Steve looked at Thor in horror. "You just left? After you destroyed his house and likely made him angry? You left Elizabeth there with him?"
Thor looked at his hands. "I could not stay. He would have been angrier if I had waited for him."
/
I picked my way through the broken stone toward Loki. I cut my feet again on a patch of shattered glass but I gritted my teeth and kept walking. I wanted to express my sympathy and perhaps, in doing so, make him empathetic toward me. When I reached him, he was standing still in the ashes of the books looking at a scorched binding. I reached out and touched his arm gently.
/
Loki was trying not to lose his grip on his emotions. The strangle hold he usually kept over them was weakened by recent events. He ignored the girl slowly making her way toward him. When she finally reached him, her aura exuded sympathy and a feeling of mutual sorrow.
Loki spun on his heel at her touch. "I do not want your pity. You cannot possibly understand the complexity of the situation." Then he transported himself to the underground chambers, leaving the girl by herself in the rubble. She could fend for herself while he planned his revenge on Thor.
/
In a flash of golden light he was gone. I stood in the ruined library, the ash soaking up the blood that seeped from my feet. I sat down where I was, my movement sending up clouds of grey ash. Grimacing, I began to pull the shards of glass from the soles of my feet.
When I was finished, my hands and feet were coated in a pasty mix of drying blood and ash. I tore several long strips from he green dress I still wore. I wrapped them around my feet and prayed that my feet would not become infected before I got Loki to heal them. With that, I limped through the ruins and off into the forest a little ways to hide from the midday sun.
/
Tony was just as appalled at Thor as Steve was. "I was almost beginning to like having another girl around to keep me busy." He said as a weak attempt at lightening the mood.
Natasha turned to him and rolled her eyes. "You hardly ever spoke to her except to tell her that you hadn't figured anything out."
Stark ducked his head slightly. "That doesn't mean I'm not concerned." The whole affair had brought up rather painful memories of his own captivity.
...
Loki found the girl curled under a large tree. She slept soundly. He noted the torn dress and the blood soaking through the green wrappings on her feet. He picked her up and transported them both back to the underground safe rooms.
/
I woke to the feeling of being pulled in all directions at once. When the golden light receded, I realized that I was being carried. I looked up at the angular, pale face of Loki and nearly jumped out of his arms. My sleep hazed mind had forgotten that the only source of the golden light was the man I feared most. He set me down on the couch and unwrapped my feet.
/
Loki wondered if it had been the best idea to leave the girl to her own devices for so long. When he unwound the fabric from her feet, he saw that she had not cleaned her wounds properly and they had already begun to fester. The larger gashes had become swollen and red. They oozed a mixture of blood and plasma. Not wanting to use his magic up on healing this fragile mortal, he conjured a small tub of water and soap. Loki hated traditional medicine but he knew that treating the wounds and infection would severely drain his magic.
/
I wish Loki had left the bandages on my feet. As soon as he began to unwrap them, they burned fiercely. The exposed flesh stung as be pulled the fabric away from the raw nerves. When he had removed all of the fabric, I sat up and looked at the damage. Much of my skin was covered in dried fluids, some of which I could name, others I did not want to consider.
I sat on the edge of the couch and put my head in my hands. I felt woozy and I did not want to pass out in front of Loki. A small tub of water suddenly appeared by my feet and I jumped. Loki held out a wash rag to me. "If you don't wash them out, you'll be fevered within the hour."
I felt that he was probably exaggerating but I wasn't about to argue. I dipped a foot into the warm water. It felt like stepping into a fire. I immediately withdrew my with a yelp. "Why can't you just magic it better? You did before." He looked at me with exasperation. "I can't remove the infection."
I wasn't sure why but I decided to argue. "But you can heal it still. Then there won't be an infection." He didn't answer. Instead he grabbed my ankle and thrust my foot in the water.
/
She bellowed louder than I had thought possible for such a small creature. She thrashed and struck out at me. Taking the cloth, I began to scrub the thick crust of ash and fluids from her feet. She calmed down a bit while I cleaned the top of her foot but when I started on the bottom, she screamed curses and redoubled her efforts to pry my fingers from her ankle.
When I had finished with that foot, I released her ankle and moved to grab the other. She quickly moved out of my grasp and bolted for the door. She only made it a few steps before she collapsed. I simply grabbed her ankle and dragged her the few feet back to he tub of mud colored water. With a wave of my hand, I drained it an filled it with clean water. I proceeded to scrub the filth from her other foot while she fought with every fiber of her being.
/
I fought against Loki's grasp with fervor. My ankle was sore from his grip and the cloth sent spikes of pain through my legs with each pass. When he finally finished his assault on my right foot, I tried to escape the pain of the other before he had a chance to begin. I only managed a few steps before the shards of glass still in my feet stopped me. Loki grabbed my ankle and pulled me across the smooth floor, smearing the fresh blood I had gotten on the stone.
I was tired but with each wave of new pain, I found enough energy to curse Loki and thrash about a bit. Tears had been pouring from my eyes through it all and did not cease after Loki had finished. I lay on the cold floor with my feet slowly oozing more disgusting fluids.
The tears came more slowly now but only because I was running low on fluid to fuel them. Loki crouched by my tender feet and gently placed a hand on each. I was exhausted and his cold fingers were soothing on my burning flesh. I felt the remaining bits of glass being pulled out by an invisible force. The feeling was not entirely unpleasant but it sparked small needles of pain within the cuts. I heard small plinks of the glass hitting the floor and Loki gripped the raw flesh tighter.
/
She squirmed as the flesh knit itself back together. When the spell was finished, there was no sign that there had ever been a break in the skin. The infection was still in her body but her natural defenses would take care of that.
She lay on the floor looking at Loki with an expression of gratitude and anger. "Can I have some shoes now" she asked him grumpily.
He looked her over, "First you need a new dress." With a gesture, the torn green garment was made whole and clean again. A pair of simple black flats appeared on her feet. "I have some business to attend to." With that, he disappeared in a golden glow.
I am so busy with scholarship and college applications. I hope I will be able to post again soon but I cannot guarantee a chapter this weekend. Until next time, stay unusual.