The Allure of Darkness

24

Azia

"In this world nobody dies for long, Azia, with all of the different powers. It seems that new powers are getting discovered and no one is willing to tell any other kingdoms about them." Loki keeps going on and on about things that are useless to me.

Not that I care to tell him that I already know all of these things. The camps hear things some important and some not.

"You said you will help me with the shadows." I go to sit down on my couch when Loki appears out of nowhere.

"No breaks-."

"We haven't even started yet." I roll my eyes at him and still sit down. 

"You have no control over your shadows nor will you be able to control them any time soon if you keep acting like a....."

I scoff. "Like what? Huh."

"It doesn't matter."

It does matter.

"Azia, you have to focus. We only have half an hour left." He checks his nonexistent watch.

"You're the one who wanted to do the whole history lesson."

His eyes run over me until they go to my arm.

"You don't like that they branded you, do you?"

I fucking hate it. I hate that it will always stay with me no matter what I do.

"No, I personally love it. Like why wouldn't anyone want their skin burned just to have a brand go there." I try to say with euthanasia.

"You'll get used to it." He tried to mumble but I heard him perfectly clear.

"So that's how they get you to listen."

I still don't know the depth of how they get Loki to follow the rules but he doesn't follow just because he chooses to.

It's pain they choose to inflict on him.

I get no anger from him. Nothing except a face filled with emotions I can't decipher.

"The shadows or darkness comes from deep inside you. It can come from any emotion like anger.  How much darkness you use is deemed fully on how strong you are. You," He looks at me trying to not laugh, "Aren't strong at all but that will change over time along with other variables."

"This is all very useful but how do I do the," I move my hands to try to get to the point, " like shadows."

"For example, how I travel in the darkness. I have to imagine my body breaking apart and envision where I want to go and how to get my body there in one piece. For you we have to start easy, very easy and since we barely have any time you're going to have to learn it as I did. By force."

He quickly does his teleporting shadow thing to the kitchen and grabs something and comes back to me.

"This time you won't be the one stabbing yourself." He smirks to himself as I try to back away.

He quickly grabs my arm and pulls the knife across my skin. Across the brand of the kings crest.

It feels like it's burning like my skin is melting.

My blood rushes quickly out of me covering the floor 

Loki

I didn't expect that cut to go that deep nor did I expect her to completely try to attack me after.

Her one bloody arm goes around my neck while the other one punches my stomach.

I don't focus on the monstrosity in front of me but on me teleporting away to the other side of the room.

Her eyes frankly go everywhere when I disappear from her grasp.

"What." Her mouth is gaped open. "Th-This isn't fair."

She looks to her arm and back to me.

I know it isn't but no one ever chooses if something is fair or not.

"Get mad at me. Come on. Get mad, Azia. Get mad at your camp getting taken or how you failed your family. Just get mad and express it."

Azia

How you failed your family. How I failed my family. I failed them in all the ways I could.

I tried to remember them. I attempted to find their killers. I did everything a little girl could do to try to find their family killers.

I never got to mourn them. I never mourned the part of me that I lost.

I was just a kid.

I look back at Loki and let the anger that has been forming inside of me for years. All the hatred and anger towards what happened so long ago.

A wound I taught myself again and again to mend back together.

I lock eyes with the person who helped take me from a place and people I learned to love throughout everything. I think I managed to make a family at the camp. But all of that is gone.

I outstretch my hand quicker than anything I've seen before and threw what was left of me at him.

Darkness was what was left of me.

The darkness folds into a ball that shadows are leaking out of.

The darkness plunges at him and he wasn't expecting it. Neither was I.

It doesn't look real.

How the shadow ball goes right towards him or how it almost looks like he absorbs half of the shadows.

I went to duck when I heard the shadow ball and him collide.

I look over to see Loki's white hair all across his face.

He groans when he moves his body against the broken wall.

Blood was all over him. Good to know that he can bleed.

I just did that. I did that to him. I just used the shadows.

"Do you want to share about your family?" I smile at the thought of ever knowing what his family is like.

He turned his head to look at me.

"No." His voice barely sounds like his usual self.

A knock comes to the door.

"Loki, Azia, we have to leave in ten minutes." Emrys' voice comes from outside my door.

The door unlocks and creaks as it opens.

"Hello Emrys, like how I redecorated this place?"

I think it looks great.

A knife on the ground. My arm continues to bleed. A wall that is crushed that has Loki's body in it.

This is a great sight.

Emrys' face cracks a bit. Showing me what he is truly feeling, which is anger.

He turns to me. "Don't you understand, Azia, that we have to leave in less than five minutes and now we have to get Loki healed."

I nod, not wanting to say anything.

"I'm fine brother. We can leave now." Loki says with his usual voice back, almost.

"Good, father is waiting for us." Emrys walks out of my room and leaves the door open. I follow not because I want to but because I have to. If I want to be free.

The hallway would be silent if Loki didn't breathe too loudly when he trails Emrys and me.