Hey, guys! Sorry, I haven't posted in a while! Thank you sooo much for the reviews, follows, and favorites! They seriously made my day! Here is Chapter 7. I hope you enjoy!
Ch. 7
—Fadrielindë—
Thor leads me to a large hangar; a giant window accents the front of the room, giving me a clear view of the endless blue sky. I turn away from the window and see six people sitting at a round metal table. I recognize Stark, Natasha, Fury, and the shield man. There is another man in a suit with brown hair and kind eyes and another man with greying brown hair. Thor sits down and offers me the seat next to him. They all eye me warily. Thor clears his throat.
"Everyone, this is Fadrielindë," he states. I raise my hand in a half-sarcastic wave. The shield man narrows his eyes. Fury must notice because he speaks up.
"Fadrielindë has decided to help us stop Loki," he says, his loud voice commanding the room. The shield man does not seem to believe Fury.
"Why?" he asks harshly. Fury opens his mouth to speak, but I stop him, wanting to respond myself.
"Because I feel partly responsible for what has happened already. I was a fool. I have never been to Earth before and believed the first person I met. Loki told me that the people of Earth were savages and that he was going to use the Tesseract to bring peace and order to the world." I shake my head shamefully. "I now know that it was all a lie."
"Do not feel bad, Fadrielindë," Thor says. "Loki is known on Asgard as the God of Lies." I simply nod. The shield man suddenly rises from his seat and strides over to me. He holds out his hand. I recall seeing someone engage in this odd Earth ritual, so I take his hand.
"It's nice to have you as part of the team, Fadrielindë," he says. "I'm Steve Rogers." I give him a small smile. "I'm also sorry for hitting you with my shield," he says, smiling. I laugh.
"I would have done the same thing," I reassure him. The man with greying hair rises from his chair as well. He is an older man, with salt-and-pepper hair. He has a kindly smile, but looks quite weary. He takes my hand.
"I'm Bruce Banner," he introduces himself. I smile.
"It is a pleasure to meet you," I say, practicing the Skyrim niceties. The man in the suit comes up to me.
"I'm Agent Coulson. It's nice to meet you," he says, taking my hand. I smile warmly. Stark also approaches me, but he does not reach for my hand. He hits me softly on the shoulder.
"I'm Tony Stark. I'm also sorry for shooting at you…and attacking you…" he pauses.
"It is perfectly fine," I reply. "I am the one who started it." He studies my face. "Where are you from?" he asks.
"I am from Tamriel, and before you ask me where it is in relation to Earth, I have no idea," I say.
"Tamriel? That must be why your name is such a mouthful," he remarks. I cannot tell if he is joking or not. "I'll just call you Fadriel," he decides.
"You do know that Fadriel is only one syllable shorter than Fadrielindë, right?" I point out. He gives me a look. "Have you ever even heard of Tamriel?" I add. Instead of answering, he circles me.
"What are you doing?" I ask, becoming very annoyed.
"Your ears…" he notices. "What are you?" he asks bluntly, referring to my race. I roll my eyes.
"My mother was a High Elf, and my father was an Imperial," I say, sighing in irritation. Everyone else in the room stays silent, watching us, well, mostly me.
"Where did you learn to fight? And do that…yelling thing?" He keeps pelting me with questions. Before I can retort, Fury speaks up.
"I don't mean to interrupt, but we have business to attend to." He look pointedly at me. Ah, yes. I am supposed to talk to Loki. I walk to the table with the others and sit down as a feeling of dread washes over me. Thor must notice because he pats my shoulder reassuringly.
"It will be alright," he says softly. He seems to be the only one who sees how much I care for Loki. I mean, cared. I remember to put my emotions away; I am stronger without them. I face the others.
"What do you want me to say to him?" I ask, looking at each of them. Natasha speaks for the first time since I met the others.
"Well, we need to find out the real reason he's here. We need to come up with a way for you to ask him without him realizing it," she states. I think. Tony looks pensive.
"Just use your wily, elven charms on him," he says sarcastically. I narrow my eyes at him. Thor nudges me slightly, without the others noticing. My eyes dart to the side to see him in my peripheral vision. He is looking pointedly at me. What is he trying to tell me?
What is it? I project into his mind. I find that I do not mind if Thor knows about my telepathic powers. He jumps, shaking the whole table, and everyone stares at him.
