Chapter 12
So sorry yet again for the long awaited update but I recently took on anouther fic for a friend, had life give me the proverbial sucker punch and then went on holiday for a week to visit family. I want to thank all of you who are new to my story and thank you for deeming it worthy of your time *hands you all a cookie* I'll try to not let you down.
I do not own Loki or anything Marvel but I do own my marvelous OC. This story is rated M for reasons okay so if you are not up to reading that kind of thing then this is your warning.
Once the door to the unsuspecting townhouse closes a figure steps out of the shadows. "Found you dear Manouksalilth." The man says in a menacing whisper while his glowing blue eyes shine "Enjoy this little night because come the dawn you will be coming home once again." Dropping a tiny silver figurine to the ground in front of the steps he smirks at the building before turning to disappear into the darkness from where he came.
Tatsumi awoke to the feel of being in Loki's arms encompassing her in the most loving of ways. Taking in a deep breathe she made an effort to commit his scent and feel to memory. Snuggling in closer Tatsumi rest her head against his chest to listen to his heart letting a smile spread contentedly across her face as she closed her eyes. This was how she wanted to remember him. Peaceful, strong, intelligent, and the most perfect being she had ever come in contact with in her long life. Yes he had his flaws but so did everyone else. His just seemed to be the only ones that even came close to being as deep as her own.
Loki stirred a little in his sleep as the Midgardian snuggled into his chest. "Mmmm" He says as he cracks an eye to look down at her before leaving a light kiss on her forhead. "Awake so soon love?" he says as Tatsumi lifts her face to better see his which only took his breathe away at the sight of her ever glowing eyes and beauty.
"What can I say I'm an early riser." She says with a teasing grin before running her hand lightly down his chest and casting her eyes along his form befor looking back to him "And it would seem I'm not the only one." Letting her cheshire cat grin emerge.
The look in those eyes and smile that danced across that perfect pout made little goosebumps appear all over his body while at the same time practically stopping his heart. "Only when it comes to you." Slipping his fingertips into the Midgardians hair he gently takes her lips in a kiss.
Breaking from the gentle kiss Tatsumi looked deep into Loki's eyes seemingly trying to remember every detail of his personage to memory while grapling with the idea of possibly telling who and what she really was. It was a war to say the least and not one that Loki didn't overlook.
"What is wrong? You look like you have bad news to tell me, you're not married are you?" The god says in an attempt to lighten the mood while running a finger lightly across the crease in Tatsumi's brow. He decided right then and there that he didn't particularly like her looking worried.
Hearing Loki say that earned him a small smile as well as a laugh "No, no I'm not married. It's just I feel like I've known you for so long, since my birth now that I think about it. I've never felt this way around anyone as I do with you. It's almost like my soul sings when I'm in your prescence and even though you may annoy me at times I'm more than certain I do the same to you. But..." Tatsumi looks into Loki's eyes full of concern mirrored by her own only to look away "I feel as if I should tell you who I really am."
Cocking his head to the side and tracing his fingers through the Midgardians hair "What do you mean who you really are?"
Taking hold of the God's hand as to cup it to her face befor looking back into his eyes "Remember when I took you shopping and you said that if you didn't know better you'd swear I was much older than my appearance would lead you to believe?"
"Yes" He replies quietly.
"I replied with that it was because I had an old soul. That is only partially true, you see... I am much older than anyone would be able to conceive in this realm." Tatsumi felt Loki tense before he lifted her face to look her more directly in the eye.
"How old are you?" Loki was more curious than anything now.
"I don't really know for sure, I just know I'm older than the human race that is for certain. I even remember when the humans started to evolve into the decendants of what they are today it was quite the curious site. You see my race was what they still refer to as "angels" or in my case a "pheonix". Tatsumi said all this slowly not sure how to put it until the words formed on her tongue and she gauged Loki's reactions.
"What..? You're trying to tell me that you are almost as old as the AllFather Odin himself?" Loki felt dizzy at just the notion of such a thing befor he snapped back to reality and latched onto one word in her dialogue. "You said your race was called angels and you are a pheonix..."
Tatsumi looked to Loki with tears in her eyes just barely contained "It is as it implies, even at my birth I was different from all the others and now I am the only one left of my race. There are decendants who, unfortunately for me, know of my abilities and do whatever it takes to make me use them. I have a weakness for children seeing as I can't have any of my own or at least I don't think I can. They use this weakness against me as well as anyone I become attached to as leverage to make me do as they say...and if I don't.."
Loki traced the scar on her face feeling a rage burn in his belly while trying to keep calm "How is it that they thought you different from everyone else?" He decided to ask.
