Your Hand To Hold

Chapter Fourteen: Portals and Nicknames

          We were halfway across the ocean when I began to hear a muffled voice coming from Thor's hair. The voice was masculine, yet not as deeply pitched as Thor's and there was a strange cadence to the way the vowels were pronounced. I struggled to make out what was being said, the voice seeming to waiver in and out; two others- an alto feminine voice and a second masculine voice of the same pitch as the first, yet with a darker timber- could occasionally be heard. They were talking about civilians, something called Manhattan, and a tower.

   "I am on my way. I have brought assistance that I believe may help to bring about an end to my brother's schemes."

   I looked up at Thor, suddenly feeling ill-equipped. I could hear the second male voice respond clearer this time. "That's great, Point Break, just get here and get here fast!"

   "Hold tight, Sister; we do not have far to go yet we must travel quickly!" I nodded, ducking my head under his arm further as the crackle of lightning allowed for a burst of propulsion, rocketing us across the water with a speed I would never get comfortable traveling at.

   Thor did not slow down until the tower we had been told to head toward came into focus. A building as tall as the palace on Asgard made of what looked like a million mirrors stood aloft, its ringed deck precariously hanging over the city with the word STARK along the side. From our position above, we were able to easily spot Loki standing on the farthest-reaching point of the multi-level balcony; surveying what he seemed to be allowing himself to falsely believe was his. We landed a few feet away, Thor gently setting me down before he began to stalk towards his brother, his hammer pointed at the beacon atop the roof just above and to the left of where we stood; the bright, blue light rising into the sky where a portal to darkness hung. Purple blips popped from it now and again as something came from it, descending upon the city as something red flew quickly past, firing frantically at them.

   "Loki! Turn off the Tesseract, or I'll destroy it!"

   He turned, shouting back that there was no stopping it, the childish sneer on his face quickly turning to a look of surprise as he stopped mid-sentence, his mouth agape as he stared at me. "Eibhlin...Is that truly you?"

   I nodded, his surprise catching me off guard for a moment. "Loki, turn it off; please. Call them off, return what was given to you, and let us go home. Together." He looked wild; his eyes rimmed red, hair touching his shoulder blades and thick with grease.

   He walked slowly down the stairs towards us, Thor remaining as an obstacle for him to have to cross to get to me. I still did not believe that he would harm me, yet the strange blue glow to his eyes made me question if he was in his right mind; or his mind at all. "Why have you come, Little Dove? Just another lapdog for the mighty All-Father now? The armor is a nice touch though; you always were fetching in green."

   "In all the time you have known me, have I ever given the impression that I would ever be anyone's lapdog? Are you away with the fae?"

   "You would know all about the fae now, wouldn't you, Little Dove? The Tesseract has shown me many things; including much about you, your ears, and your pitiful excuse for powers," he sneered, pointing at my hands with the glowing scepter he held. "I know what you are, Eibhlin Béatraís Walsh, daughter of Darragh." I felt the same slow-building terror as I had in my room when I had looked at my reflection. My eyes squeezed shut as I tried my damnedest to shove it down and drown him out as my heartbeat pulsed in my ears, still buried beneath my hair.

   "Enough! Again, Brother, I demand you to end this needless slaughter now; you give up the Tesseract, you give up this poisonous dream!"

   "Repeating yourself will do you no good. It cannot be stopped, there is only this; only the war." Thor lifted Mjolnir, forcing me to act as I came around him faster than he ever expected, throwing my hands between them.