In The Shadows | Loki

HAVE HOPE FOR ME

Loki~*~*~*~*~*~*~

        "Do you even know what these things do?"
        "Uh... no."
        "Neither do I." Darcy replies. I roll my eyes, scanning the area. I was with them instead of Thor because, unlike Thor, I couldn't fly. I wasn't with Jane and Selvig because Selvig was terrified of me. "Come on, Come on, Come on!"
        "Alright."
        "Has anyone told you that you're very annoying?" I ask her, and she shrugs.
        "More often than you think." She replies easily, walking towards the first sight. She freezes mid step, and I nearly run into her. "Holy Shit." I follow her gaze, and my heart stops when I see Ophelia land in the middle of the square. Without thinking, I sprint towards her, watching Thor fly through the air and land in front of her.
        "Ophelia, stop."
        "Move Thor. You don't want to be in my way here." Ophelia's voice is wrong. It's inhuman. Unearthly. Her eyes are burning red, and the closer I get, the more I notice. Her skin almost looks like its cracking, bursting with power. The tips of her fingers are nearly black. It's too much.
        "You don't want to do this."
        "I'm fairly certain I do." She replies, thrusting one hand out and sending him flying back. Her eyes land on me, and one hand raises.
        "Ophelia, you aren't yourself." She tilts her head, eyes narrowing as she studies me. "Please, just listen."
        "No." A blast of the Aether hits me head on, and I'm thrown through the air and crash through a window. I hit the ground hard, letting out a grunt of surprise when I hear people screaming. I bring myself back to my feet, glancing around me at the chaos. Jane and Selvig are at the other end of the hall, staring at me in shock.
        "That device better work." Is all I say before heading out and back towards the chaos that was beginning. Thor had returned, hammer twirling. Ophelia was at least thirty feet in the air, fury written across her features. She hurls Thor back again, but he catches himself mid-air.
        "For having so much power, I thought you'd hit harder." Thor quips.
        "Not the time!" I shout angrily. He sends a bolt of lightning down, and while she's distracted I multiply myself.  When she turns, she falters, smirks, and waves a single hand. The Aether begins to shoot towards me, but Ophelia is sucked backwards and disappears. She appears a few feet behind me, looking furious. Apparently the device did work. Impressive, for Midgardians.
        Before she's able to register that I'm running at her, I launch myself at her just as Thor slams his hammer into the ground, sending a ripple of energy through the ground. The three of us are suddenly sucked back into nothingness, landing on Svartalfheim. I grab Ophelia's arm as we tumble down the hill, losing her when we get sucked away again. We're in a constant pattern of falling and being pulled away, none of us able to use our powers in the short amount of time between. The vehicles crash into the ground as they hit earth, and we hurtle towards the ground. The second we're about to impact, we're pulled back to Svartalfheim.
        The three of us stand on the barren planet, and before anyone can say a word, Thor throws his hammer. We had agreed before that we wouldn't hurt her, but we needed to stop her. His hammer vanishes between us, and Ophelia shows a feral grin. She hurls the power of the Aether at Thor, throwing him back. She turns to me, but I use my own magic to put her body in a vice. She lets out a roar of outrage when her arms snap to her sides.
        "Ophelia, please. Stop before you do something you regret. You're going to hurt someone." She's about three seconds away from unleashing the Aether upon me. "You're going to kill yourself unless you let go! You don't really want to do this!"
        "You think you understand?" She screams. "You think I don't want to do this? Why? Because you were being controlled, you want to believe I am as well?" She breaks away from the vice like it's nothing. "Your entire life you spent pampered, while I was wasting away!" She takes a step forward, dark sand and the red of the Aether swirling around her. "Until you discovered the truth, you never went a day without food, a day without shelter! You know nothing of my pain, and nothing of my rage!"
        Instead of unleashing the Aether, she physically lunges for me, only to disappear in a flash along with Thor. My eyes widen as I spin where I stand, scanning the horizon. They were gone. 
        I turn and sprint back towards the cave where we had found the portal, praying that I could get back in time. Before I'm even halfway there, I'm pulled backwards by an invisible forced and dropped in the center of Greenwich.
        "It's about time!" Thor shouts. I scramble to my feet, turning and stopping when I see the sight before me. "I don't know how to stop her without hurting her." Ophelia is in the center of a mass of swirling Aether and rubble. She's destroyed a building, and all I could see was more rage.
        "We need to distract her and convince her to let it go."
        "You haven't exactly been successful in that." He twirls his hammer. "We need to knock her out of the air and pull it from her."
        "It's already killing her. Doing that might destroy her!" I argue.
        "What other choice do we have?" He replies. "She's my friend too, and I don't want to hurt her any more than you do." I look up at her desperately, trying to think of something, anything.
        "Throw me."
        "What?" Thor asks, confused.
        "I'll pull her down. Just get me up there." Thor shakes his head, walking my direction.
        "And I'm the one that takes stupid risks." He murmurs. He grabs the back of my collar, and begins to twirl his hammer, launching us both into the air. When we're high enough, he sends me flying towards Ophelia. I hit her at full speed, sending us both tumbling towards the ground. We hit the pavement hard, but I don't let go.
        "I will end you!"
        "You're hurting people!" I scream, and She bares her teeth in response. "Look at what you're doing!" Her eyes dart around, and a scream splits the air from one of the building. Something clicks in her mind, and I watch as the red of the Aether drains from her eyes, letting me see her usual soft golden eyes returning. She takes in a shaky breath. 
        "Loki?" She whispers.
        "Let it go, Ophelia." She's shaking. "Let it go." She pulls herself out of my grip, stumbling backwards. She lets out an unearthy scream, her head flying back and her arms spreading as the Aether pours from her.
        The second it's completely left her body, she collapses. Thor rushes forward, gathering the Aether in an Asgardian container. I move to Ophelia, hitting the ground hard. Her eyes are closed, and it takes me a moment to realize that she's not moving. She's not breathing. 
        "Thor!" He turns, and I look at him in a panic. He rushes over, eyes wide.
        "Heimdall!" He shouts, looking towards the sky. Jane and her friends are running towards us, but they don't reach us in time. The bifrost surrounds us, pulling us through the cosmos.
        We land harshly in the golden dome, Heimdall looking at the three of us with worry. I see people traveling down the rainbow bridge, but I pay them no mind. Ophelia still hasn't taken a breath, and fear pumps through my veins. Her skin is cracked and gray, and there's no sign of change. My mind is flying as I try to think of something, anything that may bring her back.
        And then it hits me.

