Lady Dahlia | Loki Odinson

Chapter 7 - The Avengers

"How does your magic work?" Tony asks the second they enter the lab. Dahlia sighs and Bruce leads her to a seat near the workstations.

"It's not that simple. I wasn't born with magic. I was taught it." She replies.

"Can you try?" Bruce asks. She nods, focusing on her magic. She can hear them start taking notes as she explains how her magic works to the best of her abilities.

"Is it different for every magic user?" Tony asks.

"I believe so." She answers.

"Can you show us?" Bruce asks. 

Dahlia nods and stands, smoothing out her dress. She blinks and her eyes turn yellow as she senses her surroundings.

"Can you see when you do that?" Tony asks, leaning closer to look at her eyes.

"No. My magic surrounds everything around me, so I can sense where everything and everyone is. I feel my surroundings instead of seeing them." She explains, blinking and reeling her magic back in. 

"How long can you hold it?" Bruce asks. She sighs and shrugs.

"I'm not sure. I don't use it that often. I'm comfortable being blind, I don't need to use that magic much." She answers. He nods, finishing his notes.

"Do you have any other magic?" Tony asks. She nods, summoning her staff. She holds it out for them so they can examine it before vanishing it away.

"I've tried illusions, but because I don't know exactly how things appear, they're often not quite right. I have mastered one illusion, but I'm sure you won't appreciate it." Dahlia replies.

"Can you show us?" He asks. She sighs and closes her eyes, focusing on her magic. She feels it wrap around her as the illusion replaces her usual appearance. "That's freaky." He says as he and Bruce stare at the illusion of Loki in front of them.

"Change back, please." Bruce says. Dahlia chuckles and breaks the illusion. 

"How have you mastered that one?" Tony asks.

"I'm not sure. My magic has always...connected with Loki's. We've always been close, and Frigga taught us magic together. That may have something to do with it." She replies. Tony and Bruce look at each other, both knowing exactly why she's able to create a perfect illusion of Loki. 

"I think those are all the questions we had. You can stay with us if you'd like, but it'll be boring." Tony tells her. She waves one hand dismissively as she summons her staff to the other.

"I'll be fine. I'm going to explore the ship." She says before walking out of the room. The two men glance at each other, wondering if they should stop her. They both shrug, deciding it's not their problem before getting to work.

***

Dahlia moves through the halls, using her staff to make sure she doesn't run into anything or anyone. She leaves traces of magic behind to ensure she won't get lost, and she can follow them back to the lab.

Up ahead she hears grunting and metal groaning. She blinks and senses Steve Rogers trying to force open the door in front of him. She approaches and nudges him aside. She presses her hands on the metal, sensing its weak points. Using her magic to unlock the door, she slides it open and steps out of the way.

"Thanks?" Steve says, watching her walk away. He watches her go, unsure as to what just happened. He shakes his head and enters the room to continue his search.

Dahlia continues walking through the halls, reaching her magic out every so often to try and find the containment center.

Suddenly, she feels Loki's magic meet hers, making her stop. She relaxes as their magic connects, but a moment later she tenses. She quickly pulls her magic back, feeling something off with his magic. She gasps, realizing that Loki's actions are not his own and that someone else has been controlling him.

***

Dahlia returns to the bridge, quickly feeling Thor's presence and rushing to him.

"In my youth, I courted war." Thor is saying as she nears.

"War hasn't started yet. You think you could make Loki tell us where the Tesseract is?" Fury replies.

"I do not know. Loki's mind is far afield. I brought Dahlia to talk to him, as she's the only one who can get through to him, but I don't think it will work. It's not just power he craves, it's vengeance, upon me. There's no pain would prise his need from him." He answers. Dahlia crosses her arms across her chest, glaring at him. None of the men seem to notice her, too focused on their conversation.

"A lot of guys think that, until the pain starts." He says.

"What are you asking me to do?" Thor asks.

"I'm asking, what are you prepared to do?" He clarifies.

"Loki is a prisoner." He replies.

"Then why do I feel like he's the only person on this boat who wants to be here?" He asks. Dahlia clears her throat, interrupting their conversation.

"If you think you'll hurt Loki to get answers, I'll destroy every last one of you and burn this ship to the ground before I let that happen." She threatens, glaring in their direction.

She storms away a moment later, so angry at the suggestion of hurting Loki for information, she temporarily forgets her revelation.

Okay so I woke up around dinnertime because we stayed up so late lol. This'll be the last update today, but I might update later in the week if I feel like it lmao. If not, updates for this story will continue like normal on the weekends.