"Sorry," he apologizes.
How are you doing that? he asks in his head.
Never mind that, what are you trying to tell me? The others are still brainstorming ways for me to get information out of Loki. Thor looks unsure of himself.
I know that you…er…care about Loki, he says carefully. I turn my head toward him and he meets my surprised gaze evenly. There is no point in hiding it.
Ugh, is it really that obvious? I ask. Thor shakes his head slightly.
No, he says. I just know what it looks like when someone is in love. He stops abruptly. Natasha is looking at him.
"Thor? What do you think?" she asks.
"Uh, sorry, could you repeat that? I was thinking," Thor stammers. She rolls her eyes.
"I asked if you think there is a better chance of Loki telling everything to you instead of Fadriel," she says, using the nickname Tony gave me. Thor shakes his head vigorously.
"He would never tell me anything. Fadrielindë would be able to get more information out of him," he answers.
I am sorry, he says in his mind. I know it will be difficult for you to speak to him, but he will tell you everything if he believes you are still on his side. I nod slightly and tell him to tell the rest of the group.
"Loki will tell Fadrielindë everything if he believes she is still on his side," Thor says aloud. Steve nods slowly.
"So basically just go in there and tell him that you are going to help him break out of here?" Steve asks.
"But we don't know if Loki actually wants to break out," Tony reminds the group. Coulson chimes in.
"We need to come up with a way for her to—" he begins. Feeling frustrated, I speak up."I think everyone is overthinking this," I say loudly. "I have interrogated people before. I know what to say." Tony raises his eyebrows.
"Well, there you have it," he tells the group. He turns to me. "Go ahead then, Silvertongue." I roll my eyes. Fury walks to the door.
"Follow me." He walks out into the hallway. I follow him, looking back at Thor. He gives me a small reassuring smile.
Good luck, he says in his mind. I smile at him unconvincingly, then walk out into the hallway.
.
"He is right in here," Fury says, stopping at a locked metal door. I take a deep breath and close my eyes. "Are you sure you can do this?" Fury asks.
"Yes, I am just collecting my thoughts," I say, trying to keep my voice even. He unlocks the door, and I step inside. Fury closes and locks the door behind me as I observe my surroundings. I am in a large metal room with a clear circular cell in the middle. There is a control panel directly in front of the cell. I slowly walk towards it, keeping my movements silent. My eyes fall on Loki, who is standing in the middle of the cell facing the other direction. I walk up to the glass and take a deep breath. He must hear me, because he turns around. Once his eyes meet mine, I feel lost in his gaze once more. I focus and remember why I am here. He smiles widely and comes up to the glass.
"Fadrielindë," he says, relieved to see me. "Are you alright?" he asks, worried.
"I am fine," I say, my voice hard. He studies my face.
"Did they harm you?" he asks. I shake my head.
"No, they did not," I answer. I swallow. Loki's brow furrows.
"What is the matter?" he asks. I place my hand on the glass and he mirrors me. Here it goes.
"Why did you lie to me?" The question leaves my lips before I can stop it. There goes the plan. Loki's eyebrows lower.
"Lie to you about what? What did they tell you?" he asks angrily. I hesitate. It's too late to backtrack…I'll have to give up on the plan. Silently apologizing to the others, I take a breath.
"You told me that you were here to save Earth. Instead you mean to wage war on the innocent!" I say, my eyes shining with unshed tears. Loki's face contorts.
"Is that what they told you? And you believe them?" Nodding, I press onward.
"Do you care about me at all? Or was that a lie too?" I spit.
"I do care about you, Fadrielindë," he tries to reassure me. I shake my head.
"How do I know you are not lying?" I ask, my tears threatening to spill over. "If you had to choose between me and ruling Earth, what would you choose?" He opens and closes his mouth. When he does not answer, I speak for him. "Of course," I say softly, trying to keep my emotions in check. "I knew it."
"Fadrielindë, you do not understand—" he begins. "They have filled your head with lies!" I shake my head.
"How could you kill thousands of innocent people just to rule? You are doing to this world exactly what I am trying to stop in my own world! I am risking everything to stop my world from ending, yet here you are, wanting to bring this world to ruin!" I turn around, not wanting him to see my tears overflow. "You are a monster," I whisper. I hear him shift in his cell.