Frigga~*~*~*~*~*~*~

        Odin and I slide off our horses as we reach the golden dome, rushing inside. We had been alerted that Thor and Loki had been brought back. The scene inside is shocking, and I don't know what to think. Heimdall is in his usual stance, and Thor stands near the bottom of the stairs. Both of them are watching Loki without a sound. 
        Loki is kneeling next to Ophelia, his magic pouring out of his hands as he chants. "Thor..." He glances at me but shakes his head. 
        "She was dead. The Aether killed her." He whispers. "And Loki is... listen." Odin comes  up to stand next to Thor and I, and I'm listening, recounting Loki's words in my head.
        "He's going to kill himself." Odin realizes.
        "He's going to save himself and her." I reply. "I had a feeling..."
        "If she isn't his other half, this spell will kill him. Loki, stop!" Odin commands, and I place my hand on his arm.  He looks at me. "There is a reason that spell is outlawed."
        "There's a reason that spell exists." Our talking doesn't make Loki stutter or hesitate. His magic is wrapping around Ophelia's body, surrounding them both.
        "How long will this last if she isn't?" Thor murmurs the question.
        "He'll collapse soon if she isn't his other half." I reply. "But he isn't going to collapse. He's going to save them both." The room goes quiet except for Loki's chanting, and every second that he doesn't collapse, the more my hope grows. The last time this spell had been used, both partners died because they weren't each other's other half. But I knew, I knew Loki was right. Ophelia was his, and Loki was hers. I could feel it in my bones. In my soul. It's where Loki must've felt it as well.
        We all wait, and I hear horses approaching behind us. I glance over my shoulder to see the warriors three arriving, and I motion for them to be silent. If Loki missed one word, if he was just slightly off, it could kill him.
        "Is he... is that what I think it is?" I hear Sif murmur. I give a small nod
        "She looks as if she's dead." Fandral says quietly.
        "She is." Odin replies, not bothering to be quiet. "Loki is killing himself." I reach forward, grasping my husband's hand tightly.
        "Have hope." I breathe. "Have hope for me. Have hope for your son." 
        The chanting stops, and the green mist of Loki's magic sinks into Ophelia's skin. Everyone in the room is watching, waiting for something to happen. For anything to happen. Loki doesn't collapse. He doesn't keel over dead.
        But Ophelia doesn't move either.