Lady Dahlia | Loki Odinson

Chapter 16 - The Dark World

The group finally reaches shelter as they find a cave. Jane leads the way inside, Thor following as he practically carries Dahlia inside. He heads further inside the cave and sets her down on a flat rock. She wraps her arms around herself, her head down as she grieves.

"He's gonna unleash it. Not just on Asgard, or on a star. Malekith is going to destroy everything." Jane says.

"How? Jane, how?" Thor asks.

"I saw him on Earth. Why would he go to Earth?" She replies. He sighs.

"The Convergence." He tells her.

"Oh, God. None of this would have happened if I hadn't found the Aether." She says.

"No. It's no one's fault but Malekith's." Dahlia interrupts, her voice hoarse and emotionless.

"Then Malekith would've only possessed it that much sooner." Thor adds.

"I only found it because I was looking for you." Jane tells him.

"Jane..." He says her name softly as he brushes her hair back.

"Now we're trapped here." She sighs. Music sounds from deeper in the cave and they look at each other, confused. 

"It's not me." He tells her. Jane quickly grabs her phone and answers it.

"Hello?" She asks. "Richard? Where are you?" She moves further into the cave, putting her phone on speaker. Thor grabs Dahlia's hand and pulls her with them as they move away from the cave entrance. "Oh, my God, this is amazing."

"Is it?" The man on the phone asks. "I quite enjoyed our lunch despite never actually ordering anything."

"How am I getting service here?" Jane asks, fascinated that her phone is working.

"Is this a bad time? Do you want me to try you later?" He asks.

"No, no, no. Please, whatever you do, do not hang up the phone." She answers quickly.

"Okay, then. I was just wondering if you want to try again. Uh, maybe dinner next time." Richard says.

"Uh, yeah, yeah, yeah. Um, just stay on the phone, okay?" She says distractedly.

"Yeah, I will." He replies.

"Oh, my God." Jane says, spotting the can from London. She gasps and grabs the keys.

"Am I interrupting something?" He asks.

"No, no, no. Nothing at all." She tells him. She turns to Thor and Dahlia, waving them after her. "Come on."

"I'm losing you there. Are you in a tunnel?" Richard asks.

"Where are we going?" Dahlia asks, very confused by what's happening.

"Why are there so many shoes in here?" Thor adds just before they disappear.

***

"Jane!" Darcy exclaims when her friend enters the apartment, followed by Thor and Dahlia.

"Hey." She replies.

"You can't just leave like that. The whole world is going crazy. All the stuff we saw is spreading." She tells her as Thor hangs Mjolnir by the door. "Did you go to a party?" She asks, noticing Jane's clothes.

"Erik?" Jane asks, noticing their friend.

"Jane! How wonderful." He says, pulling her into a hug. "You've been to Asgard."

"Where are your pants?" She asks.

"Someone isn't wearing pants? Where are we?" Dahlia asks. 

"Oh, he, uh...He says it helps him think." Ian answers.

"Okay, well, I'm going to need everything you got on this. All the work you've been doing on gravimetric anomalies, everything." She tells Erik.

"Are you well, Erik?" Thor asks. He laughs nervously.

"Your brother's not coming, is he?" He asks.

"Loki is dead." He tells him.

"Oh, thank God!" Erik exclaims.

"You bastard!" Dahlia shouts, grabbing Loki's dagger off her belt and rushing towards him. She grabs the front of his shirt and presses the blade to his throat. 

"Dahlia, let him go and drop the dagger." Thor tells her. She shakes her head as tears fill her eyes. He moves towards her and gently pries her hand from Erik's shirt. Now free, he quickly backs away and leaves the room.

Thor gently grabs the dagger from her, and she spins around to bury her face in his chest as she sobs. He holds her tightly and rubs her back, knowing no words can comfort her as she mourns her love.

Eventually she exhausts herself and he lifts her into his arms as she sleeps. Jane shows him to her bed and he lays Dahlia down. He covers her with the blankets and sets Loki's dagger on the bedside table for her.

Jane leads him back to the others so they can talk about their plan.

***

Dahlia walks behind Erik and Jane, following the sound of Jane's shoes squeaking on the floor. They reach the tower and Jane focuses her attention on the device in her hands.

"We're running out of time." Erik says.

"Almost there." Jane replies.

"Are you sure this is going to work?" Dahlia asks. Erik nods. 

"These devices were made to detect anomalies, not cause them." He adds.

"Oh, come on. Come on, Darcy." She mutters, rushing to the other side to look out the windows. Erik quietly narrates Thor's fight to Dahlia, having no hard feelings after Thor had explained Loki's importance to her.

"The Convergence will be in full effect in seven minutes." He announces as Jane rejoins them.

"That just means we have to keep Malekith busy for eight." Jane replies. Dahlia listens as the device in Jane's hands beeps rapidly. "Okay, you might want to hold on to something."

Erik wraps his arms around the pillar in front of him. Dahlia grabs onto the one next to her with one arm, the other holding Jane.

"That is awesome! How did you do that?" Darcy asks over the phone.

"Well, the gravitational fields interact with the weak spots between worlds, creating-" She explains.

"Ooh, get the guy with the sword!" She interrupts. Jane twists the knob on the device and Darcy and Ian disappear.

"Oops." She says. 

"Let's go." Erik tells them. He leads the way and Jane grabs onto Dahlia's hand to help her through her unfamiliar surroundings.

"What are you all doing? You need to get out of here, now!" Jane shouts as they run through the building towards the doors. The others in the room crowd around the windows to watch the fight outside.

"You're joking, right? That's Thor out there. He's waving his hammer around and everything!" A man replies.

"Are most humans this stupid?" Dahlia asks as they near the doors. The windows shatter and the people near them scream as glass rains down on them.

"Pretty much." Jane answers.