Shadow Butcher (LokixAvengersxOC)

Illusion

Last night, I couldn't sleep at all. My brain is running thousands of scenarios of the day before, plus the nightmare which is haunting me. Getting up from my bed, I wear my gym outfit and get down to the basement.

I start with some stretches, then go for the weights, and at last, I hit the punchbag. One punch with the right, dodge, and block before hitting with my left fist. I repeat the steps, also the other way around. Even when I am getting tired, I continue. Only have one thing in mind, the distraction from all the emotions.

My ears start to ring, my body telling me that it has enough but I push myself further. My sight gets darker with every punch and kicks I throw but I choose to ignore it. Yet, I start to see the blood I spilled over all these years. All the pain I felt from my master comes back. I grow angrier when I hear him in my head.

When we kill Death itself, it might be the answer for humans being immortal.

Before my last punch, I cry out a desperate scream. The punching bag's chain breaks off the ceiling and hits the floor. Panting, I look down at my trembling hands, my sight gets blurrier as the tears start to form in my eyes. I quickly wipe the tears away as I hear someone applauding me sarcastically from behind.

"What are you doing here?" I ask him annoyed without turning around to face him. Because if I would, I will only show him how sensitive I am in the moment.

"As a friend, my dear. I can sense you should not be alone," Loki answers genuinely and hands me my daggers.

I quirk my eyebrows, not following what he wants me to do with the weapons. "If you're here to get anything out of me, then you're living a risky life."

He chuckles and puts the daggers in my hand. I grab them but Loki still holds my hands. I glance up into his emerald eyes and see how intently but softly he looks at me.

"I thought more about needing somebody to kick their asses. That is how the Midgardians say it, am I right?" I nod and hold my laugh. It sounds very foreign coming out of the prince's mouth. "May I join your training?"

I agree. First, we fight in combat style, without magic or my powers. It is always a tight one, Loki is quite tactical in fighting. A fast learner when it comes to knowing the next step from the opponent.

I tap out as I lay on the floor, Loki grabbing my hair and my stomach flat on the mat. He holds the dagger in my throat but quickly let go of me after I surrendered.

"You aren't quite yourself, darling. Unfocused, easy to defeat. You need to learn to control your emotions," Loki says and helps me up by handing me his hand.

I scoff and roll my eyes. I tap the bracelets to activate his magic and throw my weapons away. Loki mirrors my actions and checks on his seidr that is flowing into his systems again.

"Since when are you teaching, professor Loki?" I tease and raise my brow.

Unaware he gets hit by black power force from summoning the shadows and Loki crashes into the wall. Loki's face looked shaken, eyes bit wide and mouth half open, as if I wasn't serious. Gathering together, he pushes himself from the wall, doing the same with his green shimmer.

Since I am aware, I only slide a few meters away and tilt my head to figure out his next move. Of course, he would multiply himself. Just this time his illusioned doubles could fight me. One by one, his illusions jump on me and I am feeling like drowning in his body.

The darker it got, the more I could see my memories and hear my father and my master.

Pathetic. And you should be the Goddess of Death?

That's what my master said after he tortured me. I wasn't going to die but indeed I was spitting out blood. He had his team, scientists of HYDRA, building a cage to hold me in and make me vulnerable. They wanted me to show them who I truly am. The master was obsessed with the powers of gods and he believed I am one. And I knew I couldn't show him that I am one.

Get out of there, Shadow. Why are you giving up? Fight!

My father pleaded with me before I joined HYDRA to protect the world, I was the best thing he had done in his life. But I always mess up when I find love. That's how I ended up in HYDRA. I fell in love with a scientist, who had used me but I was blind.

Overwhelmed by the memories, my muscles tense up and as I let loose, the new power I inherit gets out of control. Loki's illusion dissipates in the nick of time, the basement starts to crumble down and when the walls cave in, we are in the middle of the desert.

"Shadow, I need you to calm down."

I stop in my tracks, I didn't even realize I was pacing around from panicking. But Loki is very brave in telling a woman to calm down, though. I turn around to face him and see that he realized what mistake he had done.

"Calm down? How? I don't even know what I'm capable of! I am losing my mind and you want me to calm down?"

"What do you usually do when you are upset?"

"Either I get something I had really wanted or I binge eat," I babble out and I see the confusion on his face when I mentioned the eating part. He shakes off the confusion and asks me what I want. "A dog, Queen Elisabeth's crown, or fries dipped in a McFlurry."

"I see, the animal is the human's best-furred friend. We do not have the time to look after such a creature. Why do you want a crown?"

"What about the food?" Loki tells me that we aren't getting any food soon from that Fastfood store, so that's out of option too. "How can I be queen without a crown?"

"You can be my queen and maybe one day we can rule over Asgard together. Hence, the distraction worked," he argues and shows me the basement we were training in before I lost control.

And yes, him calling me his queen made my knees go pudding. Although that feeling fades away quickly. I turn in circles to check the surroundings and whisper: "What the fuck? I didn't teleport us, or did I? How is this even possible?"

"Unlikely, I must admit you must have been correct about another infinity stone. I presume it is the reality stone. It makes sense, you can turn things into illusions, if that wasn't an ability you already had," Loki explains.

I and Loki go back down to the living room. While Loki is reading, I am on my phone. But it gets a little boring after I had seen all the updated photos and news on my social media. The time is torture to wait. To kill the time, I tap my fingers against each other and stop when Loki sighs.

"As a Goddess of Death, I thought you'd be more patient. But I see that isn't your forte, is it?" He looks up from his book and I shrug my shoulders. "If you were truly anything like a female reaper, you would have been very dangerous."

I sit upright and Loki lowers his book. "That might be a reason why I'm far from anything similar to it. I just like to be called the Reaper. Sounds terrifying for people who don't know me."

A soft chuckle escapes from him. "You never fail to surprise me," he admits and goes straight back to reading.

I fiddle again with my hands, not because I am done with waiting. More because I enjoy being around him. Even though I have to ignore the feeling that creeps up on me whenever I am with him. I just like him. And it's going to stay as a friend, nothing more, period.

"Hey Loki," I speak up quietly. Loki hummed in response, his eyes still fixed on the words in the book. "Thank you for being my friend."

He pauses reading, he purses his lips but quickly exchanges them with a smile. "Of course."