"I am a monster? No, you brought the monster," he says, his voice full of hatred. "Fadrielindë, I do care about you, but I will do anything and everything to make sure that the Chitauri come through that portal to Earth. Please, Fadrielindë. I do not want to have to fight against you too," he pleads. I whip around, no longer caring if he sees my tears.
"I would never help you destroy an innocent world," I spit at him. "No matter how much you may care about me." I turn on my heel and storm out of the room.
.
I do not even know where I am going—I only know that I have to get away—away from everything. I find a rusted ladder leading up to an empty lookout tower. I draw my knees to my chest, trying to keep my emotions distant, but it is impossible. I have never felt so betrayed. I weep, finally letting myself feel all of the emotions I skillfully had tucked away. For the first time in my life, I let all of my emotions overwhelm me. Deep sadness for the loss of my parents whom I never knew. Fear of failing the prophecy. Guilt for all of the lives I have taken, both guilty and innocent. Loneliness from always pushing everyone away. And betrayal for thinking I had found love. For the first time, I let myself really feel. All of the emotions I had pushed back are finally overflowing, spilling out of me. I hate it. I hate how vulnerable and helpless I feel. But I can't stop it. I was never one to share my feelings, but ever since I found out I was the Dovahkiin it worsened. I not only kept them a secret from those around me, but from myself as well. I knew it wasn't healthy, but I did not know how I would carry on with such a huge task of fulfilling the prophecy if I let myself feel everything.
I finally calm down a bit and just stare blankly at the sky, wallowing in my emotions. Closing my eyes, I take a deep breath and exhale. Time to put you away, I think. I breathe in—put the sadness away—and out. In—no more fear—and out. In—no guilt—and out. In—no more loneliness—and out. I pause, not sure if I can succeed in putting away my final emotion. I bite my lip, thinking. I need to. I gently close my eyes. In—I focus on the feeling…the utter betrayal…I am better without it—and—I picture Loki's face one last time, ignoring the stabbing sensation in my heart…I rebuild the wall…the wall that was so easily broken through last time…never again…I picture each individual brick being mortared into place…one, two, three, four…I lose count as I watch each brick fall into place…finally the last one settles into the top of the wall, sealing it closed…it is done—out. There.
I sit on the lookout tower for what seems like ages, not thinking or feeling, just sitting. I watch the sun descend below the horizon, the helicarrier shrouded in darkness. I know I am acting immature by hiding from everyone, but I do not care. Everyone saw my encounter with Loki. What will they think of me? I stare off into the distance at the stars. After a while, I hear footsteps on the ladder leading up to the tower. A blond head emerges. Thor. He climbs up into the tower and sits down next to me in silence. I say nothing, waiting for him to speak.
"I am so sorry, Fadriel," he says. I actually believe him. I hear hurt in his voice and wonder why it is there.
"What did he do to you?" I ask him, still looking at the stars. Thor takes a deep breath.
"I grew up with Loki. We were brothers. Then one day, I was going to be crowned as king. I always thought Loki would be proud and happy for me. In my youth, I courted war and payed dearly for it. I was exiled to Earth until I learned to be humble and compassionate. While I was there, Loki came to visit me. He told me that my father had died and that he was to take the throne." He winces at the memory. "He told me that Father died because of the stress and pain I had caused him. I was overcome with grief. Later my friends came to Earth to tell me that Loki had lied. My father was alive. Loki had made an elaborate plan to become king himself. We battled, and in the end we found ourselves dangling over an abyss. Loki let himself fall. We thought him dead." Thor stops. I look over at him.
"You do not have to go on," I tell him. "I feel like a fool for believing that he loved me," I confess. Thor puts his arm around me, trying to comfort me.
"Do not feel bad. He did the same to me," he says sadly.
"Thank you for actually caring about me," I tell Thor.
"I know how much damage Loki can cause. I feel it is my responsibility to try to fix his mistakes," he says. We sit for a long while.
"We should probably go back down now," Thor says gently. I do not want to, but I agree.
"I suppose I cannot hide forever," I say, half teasing. Thor laughs.
"Come." He climbs down the stairs, with me following. I am worried for a slight moment about if the others are angry with me, but I find that my worry ends before it even begins. The wall is back, brand new and stronger than ever. It is better this way. I think about the last time I had to rebuild the wall to block out my emotions, right when I found out Loki betrayed me. As I said then, I am better without them.