♤The Conqueror's Dagger♤

~Chapter 14: Surprise, surprise~

~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•
Loki bit down on his lip to suppress the growing scream of sickly rage and horror. The tops of her fingers were the color of crow's feathers. Two more pupils joined her main one, almost crowding together. Her irises were a sickly citrine color. On her face there were cracks that spread from her eyes to her cheeks, making her look like a broken china doll. The cracks were the color of liquid gold, and resembled it as well. Noticing her father's reaction, she smirked. "You don't like me like this, Father?" It took Loki a few moments to find his own voice. "Who are you?" He managed again. "Oh, me? I'm no one. Just another familiar face." Loki said nothing. "Oh, really? You really don't recognize me? I suppose hiding inside your little girl's body really does make quite a disguise. Then again, in all fairness, there are multiple me's. Although I must say, this host isn't the one I was originally planning on using, but I'll get to that later." Sprite lifted the book from her hand, and with a flick of her wrist, transported it back to it's shelf in a wisp of blue. She then placed one hand on her upper lip, curling her fingers in her jaw so she was touching her teeth. She then did the same, but with the lower jaw. And she began to pull them apart. Her skin began to tear, exposing the fluids and fat underneath, an inky substance dripping onto the floor. A dark gaping hole was seen. And a pair of gleaming eyes that spoke. "I told you my variants were worse." Loki couldn't help but stumble backwards and shout out, "God's sake!" Maniac laughter came from the eyes deep down. Slowly, Sprite's face began to return to normal, the skin stitching itself back. A sneer settled on her face. Loki found he couldn't find the right words to say. He only gaped at her with wide eyes, opening and closing his mouth like a fish. Sprite only laughed at his reaction, clapping her hands together. I simply love those faces of yours. Ugh, how adorable." She studied his face. "And don't even think about trying to read my mind. What I think and plot isn't available to you, toots. They never will be." Loki watched intently as she circled him like a predator. "What the Hel happened to you?" He finally managed. "Oh, nothing. Just gave your darling a few modifications here and there." Loki still kept his eyes on her, not looking away. "I am well aware of you being known as a master of the damned. And that you corrupt all that you touch. I wonder what you've done to her." "I simply showed your daughter everything I wanted her to see." Loki curled his nails into his palm. "What do you want with my daughter? What are you planning for the multiverse?" "I have no plans for the multiverse. But I do plan to leave this place, and go and see my wife again." At this, Loki tensed. "You... have a wife?" Kang in Sprite's body stopped moving. "I do. Surprised?" "I... just didn't expect-" "Expect to see me in love? Well, yeah, surprise!" Kang chuckled. "Oh! While I'm baring my soul and secrets, might as well talk more about what I'd said about your daughter's body earlier." "I heard you. What about it?" "Well, that also concerns your little girlfriend. You see, simply put, your darling girl has the power to travel across the multiverse. However she doesn't know that. Not yet. Plot twist, huh? Anyway, my soul doesn't have the strength to unlock your little one's power. But! Your girlfriend has the same ability as well. Big surprise! And she didn't know how to tell you. Quite the scandal. But, as soon as she returned you to your respective place, she managed to... well. How do I put this? Put herself to sleep. Yeah, that sounds right. I was close to waking her up, an energizer spell, if you will, but-" Sprite sucked her teeth. "No dice. She's resting now. Her body was useless to me at that point, so imagine how excited I was when your little girl wandered in. The perfect temporary host. But not just physically. I knew how much your girl meant to you. And I wanted nothing more than to watch your world fall apart when she was controlled by the very person you swore to destroy." Loki swallowed hard, his palms growing damp. "So... this is all a part of your plan, is it? Taking her for yourself until you might find little to no use of her? I knew I should have been the one to kill you." "Watch what you say to me, little prince! Just learn to accept people's fates!" Loki listened and looked on in horror as his daughter's voice and Kang's overlapped, merging into his voice entirely at the last two words. "She doesn't belong to you!" "She does now! You obviously have learned little..." "No! Give me my daughter back!" He shot out a hand, causing Sprite to stumble backwards. He watched as Sprite straightened up, his power glowing in her hands, and absorbing it. "New tricks... I learn them everyday." In response, Sprite pulled her dagger from her pants leg, and eyed him. "Now, fight me." Loki shook his head. "Please. I don't want to fight you." "Then you're a coward! What on Earth happened to you that made you so soft?! Don't tell me it was that daughter of yours!" Now, Loki reached for his own dagger, and the two charged at one another. "There you are! I feared you wouldn't have any fight left in you." "I have enough for my family!" "Oh, do you now?! Then go on! Prove it and fight me like a bitch!" She struck at him again. Loki dodged the hit, sliding on the floor, his feet leaving a trail of blood behind. "Aren't you getting ahead of yourself, Spritey?" "Do not call me that! I hate it when you call me that!" Loki shook his head and sighed before dodging another strike. The clash of metal against each other echoed throughout the entire chamber. "I don't want to fight you!" "Then you are just as weak as your father had said!" Loki charged again, with much less adrenaline. This time, she shot out an illusion from her fingertips, a snake the size of the Chitauri creatures in New York came at him, causing him to deflect it, muttering runic magic that would protect him with half that size. The snake collided with the runes, disappearing entirely. Sprite summoned the notes from the music box, hurling them at the god. Loki simply jumped out of the way, narrowly avoiding the impact. In return, he sent a pin of daggers towards her. But as soon as he did, he knew he should have been more careful as she pinned him against the wall. He grunted out as the daggers pierced him through his hands and ankles and scratched his neck. Some of them lodged in his chest. Blood immediately pooled the front of his shirt and through his pants legs. Sprite walked over to him, curling her finger to raise his chin. "What was it that you said to your child once? Hm? That you would always try and keep her safe? Loved? Well now, look at you. Bleeding all over the floors. Literally pinned like a wounded animal." Loki had the urge to slump his head forward. Through his blurred vision, he could see the blood dripping from the wall from his wounds. He couldn't even move his hands. 'I'm so sorry.' What kind of a father was he? He couldn't even save his own daughter from magic he was familiar with. He continued looking up, feeling his body go slack. "I'm so sorry..." He managed. She raised her eyebrow. "I know this is difficult. But please, hear me, Sprite. I know you're in there somewhere." A spell sparked at his fingers. "Spritey..." the spell erupted from the tips of his fingers, releasing him, the pins clattering to the floor. He grabbed his daughter, and pressed two fingers to her temples, entering her mind.