"How was I not different would be a much shorter list." Tatsumi says on a rough laugh "My people were all born in pairs whether it be in two's or three's and none were ever born during a full moon. I was not born with anouther half and on the most holy of full moons. I was a shock to say the least but my appearance was much more startling. They were all pale or tan, possessed electric blue eyes or glowing green, had either black or blonde hair, and they were all tall and statuesque. As you can tell I am none of these things. That and the fact that when I was born I wasn't alive but then seemingly out of nowhere I began to breathe then cry out for my mother... it made the people uneasy to be around me at the least." A tear escaped and trailed its way down her cheek only to be stopped by Loki.
"I have always felt alone and different all of my existence that is until I found you. I know we've only known each other a few days but it feels like you are my other half. You know what it feels like to be treated like you don't belong or to be loved but now...I hope you feel the same as I do. Like I finally have a home because I have you." Tatsumi says this only to hold her breathe waiting for his reply not sure how she would be able to handle it if he didn't feel the same and rejected her like everyone else.
The rage in his stomache had grown towards her descendants and race. Trying to quell his anger Loki focused on what Tatsumi was saying to him only to feel a tightness in his chest and his ability to speak was taken from him. Leaning down Loki kissed the Midgardian like he thought he would never see her again in response. "Yes...Yes I feel the same. I love you and just like you said, even though we've only known each other such a short time I feel the same. You are my other half."
Tatsumi couldn't help but cry happy tears only to be brought back to reality when she had an overwhelming feeling of dread. "Oh no..."
Seeing the look that passed over Tatsumi's face Loki couldn't but be put on high alert "What is it?"
"They've found me...Quick! We must hurry they will be here shortly!" Tatsumi says all but jumping from the bed having used her magic to put clothing on the two of them.
Loki hurried to Tatsumi's side as she grabbed the bunch of Shakespeare books from the shelving before taking hold of his arm "I don't know if I can do this or not but close your eyes we're about to take a quick trip."
Loki bewildered for a moment closed his eyes only to hear a frustrated sound come from Tatsumi "What's wrong?" He says upon snapping them back open.
"They've blocked my magic to keep me from traveling! Unfortunately for them I always have a backup plan. Hurry this way!" Tatsumi rushed over to a corner in the bedroom pressing a panel to reveal a passageway. "Follow me!"
As soon as the panel closed Loki could hear the door to the townhouse being torn down.
It wasn't long before they reached a doorway that lead into a sort of catacomb under the city "We'll be safe here for a little while, at least long enough for me to get us farther away."
Taking ahold of Loki again "I'm going to need you to close your eyes now so as to make sure you are not disoriented when I get us to where we're going."
Loki even with all his trust issues listened to the Midgardian without question only to feel like the air was being taken away from his lungs then forced back in just as quickly all while feeling dizzy.
"You can open your eyes now." Tatsumi says while looking into Loki's face so as to see how he felt.
"Where are we?" Loki gasps while trying to regulate his breathing. Upon opening his eyes he was greeted with a sight that seemed to remind him of Asgard only on a Midgardian level.
"One of my more lavish homes in Europe, England to be precise." Tatsumi had transported them to the very home she had lived in when she bought the books she held so dearly in her very arms. "I haven't been here in ages but I'm happy to see that my caretakers have done their jobs properly."
"Those people. The ones that were chasing you why do they want you so badly? There has to be more to it than they want you to use your powers...what is it?" Loki sees Tatsumi tense before looking to him with the saddest expression he'd ever seen. It was like nothing he had ever witnessed for the emotion that she eminated was so intense that he couldn't even begin to fathom it's very depth.
"They call themselves the Svleshta. They believe..." at the beginning of this sentence Tatsumi felt the weight of the world crushing her so that she had no option but to seat herself into the nearest armchair while clutching her beloved books to her chest " ...They believe I have the power to bring "hell" to earth. To make a reality the nightmares of many a Midgardian. They believe if they can figure out a way to manipulate me...to break me...then I will essentially lose all control and become this other being. They call it, they call me Manouksalilth." Tatsumi all but spat the name from her mouth befor looking to Loki "It means the ender of all in my language. They refuse to call me by my rightful name of Tatsumi which means the opposite. It means the giver of life." At this Tatsumi had to take a moment to pause, closing her eyes for a moment only to feel Loki cupping her face.
Looking into Tatsumis' eyes Loki couldn't help but want to hear more of what she was telling him but his concern for her override his curiosity for the first time in his life. "If you don't want to tell me any more you don't have to. I have to admit I do prefer your given name any day when compared to the monicker they have bestowed upon you. To me..you couldn't be a more perfect embodiment of your name for you have given me life Tatsumi. If ever you doubt yourself just think of that."
