Rose Red (An Avengers Fanfiction)

Epilogue

It's tranquil out in the desert.

The sand is almost calming, bringing your gaze in with gentle slips and searing heat. Most would find this place terrible or at the very least unbearable.

I found it oddly calming. Perhaps it was because it's in my blood. My ancestors, whoever they were, came from the desert with their strange eyes and their mystic powers.

I never truly understood who or what they were. My father's notes only told me that they were 'ancient' and that they 'escaped from the heavens.' That could mean a lot of things.

It could also mean a whole lot of bull too.

Whatever they were, it was best to be forgotten. The Anwar clan has existed for too long, with my siblings dead it's just me now. I suppose my father would also be important but he's locked up and I doubt he'd ever get out.

The desert is a strange place but it was once home for me.

Before the stronghold in the mountain, before I torched my siblings, before any of it.....There used to be a city here, made up of tents and old ruins; bustling and busy with the sounds of gunfire and soldiers marching through. At the center of it was my family.

We had the largest compound, a blend of old and new that overlooked our little kingdom. My father even had a chair that looked like a warped throne and a hall were he and his generals would meet.

Now there's nothing left but a few scraps of metal and some stone that resembled a building if you looked close enough.

It was my work. My magnum opus if you will.

Burning this place down to the ground had been the start of the end for my family.

The bouquet of flowers in my hand are starting to melt due to the heat and yet I can't find it in myself to move away from my spot just yet. I chose poppies for my siblings, reds ones specifically to represent the Anwar clan.

My mom told me that poppies also meant peace and death. I guess that's true. Well.....the death part at least. I'm not so sure about the peace part. (I'm still working on that myself.)

I don't know where Miriam's and Amir's bodies are. Fury told me that they were 'taken care of.'

Vague. Whatever that means. The man is vague beyond belief. They could be in a government faculty or ashes and I would never truly know.

I won't act like I cared for them, they weren't good people but for the shortest amount of time they were my family. My feelings for them aren't as black and white as they are for my father. In some twisted and pathetic way, I might have had some affection for them. Miriam and Amir night have cared for me......or they might have simply resented me. Who knows?

I can't forgive my father but at least I can forgive them.

Miriam and Amir were just pawns in my father's game and they lost their lives for it. I feel pity for them and most of all, sometime I catch myself thinking that they deserved better.

There's a lot about my family that I never truly understood. Or maybe, just maybe, I never truly cared.

But I could do this at least.

"Are you ever going to move?" I rolled my eyes, and wrapped the scarf around my head tighter. "Or do you plan to turn into a statue and be lost to the sands of time?"

I turn my head. "Loki..... darling, if you have a problem with the heat you can stay in the plane," I said sarcastically.

Loki givens me a disbelieving look before he scoffs and turns his head back to the desert. He doesn't have anything to shield him from the sun, most likely he doesn't need to. He's cold to the touch despite the sun bearing down on us. Perks of being a frost giant, I guess.