Shadow Butcher (LokixAvengersxOC)

Extraction

The pebbles underneath us rattle with every footstep the two princes take. My body is still limp, however, I feel much stronger than the past few days. Yet, I feel too tired to open my eyes.

"She's strong in ways you'd never even know." I hear Thor's voice say. "Both of them, even when not sharing the same ancestors."

Loki humming response vibrates through my back, and I conclude he must have been carrying me while Thor does it with Jane. Slowly I blink my blurry vision away. My assumptions were right. Thor's carrying Jane while I'm in Loki's arms. Svartalfheim is a very dark universe, barely any colors are seen. It's dustier than anything near beautiful. But I feel secure in the younger prince's arms.

"Say goodbye," Loki answers.

"Not this day."

"This day, the next, a hundred years, it's nothing. It's a heartbeat. You'll never be ready. The only woman whose love you've prized will be snatched from you," Loki roars and it makes me shuffle from his hold. "You're awake. Good."

He lets me jump off his arms as I try to get used to being back on my feet again. Still swaying, I take a Deep Breath until I feel Steady enough to let go of Loki's Hand.

"And will that satisfy you?", Thor asks angered.

"Satisfaction is not in my nature," Loki growls, his eyes drifting in distaste from his brother to me. He checks up on me if I'm ready to walk on.

"Surrender not in mine," Thor replies as we start walking again after I was being fine to be back.

"The son of Odin," Loki's sarcasm drips with venom

"No, not just of Odin! You think you alone were loved by Mother? You had her tricks, but I had her trust!" Thor yells.

I sense how Loki's body tenses up by bringing up the subject mother. Loki takes up his pace and stands right before his brother, making him stop from taking another step.

"Trust. Was that her last expression? Trust? When you let her die!"

"What help were you without your tricks?"

"Who put me there? Who put me there?!"

Before they can escalate, I ball my hands in fists and try to use the reality stone's power. Hitting my fists together, a gush of wind takes over and our surroundings change.

"Both of you stop!", I demand. From dusty rocks, the surrounding transforms into the scene where Malekithg attacks Frigga. As Thor's face softens, I see how Loki's eyes are drained with tears. Both of them breathed heavily of the disagreement. Them watching how their mother dies again, I feel heartbroken too but I wanted to show them something. "Thor, your brother somehow still managed to get there just to save her. Loki, Thor was there too, and just like you, not on time."

"She wouldn't want us to fight," Thor finally breaks the silence.

"Well, she wouldn't exactly be shocked."

Both of them smile again. A sincere and heartwarming smile. Which is contagious.

"Can I trust you?", Thor asks concerned, not only for Loki but also me.

"Trust my rage."

"And I made a promise." I smile but it fades away when I feel how the Aether starts burning in me again. Noticing that Jane is shifting in her sleep, I knew that we both are connected somehow since the Aether got divided by two. "She's waking up."

Her eyes snap wide open, somehow she floats and looks ahead. Again, my body reacts to getting pulled into her. Thor whispers Jane's name and so does Loki with mine. In pain, I automatically shut my eyes, my teeth chattering. But this time I don't only feel, I also see how the Aether wants to be extracted from her. And due to the mind stone, I see into Jane's mind. I watch Malekith approaching us any minute.

Shaking off the pain, I reopen my eyes and pull her down towards me. My hands touched one of her forearms after rolling her sleeve up. Sighing, I take a deep breath and let my eyes go dark.

"What are you doing?", Thor asks concerned but I don't respond and concentrate on my spell. "Jane?"

I whisper the spell in ancient Egyptian and create a shield with my black mist so they couldn't stop us from continuing. The surroundings change back and from afar I see how Malekith stands watching us.

"Loki, can you do an illusion of us just fighting? So they won't see how Jane doesn't have any of the Aether in her anymore?"

"Wait, you want to extract it from her?", Thor questions and holds Loki up from doing anything.

"Just do it already!", I yell as I feel that it works any time soon.

Thor still holds on to Loki as he hesitates to just let him. A green lighting surrounds us, I take it as the illusion he just created. "Make it quick, I'm not sure for how long my illusion lasts."

I go back to my spell and feel how the three stones communicate with each other. The red mist takes over control and swirls around Jane. This doesn't feel right, it should be surrounding me and not her. Gulping my worry away, I try to calm my nerves.

Letting her go, I abort the extraction. Taking a deep inhale, I straighten up my posture and clutch my hands on her throat. I hear Thor muttering something but I am glad that Loki interferes and stops him from interrupting the extraction.

In a louder and more demanding voice, I speak up the spell. It is hard for me to do so since it uses a lot of power from me. And I hate doing this because the opponent always died in front of me without having a chance to give their lives back. The pounding heart against my chest makes it harder for me to Keep the Focus but I am determined to do it correctly. For once at least.

The Aether starts to swoosh around her body before it finally approaches me. As soon as it was close enough, I give my shadows the order to take over. Behind me, the shadow takes the figure of the Pharaoh Hound. It consumes my body as it swallows the Aether. At that moment, I take all of my willpower to take over control. I gasp when it actually worked. In a rush, I let go of Jane who collapses into Thor's arms and I plummet on the dusty floor. A grunt escapes my mouth from hitting the hard Surface and the stinging, searing headache.

"Are you alright?", Loki asks and hands me a hand to help me up.

"It worked, that's all I care about. Let's stick to the plan."

"Are you sure? You seem a bit weakened, Lady Reaper," Thor asks but I shake my head telling him I'm fine. He sighs and turns his head to Jane. "Alright, are you ready?"

Jane nods her head as Loki says that he is. We rise from our hiding spot as Malekith spots us on the hill in the distance. Loki's illusions fade slowly, revealing us again.

"You know this plan of yours is going to get us killed."

"Yeah, possibly," Thor answers.

"Not on my watch," I grumble. "And if anyone of us dies, I'll bring you back. Promise. This universe still needs you. But please don't die together. I can only bring one Soul back."

All three of them have a sparkle in their eyes, they trust me in this. All I need to do is not to die. Which I really hope I can't, like all the other times since my father cursed me. But I'm not too sure anymore since I feel more vulnerable again in the last few days.

"Let us get started then," Loki says and grabs a dagger which he stabs into Thor and throws him down the hill.