Avengers: A Wedding At Last

Amora's Dark Benefactor

Amora stormed into her quarters the minute the meeting was adjourned. So consumed with impotent rage, she'd barely been capable of retaining Doom's words. Though she despised how he had spoken to her, his plot was sound and certainly held great promise. It might even be a better pursuit of power than that of her benefactor.

Amora shivered just thinking about him. The one who told her so many secrets. The one who fed her thirst for arcane knowledge. She had been angry, embittered and broken when he'd found her. He picked her up, dusted her off, and made promises to her. He promised her power- something she couldn't pass up. And he'd indulged her for a while. But then his lessons ceased and she was left yearning for more.

"Why have your lessons stopped?" She had asked one day as she knelt before him at his throne.

The being stared down at her with no emotion. He studied her, taking her full measure before finally speaking. "I know what you are, Amora of Asgard," he spoke with a voice that chilled her blood. "An opportunist. A philistine. The magic you wield is swallowed up in the shadow of my power."

Amora flinched at his appraisal. Rejection and mockery was to be her lot in life, it seemed. A cycle from which she could never seem to escape.

"Your thirst for power will be quenched when you pave the way for my arrival on earth," the being declared.

Amora glanced up into his frightening visage and immediately knew she could not refuse him. Not after she'd had a taste of his greatness. And certainly not when the fear of failing him snared her like a vice. "How?" She had asked.

"Though I am in possession of great power, there are limits. There are...barriers through which I cannot cross. I am confined to this dimension. You must find the key to my return."

Amora felt amazement that such a potent arcane force of nature such as he could be contained in any sort of prison. Boldly, she asked him why.

The being's eyes went black and he rose from the throne, his massive figure towering over her. Slowly, he reached out a hand and Amora fought the urge to flee as his palm shoved her headdress aside and his long, black, clawed fingers curled around her head. But even that paled in comparison to what came next.

Images came rushing through her head, so fast and so overwhelming she felt she would burst. She saw war between towering monstrosities and a race of beings who towered over the humans who fled in the wake of destruction. She saw blood as it rained from the sky. She tasted the metallic flavor on her tongue. Then she watched as the very being that she was on service of was being subjected to a type of trial.

"Guilty!" One of the figures shouted. "Guilty of plotting against your own family! For that, you are banished to the darkness for all eternity!"

Then, horror of horrors, an inky darkness spilled out around the accused and he was promptly swallowed up. As this transpired, Amora could feel this darkness consuming her as well. She slowly sank into it alongside him, watching with horror as her vision was gradually blotted out.

The being drew back, releasing Amora. She fell to the floor and gasped for breath. Then, having composed herself, she stared up at him.

"We are not so different, you and I," he decreed. "Both of us sought greatness and were denied it."

"Tell me what I must do," Amora implored him.

The being smiled for the first time. "I am bound by very old magic, girl."

Amora would ordinarily feel great disdain at being called that, but this being was ancient. His lifespan predated hers, eclipsing it entirely. She was an infant compared to him. "What sort of magic?" She asked.

"The magic is that of gods. When I was banished, they cast the spell before taking leave of earth."

"Spells can weaken over time," Amora reasoned. "Especially if the spell-caster isn't tending to it."

"Oh, they were well-aware. When they left earth, they put safeguards into place to contain me. I would have already walked upon the earth centuries ago if they had not."

Amora, who had been listening intently, seized upon a chance to display her fervent loyalty. "What safeguards would they have used?"

The being observed Amora, a pleased expression on his face. "That, Asgardian, is for you to discover."

Since returning from that infernal realm of darkness, Amora had attempted to seek any information she could find that might aid her. To her dismay, all knowledge regarding her new master seemed to have been erased from history.

Then Doom found her. He'd darkened her doorway, displaying his impressive arcane skills. He'd offered her a chance at revenge against the Avengers as well as a place in a new world order. Torn between her options, Amora had taken a gamble and plotted to play both sides. She would take part in Doom's schemes while searching for answers to freeing her new mentor from his place of darkness.

"It never hurts to have a backup plan," she reasoned as she sat at her vanity and began to brush her golden hair.

If Doom's plot succeeded, she would indeed live like a goddess. But if she could do as her benefactor asked, he would give her a throne from which she could watch as hellish forces ravaged the earth, cleansing it.

"Either way, the world will belong to me," she told her reflection with a satisfied smile.