy," a soothing voice called to me. Cold hands flexed around my arm to keep me steady as I heaved. "Slow deep breaths," they reminded me. I knew that voice. The silky low sound that filled my chest with butterflies. The refined accent.
"Loki," I choked.
"I'm here." Arms curled around my waist as he brought me close to his chest. I laid my face on the familiar hard pectorals, soothing my hot blood-rushed face with his cold skin. His fingers slipped into my hair. I buried my face into his chest, listening and feeling the echo of his heart beat against my cheek. "I'm here," he panted.
My fingers traced a long curved line etched over his heart. Eyes still closed, I found another, and then another below that. "Are you hurt?" I asked as I pulled my head away.
Royal blue skin peeked through large frayed tears in his worn leather tunic. My eyes peered up his neck and fixed to his lapis colored face. Ruby red eyes gazed back through two heavy blue eyelids. He turned away when I met his gaze. I reached out, placing my hand on his cold cheek. He winced as my skin touched a cut. Instinctively, I recoiled.
"I'm sorry, are you okay?" I asked. Congealing blood trickled below the score.
"It's just a scratch. Are youokay?" he asked, peering back at me with two sorrowful eyes. Loki gently grazed my cheek with his fingertips. He brushed a tender bruise and I flinched. He pulled back, curling his fingers angrily into a fist. His jaw tightened as he frowned. "I'm sorry. I don't...I'm just sorry," he apologized through clenched teeth. I could feel his rage. It was all directed at himself.
I clasped my hand over his fist. A current of pain and self-loathing poured from him to me. My chest felt tight. Still, I managed to bring his hand to my cheek and lean gently into his palm. Blood rushed to my face. His cold skin soothing the tender bruise like an ice pack. "I'm okay now," I sighed happily.
A weak smile pulled at the corners of Loki's black lips. A wave of calm passed from me to him. "I'm sorry for my..." he expelled a revolted sigh as he glanced at his exposed flesh, "appearance. I just need a moment to regain my strength."
I hushed him, pressing a finger to his smooth glacial lip. "You look quiet dashing." I turned my face and kissed below the lacerations on his wrists. A tinge of joy rippled through out him. "The way you spoke of Jotuns, I was expecting a heinous beast with razor sharp teeth and bloody claws." I passed my finger along his bottom lip, down to his chin, and trailed the sharp angle of his handsome jawline before twirling a finger around a lock of his raven black hair.
"You died because of me," he said solemnly. Anguish crashed over me, binding my chest in a barbed wire vice. In the back of my mind, I could hear the snap echo like a gunshot. The pain of failure tore into his heart. It infected his senses. In his eyes, he saw a monster, cold and cruel with blood soaked hands.
"Loki, you saved me. I'm right here. I'm okay," I smiled, creasing the bruise around my eye. It hurt, but I forced myself to keep it on. His crimson eyes filled with a trembling gloss as tears welled on the edge of his lids. His raven brow curled with worry. "I'm okay now," I repeated. My lips twitched as a heavy dose of pain rattled my core like a punch to the gut.
He wrapped me in a gentle embrace. My face against his chest, I began to sob. It was all too much. Too much pain, regret, guilt, and fear. It all tumbled like dominos. Whether it mine or Loki's, it didn't matter, the ache was real and destructive. We stayed like that for a while. He held me as I cried, confessing how scared I was between sobs. I told him about the darkness, the frigid waters that sucked me into a never-ending abyss.
Lightly, like feathery flakes of snow sweeping along a winter breeze, Loki ran his fingers up and down my newly reformed back. A comforting swell of calm helped quell my rapidly beating heart. I curled into his lap. In his Jotun form, he towered over me, cradling me in his massive arms. I listened to his heart drum like thunder under his broad chest. "You're okay now," he sighed. He pushed away his despair, if only for a moment, to help lead me to a sense of calm and safety.
I could only nod. My voice stumbling inside my throat as my lungs struggled to hold air.
Hanna was nothing but a pile of ash. Loki couldn't regain his Aesir form. I was in shambled as I struggled with mortality. Laevateinn had disappeared. Loki couldn't feel it anymore. The magic it held vanished once I awoke. He didn't really care. He just wanted me alive. If that meant he had to sacrifice the weapon, then he was happy to watch it vanish.
