Chapter 25

I'm thrown backwards, and I hit the ground hard. My body rolls a ways, my head bouncing on the ground all the way. When I come to a complete stop, face down in the dirt, I lay there, feeling my head continue to spin and pound.

A loud war cry rips through the air, and more explosions ring out, but my ears sound like they're filled with water.

I need to get up, I need to move.

I feel someone shake me slightly, and I hear them say something, but I can't make out who it is or what they're saying. I try to force myself to my hands and knees, but the movement makes me vomit and my head to pound even harder.

Most definitely concussed.

Something taps against my hand, and I look down and see Mr. Pouch next to a small vial of shimmery purple liquid. I pick it up and pop out the cork with my teeth, and down the liquid. Immediately, I begin vomiting, hard. A hand rests on my shoulder, and the vomiting ends. I scramble to my feet to find Loki standing there, knife in hand , warding off advancing frost giants. He turns long enough to toss me a knife, which I catch not very gracefully. On my other side, Peter slices and dices with his robotic back-legs. surrounding them are Asgard soldiers, keeping most of the fight away from us. In front of me lies the body of a giant, a sword still in his hand. I dash forward, dodging a giant's attack, and grab the sword. I wrench it out of its hand and block another giant's sword with both my blades.

I slash and fight, feeling more alive with every clang of my blades. My body takes over, fighting like it's done it for years, just like riding a bike.

Making it back to the safety circle of people that know how to fight, I do my best to fight off the giants who had breached the safety circle. As I fight, my strength feels like it's returning. When one of the humanoid creatures advances, I reach out and grab his face with my still-blue hands, and he shrieks as his face begins to become blackened with my touch. I release him and he shrinks away, screaming. Stupidly, I run out past the safety circle and into the fray. I swing the huge sword left and right, defending and stabbing, occasionally getting myself cut, but otherwise remaining in one piece. As I fight, I am able to see what the explosives I had planted had done. They had blown a small pit into the ground, and some giants are charred and missing limbs.

Stark is up in the sky with his suits, blasting away, and Nat looks to be having fun with a large gun that can successfully blast arms off the giants. Upon a slight hill stands the leader, one of his arms missing and half his face peeled away. He looks very busy with multiple of the Asgaurdian soldiers, but I slash my way over in their direction anyway.

As I manage to reach the small incline, he swats the soldiers away as if they were just flies. Running forward, I swing my blade down, and he catches it with his own.

"You killed my parents," I growl out, and he bares his teeth.

"So, you still cling to the idea that those mortal creatures were your parents? You truly believe you aren't the bastard child of Loki?" He draws back his blade and forces me to block, "They were murderers, and you still morn for them?" Our blades clash again and again, and I clumsily block him, though he manages to slash open my side. I stumble away, one hand holding my wound and knife, the other the sword.

"They were murderers, yes, but they didn't deserve death. They deserved to be locked away," I attack as hard as I can, and give him a slash on the belly, "They deserved to have to sit with what they had done," I feel myself getting angry, and he blocks my many attempts to slash him into pieces. "They deserved to be shamed! To have to sit and think about what they had done for the rest of their lives, they deserved a trial to show the world," I slash again, my knife making the wound on his gut deeper, "The murderers they were!" I scream as I drive the sword into his chest, all the way to the handguard. He chokes and tries to swing his sword, and I bounce backward, only getting a slash up my back instead of probable decapitation.

He chokes and blue blood bubbles out of his mouth, his hand trying desperately, but failing to pull the blade out.

"Is this enough of a threat for you?" I whisper, and feel myself tingle all over, and I look into his eyes. In them, I see his fear, and I see his hate.

"Monster." He chokes out, right before he falls over and the blade sticking out of his back pins him to the earth. I look out at the battlefield, and I see all is still. Everyone has stopped fighting, everyone has paused to watch my fight. I feel my cheeks turn red in embarrassment. I pick up the leader's sword, raising it high over my head, and scream,

"Enough with this! Surrender!"

For a moment, no one moves. Then, the first clatter of a blade hits the ground, followed by a giant kneeling. Slowly, the rest follow his lead, and as do the small alien people. I lower the sword as the Asgardians begin to pull the remaining giants into a group, then sorting out the alien people. I look down at the blade, and see my reflection. My armor is splashed with blood, my face cut, bruised, and bleeding.

Atop my head is a partial helmet made of gold, its horns curling back above my head.

Looking away from my reflection, I decend from the hill, dragging the sword behind me. I walk through the blood-soaked grass, over the bodies that had fallen because of me.

I stop right in front of Loki, then plunge the blade into the ground. I take off the helmet and place it around the grip of the sword. Looking up at him, I can't make out any emotions.

"Did you know?" I ask quietly, the words hard to say.

"I did." He responds, and dread fills my body.

"How long did you know? How long ago could this have been prevented?" I ask as calmly as I can.

"Close to three years I've known. I've known, and I knew you were safe in another dimension, so I had no reason to worry." I nod, and think about whether or not to say the words I want to say.

"Then know that I'm leaving. I'm going back to the safety you knew so much about." I turn, and no one stops me. I summon my energy and transport myself back to my apartment. I gather my personal things, my backpack, my clothes. I take my favorite blue gown, then debate whether or not to take the copies of the books.

On one hand, I want to leave this place behind. Drop it and forget it like a dream. On the other, I've shown I can kill powerful people, and if more come, then I need protection.

I take the books.

Once my backpack is completely packed, I call forward my energy and make a hasty healing job, successfully making my body stop bleeding. Then, I transport myself back to Sigrid's home. She sits at a table, reading a book and drinking from a large cup. Looking up, she startles at my sudden appearance. She tries to speak, but I shamefully cut her off.

"Sigrid, I want to thank you. You helped me out, you helped me with getting a job. I see you like family." I rush, trying not to trip over my words. "I'm leaving. I'm leaving this dimension, I'm going back to the one that I'm from, and I wanted to say good bye, to you and the kids." I look around but they are nowhere to be found. She stands and sweeps me into a hug. I return it, but then remember I'm covered in blood. She pulls away, and the front of her dress is smudged with blue.

"Sorry about the blood." I say, but she waves me off.

"Cloth will wash, it's alright. The kids are off playing, but for now, you've been gone from your world for too long. I will tell them of your departure, though I have a feeling you'll be back soon. How did you get here?" She asks, and I think back to my car and the small fire.

"It was a small piece of paper, one with words written on it, but I can't remember the words."

She hums. "Perhaps a callback spell is in order." She takes my bloody hands and traces the lines in my palms. "You held the paper, no?" She asks, and I nod. She mutters something under her breath, and a folded paper appears in my hand.

"How did you do that?" I ask, amazed. She smiles.

"Just a simple spell of mine. The words don't matter as much, but your intent. Focus on what you want to do, focus your energy. Then, add words to your action. This helps to focus the spell you cast, to make the magic a little more potent. Now, I think it's time to go home."

I nod, and then look down to the paper. Taking a deep breath, I read aloud the word on the paper.

"Back to the world from which I came, take me back now, once again."

Green blue mist surrounds me, and Sigrid smiles at me once more before the cloud blocks her from my sight.