They Come on White Horses: Chapter 14
Requested by: NoVacancyMind and many wonderful others
Sequel to Knights.
Tamuri12, I think you should calm down before Natasha snaps, or Tony, don't know who would first...probably Tony. You don't have to worry, because I NEVER kill any good-guy main characters off in my stories, unless you call Sif a main character which I do not. Though, remember, Odin is not very wise or caring in this story. Think how the whole thing might go down afterwards. Will he be happy? You'll just have to wait and see. But don't worry. No little children shall ever die in my stories.
The new poll is on White Collar plots, so if you like that fandom or read my WC stories, check it out. :)
Please enjoy and review!
Disclaimer: Don't own. Never will. So sad.
The Plague of Lilies
They had all been relaxing in the common area when Jarvis alerted them.
"Avengers, Loki has been attacked, and the young sirs have been taken." He didn't have to say anything else. All of them were running towards the bedrooms. They were at the far end of the hall, when they saw Loki stumbling out of his room and running into the next. Thor called out to his brother, but it was like Loki hadn't heard him. Steve and Thor made it to the boys's room only a couple seconds after the Trickster had. Clint and Natasha ran past them and straight into Loki's room to see what they could find.
Thor saw how his brother stood, chest heaving, and his hands shaking as they slowly clenched into fists. There was no sign of a struggle, only rumpled bed sheets laying on an empty bed. Steve started to search the room for clues, whatever he could find, while Thor walked up behind his brother and laid a hand on his shoulder.
"Brother-" Loki's jaw was clenched tightly shut, so his words could only barely escape through his teeth.
"She. Took. Them. She. Took. Them." Thor could only give him words, that was all he had to offer.
"We will find them, Loki. She will not harm a hair on their heads. We will make sure of it." Loki was breathing deeply through his nose, trying to reign in his emotions.
"If she does, she will have to answer to me." Thor had no doubt in his mind that his brother could destroy Amora, magic or no. Just then Steve came out of the bathroom, with a dying flower in his hand.
"I found this by the mirror. Does it mean anything to you?" Loki took it into gingerly, and his face lost all emotion, a steel mask sliding into place.
"Loki?" Thor's brother stayed silent for a few tense moments, just staring at the flower.
"This," he finally hissed, "is an Asiatic Landini Lily, as your scientists have named it." He didn't look up when Clint and Natasha came into the room, and carefully pulled off one of the browning petals. "On Midgard it is simply a pretty flower." Loki pulled off another petal. "But for those who practice magic, it means something else entirely. On Asgard it is known as the Plague to Magic." Another. "This flower is a key ingredient in a spell used to take away another sorcerer's strength, their power." The lily now had most of its petals ripped from it, leaving half of a bare pistol. "The spell is only effective when this flower, and other substances are used in tandem with a drop of blood from the intended target's weakness." Now all of the petals were in Loki's hand, while the other held the wilting stem. "It is possible to recover from such a blow, but the process is long and painful. I have only used this spell once." Loki's eyes flashed to meet Thor's. "Only a few years before your coronation, Amora's sister was wreaking havoc on Vanaheim. The Allfather sent me to put an end to her slaughter." Thor looked confused.
"I do not remember that." Loki shook his head.
"You wouldn't. We both feared Amora might be there, and she would try and seduce you with her magic again. We couldn't have you near her, and I was confident I could stop her sister. What I did not know was Amora's sister had gained a great deal of power over the years and had nearly gone completely mad with it. There was only one way I knew how to stop her."
"The spell," Natasha interjected. Loki nodded.
"I found their mother, still living, barely, and simply pricked her finger. It was over quickly, but Amora was furious. Her sister had grown so dependent on magic that she nearly died when the spell took it from her. Amora whisked her sister away, and I had not heard anything of her until now." Loki crushed the petals in his hand.
"You almost killed her sister, and you didn't think that could be a motive for all of this?!" Loki's eyes flashed to Clint, who was sneering at him.
"Her sister survived and was sane once more. Amora knew I could have simply killed her, but I did not. What I did was a mercy. Once upon a time, I assumed Amora would have known that. I guess I was wrong." Steve crossed his arms over his chest.
"So you think Amora has done all of this to take away your power? As revenge for her sister?" Loki stared at the empty bed.
"I can only assume that is her intent. The spell is more potent when the blood used is from those who are innocent and pure, a child. She must have been observing me, and saw that Stark and Dr. Banner were closer to me than others…as she could not get to my mother. Amora turned them into children, knowing that I care more deeply for children. They are my weakness. That was why she tried to take them the first time." Everyone's focus was on Loki.
"Why didn't she just take a drop of their blood, then, when she came here as Fury? It wouldn't have been difficult, and we never would have suspected anything of it. And your magic is already blocked by those bracelets." Loki shook his head.
"When it comes to the blood of a child in a spell, it needs to be…fresh. She would have had to preform the spell right there in the tower, if she had taken the blood then. Also, this way, she can lure me out of the tower. Away from any protection. These bracelets are temporary. The spell will take my magic permanently, and because it is a vital component of my core…having it ripped away will kill me." The room was dead silent (no pun intended). Then a huff came from Clint.