We unchained Thor. Loki had no trouble carrying him as an eight foot giant. We managed to scramble up the stairwell, flagging down the first agent we found in a random corridor in the basement. Loki was arrested again, though, there weren't any cuffs big enough to contain him. The bracelet made to suppress his magic had broken. It was nothing but a thin silver cord. No green glow or sense of mysterious technology. There was nothing stopping him from escaping. He willingly walked back to his cell, escorted by several armed guards. They looked like a band of toddlers next to him.
Dr. Banner took me back to the infirmary. I wasn't sure how to explain my wounds. To say I was in a fight was a lie. To admit to dying and being saved by the sacrifice of some ancient cosmic magic seemed too unbelievable. I simply shrugged and said I couldn't remember. Thankfully, all my wounds were superficial. Banner seemed to believe everything I said. I was required to spend the next week in a hospital bed and see a counselor. All of which seemed small in the grand scale of things.
The infirmary was empty. White curtains surrounded my cot giving me a small inkling of privacy. I curled into bed and held my eyes closed, desperately trying to fall asleep. My leaden body sank into the thin plastic mattress, but my mind wouldn't rest. The loneliness was numbing.
I kicked off the blankets and pulled a navy blue S.H.I.E.L.D. hoodie out of the infirmary closet. I covered the thick cotton hospital gown, zipping it up to my neck, and made a dash down the empty hall. My legs were heavy, but they carried my body down the stairs, back into the basement.
There were six guards posted outside the cell. Each armed with holstered hand guns as well as some kind of semi-automatic in their hands. For the first time, I wasn't nervous walking up to the door.
"Excuse me, Miss. Bright. You can't be here," one guard said.
"Open the door," I replied blankly.
They went quiet for a moment, tossing confused glances at each other. "I don't think we can do that," another said, peering at the guard next to him.
"Let me escort you back upstairs," a third offered.
"Open the door," I repeated with a bit more venom in my voice. For the first time in a long time, I stood my ground. I didn't care what the consequences were, I wasn't going back to sleeping alone. I couldn't. Not after that day.
The first guard muttered something in the radio attached to his shoulder. It beeped as static sizzled from the speaker. Their conversation was quiet and muffled by the sound of the other guards chattering. "Sir, are you sure?" the first whispered. "Guys, shut up!" he howled, "Miss. Bright. Come here please. I need to pat you down." His hands skimmed my pockets, but nothing further. I was only wearing the short hospital gown and the oversized hoodie. I didn't have much to hide. "Right this way..." he sighed with exhaustion.
The cell door unlocked with a series of new codes. Slowly, it creaked open, revealing the same white room and its new amenities. I was happy to see that they didn't take away his books or tables. Even better, Loki wasn't chained to the bed. He sat contemplative on the mattress, resting his back against the wall with his hands in his lap. His scarlet red eyes concealed by heavy blue lids.
Tattered Asgardian leather sat in a discarded pile in the corner. His cloak and tunic bloodied and shredded. Loki sat shirtless, his blue muscular blue chest exposed. I eyed the thin white ridges that lined his body. Three lines ran down from his bottom lip, over his neck, and stopped just below his belly button. A slightly curved arch stretched from shoulder to shoulder. With his eyes closed, I carefully tip toed over to him, and reached a hand out to touch. Before my fingers could make contact, he deftly caught my wrist with a quick, yet gentle grip.
"You should be resting," he grumbled.
"I couldn't sleep," I admitted wearily.
"So, you creep into the monster's den," he sighed. His grip loosened.
"I didn't want to be alone..." I shyly whispered. My heart felt heavy. At any moment it might drop and shatter. "Loki," I muttered on an unstable breath.
His eyes opened. He scanned me with a soft vermillion stare before slipping his thick blue fingers back around my dainty wrist. Pulling back some covers that concealed his legs, he made a small spot for me. "Come here then," he ushered, lightly pulling me into the stiff bed. With an open arm, he helped me adjust, nuzzling against his chest. He draped the blanket back over, giving me ample cover as I melded my body into his. His heart drummed like a song against my ear. I closed my eyes, serenaded by the beat. Loki let his heavy arm drape lazily over me, pushing me closer into him. Fingers stroking my knotted mess of hair, he hummed a familiar song. "Are you cold?" he asked.
"No, this is perfect." A small satisfied smile spread across my lips as Loki's heart thrummed joyfully. Finally, I was able to sleep.