In The Shadows | Loki

SOUNDS LIKE SOMETHING STUPID I WOULD DO. GO ON

Loki~*~*~*~*~*~*~

        Everyone in the golden dome is silent, waiting. Ophelia suddenly takes a deep breath. I feel my heart stutter. "Get her to the healers. Now!" My mother orders.
        "Warriors, take Loki back to his cell."
        "What?" Thor shouts. "Father, you can't-"
        "I can, and I will." I feel arms grabbing mine, lifting me up and away from Ophelia. Sif moves in front of my view, slowly picking Ophelia up.
        "To the healers." My mother says again. "Quickly." Sif nods, glancing at me before sprinting down the Bifrost. Mmy mother looks to me.
        "She'll be alright. I'll make sure of it."
        "Thank you mother." I had no strength to fight back. I had nothing in me. Nothing but knowing that as long as my heart was beating, Ophelia's was too. 

Ophelia~*~*~*~*~*~

        "OPHELIA NO!"
        "You think you understand?"
        "I will end you!"
        "You're hurting people!"
        "Let it go."
        "Ophelia."
        "Ophelia!"
        "OPHELIA!"
        I suck in a deep breath, filling my lungs with air. My chest heaves as my eyes shoot open, and I'm staring at a golden ceiling, sunlight streaming through a window. I hear a crash, and I turn my head, looking at the servant who's tray had hit the floor with a clang. I frown. I wasn't laying on something, I was laying in something. It almost felt like a casket, but I knew it wasn't. 
        "Hi?" The servant darts out of the room, not saying a word. "Okay." I whisper to myself, glancing around the room. I lift my hand to press against the golden-like glass, and nearly scream. My fingers were gray, and my skin looked almost cracked. I raise my other hand, and it looks the same. I take in a shaky breath.
        "Ophelia." I turn, my eyes meeting Frigga's. The servant from before is standing a few feet behind her. "You're awake." I nod wordlessly. She rushes forward. "Get Odin and Thor!" She shouts over her shoulder. "And a healer!" She opens the casket thing, helping me into a sitting position. 
        "I'm going to take it that I've  been asleep for a while." I murmur, looking up at her. "What's wrong with me?" 
        "Ophelia!" I hear Thor shout, and I turn to see him smiling. "You're alright." Odin is trailing behind him, watching me carefully. 
        "I think so?" I reply. "I'm not sure." I frown, looking down at my hands. "What happened?" Frigga looks at Odin, who sighs. Thor turns to his father as well.
        "There's a reason Loki didn't die after that spell." Frigga is looking directly at her husband. "You shouldn't keep them apart now. Not now that it has worked." Odin nods once, not looking very happy. 
        "Go get Loki." Odin commands Thor, and Thor nods once, quickly leaving. 
        "I'm sorry, am I missing something?" I ask, frowning. "I don't understand, why am I in this thing? What happened to me?" I ask the queen. Frigga glances at her husband. 
        "What's the last thing you remember?" She asks, and I frown, thinking back.
        "I remember breaking Loki out of the prison with Thor, and traveling to that planet, and.... nothing. Did I get knocked out?" I ask, and Frigga's face goes blank. 
        "Loki should tell you." I raise an eyebrow at that. 
        "Why Loki? What happened?" I ask. "I thought you didn't trust Loki?" I ask the king. "And if he's here, wouldn't he be in the prisons?" 
        "He is." Odin replies shortly. The servant reenters, a woman with dark hair and white robes following her. The woman bows to the king and queen before walking up to me, motioning for my hand. I place my hand in hers, and she uses one hand to old mine, the other hovering above it and letting off a soft, golden light.
        "This will take a while to heal, even with your rapid healing." She informs me. "You'll be in a lot of pain, but that's what an infinity gem will do to you when you absorb it and then force it out of your body." 
        "What?" 
        "Ophelia." I look up from the healer to the doorway to see Thor standing there with Loki in cuffs. 
        "Let them talk." Frigga says softly. Odin hesitates, glancing at the trickster before nodding once. 
        "He stays in the cuffs." Is all Odin says. The healer and servant are the first to leave, followed then by Thor, who nods once at me with a soft smile. Frigga moves to her husband, leading him out while smiling at her son. Loki looks at me, slowly walking over. 
        "Care to explain what's going on, and why I look a little bit like a corpse?" I raise my hands. "Also I don't feel good, which is weird because I haven't gotten sick since before I was a mutant." He glances towards the door, and he lets out a long breath. 
        "When we fought Malekith, he took the Aether out of Jane, but we weren't going to be able to stop him from absorbing it. So instead, you decided to absorb it to stop him from doing so." I nod slowly, trying to understand. 
        "Sounds like something stupid that I would do. Go on." He lets out a low chuckle. 
        "It... it changed you. You were hell bent on destroying the people who had hurt you on earth." I blink in surprise. "You attacked London. Thor and I were able to stop you, and convince you to force the Aether out of our body. When you did so, it..." He trails off. "It killed you." My mouth opens, then shuts again. "Thor and I brought you back to Asgard, but you weren't coming back, so I..."
        "Loki, what did you do...?" I ask quietly. 
        "There is a spell that was outlawed a couple thousand years ago. Right after I was born." I nod along. "On Asgard we believe that every one soul has a twin soul. The spell that was outlawed binds those twin souls together. It's an unbreakable bond that ties them to one another. The closer the twin souls, the closer the bond. It can be as weak as feeling a twinge when the other gains a heavy wound, or as strong as being able to hear one another's thoughts. But once that spell is done, when one dies, the other dies. And if they do the spell, and the two being bonded are not twin souls, they'll both die in the process of the spell."
        "I'm seeing why this was outlawed." 
        "It was the only thing I could think of while I was trying to save you." I stay quiet. "So I did the spell, and neither of us are dead, so...."
        "So we have twin souls, and we're bonded together." He nods once. "Okay. Um." I'm not sure what to say. "That's....." 
        "I couldn't just let you die." He whispers. "I'm sorry." I nod, looking down at my hands that are setting in my lap. I lick my lips, trying to come up with something to say.
        "Did I hurt anyone when I attacked Earth?" I ask quietly. Loki shifts his weight.
        "Heimdall told us that, while no one died, there were a few injured." I nod again, slowly. 
        "So we're bonded. what does this mean when I go home?" 
        "It means, whether I like or not, Loki is going with you." We both look up, startled by the new voice. Odin walks in, Frigga walking quickly behind him, and Thor behind her. "His punishment is going to have to change. Instead of being in our prisons, he'll be banished to Midgard with you." 
        "Odin!" Frigga cries. "You can't just banish our son. He helped save people."
        "He killed many more than he saved, and he only tried for her." Odin motions to me. "It's not enough. He still needs to see the consequences."
        "If I may," I interrupt. "what he did on earth wasn't fully his fault. He was being controlled by Thanos-"
        "I did not give you permission to speak." Odin cuts me off, and my eyebrows shoot up. 
        "I'm sorry?" I move to swing my legs over to stand, and pain erupts throughout me. I let out a yelp of surprise, bending over in pain. I hear Loki gasp, and when I glance up, he's on his knees, clutching his abdomen. Odin shakes his head.
        "They're more connected than I thought." Odin looks sat me, still bent over in pain. "It's now your responsibility to keep him under control."
        "He isn't a dog!" I snap. Odin looks at Thor and Frigga.
        "They leave tomorrow."