The Seventh Avenger

Chapter 40: A Promise

"The Destroyer is retreating," Sif informs us in a voice barely above a whisper, tears also streaming down her face. No one says anything in response to her however. Rather we all stare at Jane still hovering over Thor's broken body, crying for him and begging him to wake up.

Not wanting her to grieve alone, I once again try and pull myself to my feet with no one stopping me this time. The Warriors and Sif were too upset to notice my movements, while Erik was too busy comforting a distraught Darcy, a pained expression on his face as he stared at Jane's shaking form halfway down the street as well.

Though pulling myself to my feet was a struggle, I manage to do so in the end though I can't help but hiss out loud at the jab of pain that I feel at my ribs when I do so. Clutching at my side tightly, I go to move forward only to find that I almost lose my balance in the process, the only thing keeping me from tumbling to the ground once more being the wall of the building right beside me: I wasn't going anywhere anytime soon.

The tears continue to spill down my face as I silently cry, looking at Thor's crumpled form. I felt sorrow at his death, yet I also felt a burning rage at the retreating machine that had it's back to us now. Though I knew that being angry at the machine was futile and pointless. If I wanted to be angry at someone, then I should really be angry at the God that had orchestrated this whole mess in the first place. I should be angry at a God who I hadn't met, yet who was responsible for the death of my friend today.

Who was responsible for his own brother's death.

Loki.

I absentmindedly clench my fists at the thought of the name, imagining how the God of Mischeif was probably up in Asgard right now, smirking in delight as he watched his plan succeed in front of him. Now that Thor was gone, he could ensure that he could remain King of Asgard until his father woke up from this so called 'Odinsleep.' And when he did wake up, Loki then only had to wait however long it took for Odin to step down as King and crown Loki ruler of Asgard instead.

I shake my head however. I couldn't let Thor's death be in vain. Loki shouldn't get what he wanted here: and our only hope for this to happen was for the Warriors Three and Sif to return to Asgard to expose the truth to someone else up there. Frigga, this Heimdall person-I honestly didn't care who at this point. Someone needed to be told of what Loki had done, as well as what Thor had done as well.

He had willingly sacrificed himself to ensure that us and the rest of the residents of this small town were safe. He had given up his life to protect us. Whatever self-righteous prince he had been up in Asgard, he had certainly not been down here on Earth during his last moments. He had been brave and selfless: something that his father would never get the chance to see. This thought alone pained me, as I knew that Thor had been relieved to here that Odin had been alive this entire time-he probably even thought that he would get the chance to make amends with his father. But once again, he would now never get the chance. The opportunity had been taken from him now that he was dead.

"You have to return to Asgard," I say tearfully to the still upset Asgardians, watching as they all turned their head simultaneously towards me as I spoke. I may have seen harsh in ordering them around when they had literally lost their best friend moments ago, yet I believed that they saw the importance of what it was that I was saying to them. They needed to return to stop Loki, otherwise Thor would have died in vain.

"But...but we can't just leave him," Fandral says in a voice barely above a whisper, his words causing for my heart to tug painfully as I realized who he was talking about.

"Lydia is right," Hogun says gravely, tears also streaming down his face. "Loki must be punished for what he has done here. We must return and put a stop to him."