Forever (Always)

Chapter 1

-"Someone help!"-

-"What's going on?!"-

-"Sir, we're receiving a distress call from Earth!"-

-"Quill, are you seeing this?"-

-"Please! Please!"-

-"I can't believe what I'm seeing..."

-"Yes, of course we'll help!"-

-"Did you hear? The Traitor's fallen..."-

-"The god of mischief's dead."-

-"He's dead! He's dead!"-

-"Loki is dead!"

-"Loki! Loki!"-

-"The Traitor's finally fallen!"-

Perseus woke up, morning light shining in his eyes, and he felt his shattered heart trying to beat at a somewhat steady rhythm as if any part of him was alive.

His Loki, his lovely Loki...

"Percy?" Annabeth stepped into the room, a big white open space with numerous medical equipments. They must have been in Stark Tower, or at least something owned by Tony Stark.

The god didn't respond, didn't even bat an eye in her direction. She didn't appear offended, however, and only offered him a sad smile. Someone must have told her the stories. Tony, no doubt. Thor wasn't exactly one for studying about flowers.

"It's okay." She murmured, reaching over to run a hand through his hair. "Just breathe. Take your time."

Breathing, yes. He could do that.

The Angasiiar, the Heart Flower. It was the plant of legends, dreamt about by millions all over the known universe. However, like everything, it held a dark secret that many didn't dare talk about.

The Heart Flower was a plant that bonded two people in body, heart, and soul. It created a red string that connected the Pair for eons and then some more. The only way to break such a connection was to end the life of one of them, and to do so meant that the murderer was far removed from their own heart that they would commit such an act without remorse.

For Perseus, losing Loki caused him a pain like none other. Had he a choice, and by the gods did he wish he had a choice, he would have asked Zeus to strike with a million lightning bolts than to have his love perish.

However, like many people, Perseus never had a choice. Fate worked in mysterious ways, as many enjoyed to say, but it was clear that Loki's string had been cut across the pantheons, across space and time itself. He lived and loved and dreamt and died, and Perseus failed him because he could not do so by his side.

For those who wondered if he was being dramatic, Perseus would cut their tongue because he had experienced pain before, loss like no other, but never something quite like that. It felt as though he had lost his arms and legs, and someone still tried to force him to dance. It was as though his head was submerged underwater and, for once, he couldn't breathe because Loki had been his very breath and now he couldn't ever exhale.

He wondered if he'd ever be the same again.

He knew the answer before he ever finished the thought.

What could he ever go back to? Loki was gone, Asgard destroyed, and he did not even know if his mother was alive. Thor was much braver than he, for Perseus could sense his rage and anguish and how he still vowed to avenge those he had lost.

Perseus could only wait. He could only listen. He could only wish.

He would always remember the words whispered to him by the Fates, the simple question murmured in gentle tones, and he would always dread the answer.

"What will they say when they see your corpse?"

XX

updates every Friday

words: 586

song: Always - Panic! At the Disco