Gatekeeper's Daughter

Ch. 8

Ch. 8

"How can you not remember?" Dad asked me, his expression fully of concern. I could see his face crease a bit at the forehead since he took off his helmet.

"Nothing's going my way." I spoke softly, saving my shortened breaths.

"Okay. I'll explain it. You teleported to Loki to save him. I don't know what your plan was for saving him though. Later I arrived to help fight. At some point, one of the Chitauri started to take you away so I got him off of you. Loki ran over to us and we were ready to fight, but I felt your hand on my ankle and the next moment we teleported here."

"So we... safe?" I spoke again. The burning sensation began flowing up my arms.

"Yes we're safe Sunshine." He looked at me, almost with pleading eyes. I took up little of my sight and decided to look at myself. To put it in simple terms, I looked awful. My body laid in an awkward position and blood of different colors covered my clothing and skin. When my head began to hurt, I brought my sight back to me and closed my eyes, trying to focus out of the world.

"Dad?" I asked.

"Yes Sunshine."

"Do you... know why... teleport?" Yes forming complete sentences in short breaths was really hard. Especially with a burning sensation in my throat and lungs.

"Well it's a long story and I don't remember much of it myself. I was probably a little younger than you when I had my first teleport experience. You see I was so terrified of a nightmare that I saw my mother sleeping in her bed and when I opened my eyes, I was sleeping right next to her. It caught me off guard, until I realized that I didn't really care how I got there, just that I was.

"As the years went on, I experimented with this new power, same as you have. My times were simpler off course so it took me longer to develop my senses for it. But that was also when I found that my amazing power was also killing me. Teleportation is not something easy. It requires surrounding energy and the energy within. It is said that children have more energy than adults, that is not true for this case. And also the fact that children like to experiment more.

"I must advise you not to teleport again my sunshine. It will only further damage you."

"What happened... to you?"

"I teleported a bit further out of my range and found myself on a hospital bed about three months later."

"That doesn't... explain much..." I wanted more information. I already knew all of this. "How I... got it?"

"You need rest."

"I want answers."

"And you will receive them after you rest."

"I'm holding... to that... promise." I held out my pinkie high. Waiting for him to cross my pinkie with his and say 'pinkie swear' but I realized how Midgardian that was. "Do the same... with your... pinkie." He obeyed and I crossed them. "Now say 'pinkie swear.'

The look on his face was funny but he knew that I would be bugging him until he did as I asked. "Pinkie swear." He said.

"Good... Not turning... back now."

"Just rest."

The cave was freezing cold, but I found that a cloak was nicely covering me. Yet it didn't keep the pain nor the frozen hard rock away. For some reason I even thought that the cloak amplified my need for help. I certainly didn't want to look like a little sick girl who needs to be everyone's first priority, but the world, no world, ever works like that.

The first face I saw was Loki's. He was sitting at the back of our small cave. His hands were curled on his lap, they were blue with what looked like scars.

"What... is that?" I asked, out of pure curiosity of course.

"It's just a dream Sunny." Loki answered quickly. "Just go back to flying and then you will find the real world to be fine."

"Not dreaming... Too painful."

"Lucky try."

"What is... it?"

"That's a good question that believe I cannot answer right now."

Dad began to stir from his sleep. "Hello Sunshine. Did you sleep well?"

"Good... enough... for answers." I answered as I straightened myself out a bit, trying to get more comfortable.

"You definitely didn't forget."

"'Course not." I tried to smile at the end of that but it only turned into a cough.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes."

"Fine. Where should I start?"

"Day you... found powers."

"It's too simple, give me a more challenging question."

"Dad." I spoke with a quick annoyed tone.

"Yes fine. Well I remember the night pretty well. I went to bee around my usual time. Must have been a bit younger than you. Late at night I dreamt of pretty girl wandering the forest. The more I watched her, the closer I appeared to get to her and at some point I could feel the cold of the outside world and I woke up. The girl was standing above me, almost not knowing what to do."

"Ok, but... what about... exhaustion?"

"You refer to when I overused my powers?"

"Yes."

"I was still young and foolish. I used the power whenever I could, wanting for it to never go away. I loves the idea of not having to walk all the way to the forest to meet my friend or explore the city for a change. I even used my power to locate books in the library. But as the time passed on, I was becoming weaker and weaker. I kept telling myself that I just wasn't sleeping well because I didn't know how to fully control my sight, but that such a lie that anyone as young as I would have told oneself.

"So one day I was looking further out into other realms. I was interested in how they lived and survived. I wondered to myself if I could teleport all the way over there. Maybe I could be one of them for a while. I forget what realm it was, definitely not Midgard. I can guarantee that. But I decided that I was too tired that night.

"That same night though, in the depths of my nightmare I saw my friend, your mother too, being attacked by thugs. My first reflex was to access the situation. Not much of that was done though. I concentrated with all my might until I found myself standing in the realm. The strength that I had conserved drained from my muscles and my mind was about to shut off. With certain luck, I was somehow able to manage to scare the thugs away. But after that its all hazy. I definitely did fall into a state of unconsciousness. I was lost in my mind for three months. It took forever to regain my strength."

"So you... teleport far."

"Yes, just as you have. I don't know what is keeping you strong."

"Me neither." I paused for a moment. Regained my breath, and even thinking over the whole situation. "Can it... kill me?"

"I don't think so Sunshine."