CASTLE ↝ Loki Laufeyson | 2

↳ CHAPTER EIGHT

        AS CHILDREN, NOVA had always been the one to appreciate thunderstorms and the way every strike would throb all the way down to her chest, whereas Olympia had been in need of comfort and encouragement to get through the violent storms that had journeyed through Asgard. Nova could still remember the day that Thor had begun to learn of his abilities, how she had been utterly alone but the striking veins of light splitting the sky apart had kept her company — so it was safe to say, she found it quite unfitting to see her sister in control of the booming thunder by Thor's side. It seemed that being relieved of the Aether had given her some of her strength back, and Nova wasn't sure whether to be glad or not.

         It did, however, benefit them in their relentless fighting against the Dark Elves. Plan B, apparently, meant going through the countless soldiers blindly following Malekith's orders, and that was something Nova had no qualms with, as grabbing her axe had been like second nature.

      "Slacking, are we?" Nova retorted at Loki after the man had been shoved onto the ground, a grin taunting him even when she gave him her hand to take. Grunting, the man wrapped his fingers around hers and after sending a vengeful blast of magic towards the enemy that had given him a taste of the sand, he leaped up with his lips parted for a snarky reply.

       However, he didn't get a word out when the monster Nova had heard Thor refer to as Kurse was tossing some kind of alien bomb at them, only for the explosive to burst halfway through the air and suck a portal into existence right before their eyes. Nothing but vast abyss and void awaited on the other side where the iron grip of wind slapped at Nova's wrists and threatened to reel her in, earning a grunt from the woman. Before she could vanish into the darkness of the portal, though, or get the time to defend herself, Loki was bumping his shoulders into hers and given himself to the threat while Nova stumbled to safety.

      Coughing out the sand that erupted around her as she fell onto the ground, Nova rolled to her back just in time to see Loki nearly losing against the magnetic pull of the portal. Their eyes met, and the split-second was enough for Nova to grab her axe and leap back up to both feet with the intention of saving Loki in mind, yet she barely got to take the first step when Thor was bringing her plan to life. He flew through the air with Mjölnir in hand and shoved Loki aside within seconds, and as the portal closed and gained zero victims, after all, the brothers failed to share a single word of gratitude or acknowledgment.

        With that, Thor was sprinting away once more, leaving Nova with the chance to slap Loki's arms. "For the love of God, I am very capable of protecting myself, thank you! Don't want you dying on my arms, alright?" she complained amid a huff, and after driving her axe through a Dark Elf's chest as the creatures began surrounding them, she faced him with narrowed eyes. "I'd be an awfully lonely queen."

        Although fighting off the Elves, Loki managed a chuckle and a crooked smile at Nova. "God? Really didn't peg you as the type to believe in such", he recalled with a hum, proving that while things had changed for them drastically, they were still that same witty, dangerously ambitious duo that they had been back in the dungeons.