"So, what's the plan?"
Tony and Bruce had been half asleep already, when they felt more than heard someone in their room. Thinking it was Loki, Bruce slowly sat up, and looked for the raven-haired man. He startled completely awake, when he saw instead a strange woman grinning at him in a way Bruce knew wasn't meant to be nice. Bruce immediately shook Tony awake and gathered the younger boy into his arms.
"B-bruce?" Tony slurred. He blinked a few times and saw the woman. Tony gripped Bruce's shirt tightly in his little fist, as the woman walked forward.
"Hello, boys. We're going on a little trip." Without another word, and before they could even try to get away, she reached out and laid a hand on them. Then all three of them disappeared from the room entirely.
Tony and Bruce landed on a cold, hard floor. It was dark at first, but with a snap of her fingers, Amora lit the space they were in, torches coming to life on the stone walls. Amora smiled at the scared children in front of her and crouched down. Bruce glared at her, and Tony would have tried to as well, had he not been so scared.
"W-what do you want? Where are we?" Amora smirked and reached out a hand to pet the boy's head. Bruce flinched back, and the Enchantress scowled. She stood and loomed over them instead.
"I want you two. And we are in an abandoned castle I found in an equally empty part of your world. What can I saw? I've always wanted a castle." She put her hands on her hips and looked about her, as though proud of the dark hole she had burrowed in.
"Why? Why did you take us away?" Amora smiled down at them with fake sympathy. All she could think about was her hatred and anger towards Loki Odinson. She could see the pain she was causing two innocent children, and she did not care.
"It will be alright. All I need from you is a small drop of blood. Just one from each of you. You'll be helping me quite a lot actually." Tony peeked out of where he had buried his face in Bruce's shirt, and looked at the woman.
"H-help you with w-what?" Here Amora's smile took a turn for the worse, if that was even possible. Her lips curled upward, and a fire burned in her eyes.
"You, my dear little morsel, are going to help me destroy a very bad man. Loki." Tony and Bruce cried out simultaneously.
"No!"
"Please! Don't hurt Loki!" Amora scowled.
"He is a monster! He deserves to be destroyed." But by now the boys were crying and clinging to each other. Occasionally she could make out a 'No' or 'Loki', but beyond that they were incomprehensible. She could not stand to listen to it any longer and hastened from the room, cruelly dousing the lights as she left. The boys sat on the floor, then, clinging to each other and crying as fear and sorrow overwhelmed their little bodies. All they could do was succumb to unconsciousness as they cried themselves to sleep.
"Brother, I can ask Father to release you from the magic bonds and-" Loki growled in frustration.
"He. Is not. Going. To listen! It would be a waste of our time. We need to find Amora." The two princes had been arguing for a good thirty minutes, while the others waited for Jarvis to get Fury on the line. They were all worried about their kidnapped teammates, and were each doing their best to not beat the crap out of the two brothers. A collective sigh of relief came from them when the screen in front of them came to life as someone finally answered.
"Is what I heard from Stark's AI, correct. " It was then that they realized that no one wanted to say it. No one wanted to verbally admit that Tony and Bruce had been taken, that the Earth's Mightiest Heroes had failed to protect two of their own. "Well?!" Natasha squared her shoulders.
"Yes. Stark and Banner were taken by Amora, Sir. We think she is going to try to use them in a spell to kill Loki. We don't have any idea as to their location-"
"We do." They all gathered around the screen, and looked at Fury, determination burning in their eyes.
"Where?" Steve demanded. Honestly, it was just because he was the first to get it out.
"Lithuania." He continued at their puzzled faces. "It looks like she wants to be found. According to Dr. Foster, there was a very obvious, distinct trail of energy and elements leading directly to an abandoned castle in Lithuania. At least it's not Latveria." Natasha and Clint both agreed with his last statement, while the others chose to ignore it, since they had no clue to what he was referring. Then Director Fury rounded his eye on Loki, giving him uncomfortable flashbacks of Odin. "I told you I trusted you." Loki bowed his head, his lips pursed.
"You did. But if you don't mind, Director, could we discuss your threats to my being at a later time?" Loki's green eyes burned with the desire to hunt Amora down. "I'd rather like to go and get Anthony and Bruce back from the mad woman's clutches." Something in what he said apparently struck a cord with the Director of SHIELD, and the man nodded, the anger smoothing from his face.
"Yes. Don't worry about approval from the council. They've learned their lesson for a little while at least. A Quinjet is already on its way to you." He signed off without another word, and the Avengers split to prepare to for the journey and subsequent battle. Loki did not have his magic, but he still had his armor from when he had first arrived. He had decided to stick with comfortable Midgardian clothing since his third straight day in the lab after he had first arrived, and hadn't looked at the Asgardian clothing since. Now, though, he was going to need it.
Yeah, so Amora is a bit coo coo for Coco Puffs. We'll see how that makes her in battle. We still have a few chapters to go, so no need to panic. Also, I am in the process of writing my next Avengers fic, based on Predator. Keep an eye out. :)
Please review! :)