The love that Tatsumi felt coming from this God was almost more than she could bear but she knew she had to press on with what the Svelshta planned. "Thank you Loki...but I'm afraid if I don't tell you everything now that there will never be anouther time to do so." Placing her hand atop one of Lokis' she found that it gave her the strength to carry on.
"They call me that name at all times in an attempt to, I believe, brainwash me into making me think that is who I really am. In all the millenia I have lived they have never succeeded but I play along so well whenever they capture me that I think that they think it actually works to a certain degree. It would be laughable if I didn't know what else they would do to me in the meantime." At this part Tatsumi couldn't help but be drawn to the past making her squeeze Lokis' hand until it seemed it would break.
"They torture me...in every way possible. Mentally...and physically." Tatsumi couldn't help but find herself shaking at the memories with both rage and fear. "They make sure to kill everyone I care for...men..women...children...all in front of me." With this statement she looked to Loki with a haunted expression mixed with horror. "I don't know what I'd do..."
Pressing his fingers to Tatsumis' lips to quiet her "That will never happen. I won't let them take you much less be able to kill me. I am a God, lest you forget we are notorious for not dying."
What Loki said did little to deter the fear coursing through her viens at just the thought of him being taken from her. "I believe that you think you can not be killed but you don't know them like I do. If they can find an allie in an enemy of yours in order to learn of any way to dispatch of you they will." At the mention of this Loki's eyes went wide with realization.
"The Chitauri..." The rage that he had pushed to the side seemed to slam into him all at once at the almost forgotten threat. Narrowing his eyes with the thought of the Chitauri trying to get revenge on him for his failed attempt to take over the Midgardian relm "If any enemy were to know of a weakness that I may have it would be them. I know exactly how they would mean to exact it too." The mere notion of her being taken from him in such a brutal way made his heart stop. "Tell me, please if anything but to ease my mind, was the only time that you came back from the grips of death when you were born...or were there other times?" Loki wasn't sure if he wanted to hear the answer but he made sure to keep eye contact with Tatsumi just to make sure.
"Yes...there were other times...many times...and I always come back. Always...why?" Tatsumi made sure to try and convey her meaning of many times by making sure Loki could tell she was telling the truth.
Feeling the muscles in his body relax upon hearing that Loki looked to the books clutched in Tatsumi's arms. "I know now that I need not worry about you ever for you will always return just like I will always return."
Tatsumi wanted greatly to believe him when he said that he would always return but she knew better than to hold out hope. "How...how do you know you will always be there for me?" The pain that seemed to bubble up to the surface at just voicing this worry was etched into her face.
Loki cast his eyes back to Tatsumi's face only to reach up and run his fingers through her hair lovingly. "It is a part of my punishment for attacking Midgard. Odin has decreed that I am to have no magic until he deems me worthy. But he has also made it to where I can not die by mine own hand or that of anouther. So you see...I will always be here. Always."
Tears spilled forth from Tatsumi's eyes at hearing this for now she didn't have to worry about Loki like she did the others. He would always be there for her. It was so much for her to absorb that she really truly wasn't alone anymore that she couldn't contain the emotions that seemed to pour from within. "I can't lose you...swear to me that I'll never lose you Loki."
At the sight of Tatsumi showing what seemed like the inner frightened lonely child Loki couldn't help but feel the same. For the first time in a long time the God cried tears of echoed memories "I swear it upon my own soul that you will never lose me as long as you swear the same to me my Tatsumi."
Seeing the emotions she felt reflected so much in Loki's eyes and actions Tatsumi couldn't help to all but leap from the chair letting her beloved ancient books fall to the floor as she wrapped her arms around his neck while simultaneously tucking her head into the crook of his shoulder "I swear. I swear that as long as I exist you will never lose me."
Loki encircled Tatsumi in his arms before laying his head lovingly atop her own. After a few moments Loki felt that he needed to voice the need for a plan to take down their enemies. For if they were to truly be together without worry then they would have to eleminate the threat.
"Tatsumi...we have no choice...we have to get rid of them"
"I know..." Pulling away to look up into Loki's eyes "I've been planning for a long time to take them down...to eradicate them from existence but I never had an allie to collaborate with to accomplish this. Now I have you."
Loki was taken aback by the viscious cold otherwordly look in Tatsumi's eyes but then he considered all the pain and torture she had withstood at their hands.
Smiling "It would be my pleasure to assist, afterall I am the God of mischief which is a very good thing to be when it comes to times of war."
"Good because we must begin in the morning for I have many contacts to get ahold of in preparation." Tatsumi says this as she pulls away from Loki and gathers her treasured books befor standing tall.
"I've got a feeling I'm going to enjoy this when I really shouldn't" Loki says still with a smirk on his wonderful face.
"Oh don't worry I'll be right there with you in that department." Tatsumi says with a glint in her eyes befor turning "Now come we have much work to do."