Both Monsters (Loki X Reader)

9. The Fire Starter

Y/N's POV:

It wasn't like I hadn't already realised deep down that Loki would find out about my family history, I'm just not sure I was ready for it to be so soon after escaping. Truefully he deserved to know. Besides, this might even give him the excuse he needs to leave me; you never know.

As Loki continued to watch me, I closed my eyes, taking a shaky breath; you can do this, it's not a big deal, he promised, gave his word, he's not going to leave, all you have to do is just speak. I felt my mouth open, then close again. Gritting my teeth I chastised myself, every thought screaming around my head... Speak! For God's sake SpEaK! Please. Just speak.

"I was about 12." Okay, that was a start, now the rest... I can't. It still felt too alien to talk about, no-one else knew. They never had to know. This is stupid. Just tell him. It's probably healthier this way. "12 and snooping in my parents room, something I'd been lectured on many times before, but I was a child and curious." too curious " Then I found this." Bringing my hand up to tug the necklace from under my jumper. It glowed from my touch, sending a purple hue across my palm. "It used to be two separate entities, each half belonging to one of my parents. I had no idea what it could do or become." Truthfully I still wasn't sure, tucking it back into my jumper "I ran to ask my parents about them. Naively thinking they were just some pretty rocks. My mothers reaction was to backhand me across the face, screaming that I shouldn't be so nosey." A soft chuckle escaped my lips "I was sent to my room, the gems snatched from me. That night, my dad came to see me, I assume after she had gone to sleep. He told me very little but from what he did share I put together an idea. I had stumbled upon my way out."

Sighing I lifted both hands. Flames leaping from one, and ice forming in the other. "My mother had the control over fire, although she didn't need the gem for her fiery temper; that's for sure. My father on the other hand had control over ice, I assume to primarily act as a safety feature for my mother." I huffed a laugh at that thought, he was always more loving than her, never laid a hand on me. I shook my head; come on stay focused, you're only dragging this out.

"Anyway, when I was allowed back out of my room..." Loki's eyes flicked to the door briefly then to the floor. Weird. He looked... sad? "I took back the gems, smashed them with a knife I'd hid in my room. Grinding them up into a fine powder and locking them into a necklace. My necklace." I subconsciously played with the chain as I took another breath. Well, you've gotten this far. "I didn't know how the magic worked so I started trying different things. Never managing anything more than a spark." Lighting a small flame with my fingers I watched it dance across my knuckles.

"One day she caught me, I don't know how, because I never heard the door. I'd never seen her so angry. She came for me with her fake talons, scratching at the skin on my hands, face and neck. Determined to shred me till I was nothing. She was a monster. Eye blazing as if the flames actually lied deep inside her all along." The flame grew larger in my hand, as fingers rolled into a fist. "There wasn't anything I could do but scream, even though I knew no-one would come; not even my father."

Tears pricked in my eyes as I hastily blinked them away. "Except when I did finally scream, flames leapt from my hands, engulfing me in a bubble of safety." I smiled then, remembering how good that sensation had felt. Safe. "I had never seen fear in my mothers eyes until then, yet she still managed to roar 'monster' but I never relented until there was only silence." I threw the flame down on the pieces of photo still left in the middle of the room, watching as the image distorted, melting away. I sighed, "Nothing left of them." With a single flick of my wrist the flames vanished, exhaling a disgusted laugh "I think it's fair to say I've gained a decent amount of control over my powers now." I didn't want to look at him, didn't want to know how repulsed his face would be. The silence stretching between us felt like an eternity.