Punished gods [ENG]

#20 Awakening

"Oh, really!? Again?" Sylvie was not in her prison again but she felt that she was back in the dream reality, which Strange had involuntarily invited her previously. She trying to recall the last thing she did, she was sure she certainly did not fall asleep, not after she had the perfect opportunity to escape. But suddenly Sylvie couldn't remember what happend before.

When she looked around, the place no longer looked like a sterile doctor's office. This time it was quite different - dark gray walls, flickering light bulbs on the ceiling, a strange cold all around. Her chest almost tightened as she felt uneasy. This was definitely someone else's dream and she was beginning to have an idea who it might be...

It looked as if she were in a house, but there was no furniture anywhere, just a few different rooms that didn't even have doors, just passages inside. There were windows on the walls, but they be walled up. Sylvie hesitated for a moment if it might not be her dream, it was pretty close to prison.

She walked into another room and noticed the figure leaning against the wall, looking out of window. Even though this window was walled up too, several bricks were missing and through the gap several flashes of light could be seen. She took a few more steps and recognized Loki, her heart pounding immediately and she wanted to go to him. But when she wanted to do it, she didn't come closer as if they were divided by an invisible wall between them.

"Loki?" She called in silence, but he didn't seem to hear her. She tried again, but received no reaction, "please... turn around," she said pleadingly, but nothing happened. Sylvie punched into the invisible wall by her fist, bowed her head, and closed her eyes. She placed her open palm on the invisible barrier between them and sighed.

"You were able to break the spell, right?" She smiled a little. "Did you even get out of that ugly place? You don't even know how I hope so..." Sylvie continued, though she was sure Loki couldn't hear her anyway. That all this might just be a nightmare, and none of it really happened, she still wanted to tell him, even if only in her head. "Actually, I don't know how I would deal with this if I were on your place... if I believed I was worthless for you, if you would broke my heart in that way... or at least I would believe it. I'm still thinking about it, how I must have hurt you... even though I wasn't standing there, I didn't say that, I feel guilty about it, "she said so sadly. "If we didn't know each other, this might not have happened. Well... but you know what? I fully understand what you meant in that Citadel now. I also just want you to be okay."

Suddenly Sylvie felt such a unexpected feeling, she opened her eyes and saw Loki in front of her, touching her palm with his own and staring into her eyes. At that moment, as if the barrier between them began to disappear and she swore that the touch between them was really real. She took a breath to say something, but she disappeared before Loki's eyes.

"Sylvie?" He called her half-dreaming and half-conscious, when Loki sat down on the bed in the hotel. He ruffled his hair and stood up, the dream was so real as if he could really see her, as if he could feel her touch. Immediately after returning to New York, he stayed in one of the hotels, with his magic powers it was so easy to get to one of the best rooms, he almost found it boring that it was so easy.

He moved from the bed to the balcony of the hotel room, it was quite cold, but he didn't mind. He leaned against the railing and stared at the sky, where a few stars and the moon could be seen. It was so reassuring after his experience in a land full of darkness. After a moment, the whole dream came back to his mind. When he heard Sylvie's muffled voice and he saw her standing unhappily at the barrier between them. He looked at his hand and remembered the feeling again when he touched her in his dream. Her sad expression when she looked at him was a completely different than the one she had before sending him through another portal into the world of damnation.

He paused at the thought - her cold eyes that looked at him as if they didn't really belong to her. Even if they didn't know each other well yet, she didn't have such a cold and calculating expression. Loki recalled the whole scene in his head and suddenly he realized another thing that might seem like a trifle. That Sylvie that broke his heart, she didn't have the necklace with pendant. But she still had it in his dream. Could it mean something? He began to doubt, "what if...?"

Sylvie woke up on the floor in her cell, not sure if she fainted and what it was the reason. But before she could think about it, or the whole dream, she heard strange blows and screams. The sound was muffled through the glass, but it sounded like someone had slammed angrily with whatever had just come to hand.

"How did it happen!? How did he get out of there!?" Scarlet Witch shouted angrily, tossing another thing nearby. "It was supposed to be a great plan!"

After a moment, Scarlet Witch appeared in front of Sylvie cell. Sylvie just looking at her in confusion. Scarlet Witch looked at Sylvie like she had just come to see if she was still there or not. Women stared at each other for a few long seconds before Scarlet Witch disappeared without a word. It was only then that Sylvie realized that she no longer had a bracelet on her hand, which might reveal her, but when she looked at her hand, she saw the remnants of a fading illusion that she still had it on her hand, "what the hell?" she couldn't do this, it was Loki's specialty.

Sylvie just thought that was right time to come up with an escape plan, when in an instant she moved from the cell to the corridor in front of her. Sylvie looked around in disbelief, she was sure she didn't have the abilities like that, "I must have gone crazy. What is happening?" She thought and started find her way out quickly. She wasn't sure where she was, but the place looked like an abandoned research complex. Everything looked new, modern, but also empty.

When Sylvie found the elevator, she found that she were five floors underground, and began to suspect that there might be security on the other floors. She picking up a metal tube she had found nearby if she were to defend herself. It was like she had forgotten for a moment that she had her powers back. She got on the elevator and pressed a button, getting ready to fight on the way, determined to get out this place at any cost.

Sylvie was still ready to attack the any person which gets in her way after the door opened. When it happened, she noticed several security guards and other staff, but they just looked at the open elevator, but paid no attention to Sylvie. "They can't see me, or what is that supposed to mean?" She had no idea what was going on. She got out of the elevator and walked to exit, she was quite alert, but no one was looking at her at all, it was so weird.

When she came out, Strange appeared in front of her after a few steps, Sylvie took a step back in surprise, but was ready to pull him with a metal tube. But Strange stopped her and the metal tube flew aside, he looking at her strangely, as if he saw more than she did, "how did you do this?"

"You don't think I'm going to confide in you, do you? I'm not your marionette any more!"

Strange saw an almost invisible protective field around Sylvie that surrounded her. It was almost invisible force around her, he began to realize what was going on here, "you must leave immediately and very fast!"

"Oh, wau, wau, wau..." Scarlet Witch said a short distance away, glaring at them both, "one rat escaped from her treadmill and as I see... the second rat is actually a treacherous snake!" She looked hateful and was ready to sweep them both with a powerful energetic shock. She was almost ready to do it when she felt a blade on her neck.

"You should think carefully about what you're going to do now," Loki's voice came from behind her and Loki holding the dagger just below her neck.