♤The Conqueror's Dagger♤

~Chapter 1: Aftershock~

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Sprite had expected her father to run after the variant they'd been waiting so long to catch. She was rather attractive, and the defiance in her eyes only illuminated that more, so why not? What she hadn't expected was her and her father returning to the TVA to find that all the people they'd met and gained their trust of within the past few days act as if they'd never met them at all. Disheveled, a wild look in his eyes, a scratch staining the collar of his shirt, close to collapsing with exhaustion. He looked like shit, if she was being entirely honest. She was one to talk, with a scratch on her own collarbone, hands shaking uncontrollably, and the ground spinning beneath her, threatening to sweep her off her feet and shroud her in darkness. She would let the darkness consume her entirely, as she hadn't gotten food or sleep in- she didn't know how many days. Her father's shoulders hung heavy with exhaustion, dark circles framing his usually gleaming eyes. Now they were dull, and revealed a door to nothingness. "Dad," she said in a low, husky voice, unable to form any other words. There were no words that could console either of them. Or any solution. There were no solutions to this particular problem. "What is it, Sprite?" She took a shaky breath. "We have to go back." Loki squeezed his eyes shut. "You know we can't. It's too risky," he explained exasperatedly to his daughter. "So is everything else," she said, injecting as much exasperation into her own voice to match his. Loki's eyes were wide open. "No." "Dad, we can't just leave her there!" "What choice do we have?" His voice trembled. "We have one! We can go back now. Fight for her return. Fight alongside one another as we did!" Her chest rose rapidly now, her voice rising with each word, echoing in the now empty room, files and numerous papers and machines scattered across the unoccupied desk abandoned in panic. The alarm still blared. The red lines were passing the branch, extending into various directions like tree branches. "There's no other way. You'd rather leave her there to rot? To develop into a being with corruption flooding her veins? Or are we going to fight like everyone else we know?" "I'm not going back there!" She was taken aback by his shout. He rarely yelled, and when he did, the result was shocking. But she showed no signs of shock on her face. "I'm not going through that again! I'm not going to travel with you through an abyss, just to see you almost gutted and your powers stripped again!" Now, tears were streaming down his face. He grabbed her by the shoulders, shaking her. "Do you not understand how terrified I was? How sick with worry to see you weak and so close to death?" She shuddered as she remembered seeing Death standing next to her father, peering down at her with a detached interest and sickly fascination. With her hair limp and coarse, knotted with blood and dirt, her teeth white, save for the dried blood in between them, half her face caked in specks of dried sinew and burns. She reached down with a cold, twisted hand, her spindly clammy fingers grazing her cheek. She was too weak to lean into the touch, only staring up into those empty eyes, devoid of all life, as her name implied. "I'm not doing that again! I won't!" He kept insisting over and over like a child refusing to be seen by the healers. It was then that he removed his hands from her shoulders, looking down at them momentarily before promptly bursting into tears, burying his face in his hands. Sprite wasted no time in rushing forward and engulfing him in a warm embrace. Loki returned it, continuing to cry, rubbing her back. After a few moments of remaining in the embrace, Loki released her with a sniff and wiped his eyes furiously. She knew her father despised crying over anything. "Dad," she said again tentatively. "We have to do this." Loki sighed. "Sprite..." "You love her! If you love her, then prove it to her!" Her chest began to rapidly rise again. "Or I'll do it myself! I'll find a way with or without you! I'm not leaving her there! No! I'm not going through losing someone I care about again! I'm not doing it-" she paused, taking a breath. "I'm... not..." she paused. Why couldn't she breathe all of a sudden. "Not... not..." she placed a hand over her chest, suddenly letting out hungry gasps for air. "I can't breathe, *gasp!*" Loki took her by the shoulders, sitting her down on the floor, propping her against a nearby desk. "Shhhh. Take deep breaths. Breathe. In... out. In... out." Loki followed along with Sprite, stroking her hair until she settled down, her breathing normal. She looked much smaller and tired than ever, it broke Loki's heart. He continously stroked her hair, kissing the top of her sweaty hair. "Spritey, you look so peaked. And ill. I don't like how you look." He kissed the top of her head again, shushing her more. "Rest for a little bit. Sleep." She looked up at him with wide eyes. "But we need to..." "No." He pressed two fingers against her forehead, both glowing green. "You're just tired," he said quietly. Sprite's eyes fluttered as she leaned back. "Yeah... you're right..." as she nodded off. Loki kissed her hand, picking her up in his arms. He needed to find some water first. He learned from experience that not drinking water after such an attack would drain you. He was parched as well, and knew they both needed to eat something and rest for at least an hour. They would go from there.
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~A few notes on this story:
-Some of the scenes will be inspired by "Multiverse of Madness" and Agatha's conversation with Wanda in "WandaVision: Episode 8."
-A scene later on in the story will be inspired by a video called "8 Shocking Horror Movie Monsters With Surprising Powers." A picture of it will be at the end for the Behind the Scenes chapter. The name of the monster is unknown, and so is the movie.