Young God | L. Laufeyson

21. Tortured Mind

"If you fail, if the Tesseract is kept from us, there will be no realm, no barren moon, no crevice where he can't find you. You think you know pain? He will make you long for something as sweet as pain."

Ever since this, Loki hasn't been very overly fond of sleeping. He's scared, still terrified by his true punishment which is not this imprisonment. The Other warned him about his dark future, about Thanos and Loki remembers his last visit all too well. The torture was unbearable, something he would never want to endure again and if he's asleep, he's weak and Thanos or the Other could creep into his mind once more and take his soul to the Mad Titan's planet where the torture would continue.

He would drown in his own blood again, the nights would be filled with screams as Loki himself would drive into full madness without a chance of salvation or light. Thanos and the Other broke him until he obeyed, until he would go piece by piece. Even the attempt of suicide did not work out, Thanos did not grant this kind of mercy. That is why, he doesn't dare to let his mind fully rest.

But after his tiring outburst and Aurora's welcoming arms, he just drifted off and this has turned out as a mistake. Loki Laufeyson is in pain. The Other has mentally caught him when he didn't pay enough attention and now he's seeing how the people he cares about die in his dream. Their blood is on his hands. Frigga, Aurora, and also Thor. Loki's eyes are piercing blue; aching, his mind and his body act out of his control. He's stabbing each of them to death until just a pool of blood is left.

Nothing more than a puppet, that is what he is, only to serve for the Kree's entertainment. A devastated scream erupts from his lips when he spots Aurora's dying body and is in complete control of his actions again, his long legs carrying him to the injured redhead.

"No, Aurora, no, no... I'm so sorry, what have I done?" His voice is breaking as Loki holds the dying girl in his arms. Although she's bleeding out, Aurora manages to send him a last gentle, yet heartbreaking smile. "Please, stay with me, don't die on me. I'm begging you, please, don't."

"This is all your doing, Frost Giant." The Other behind him hisses in contempt. "Because you have failed. Not only your family, but also us and he will come after you in the moment where you cherish life the most. This is just a little foretaste of your future, Laufeyson. Greetings from him."

The blood in Loki's veins freezes in fear as Aurora's dead body is still pressed against his chest. "Thanos..."
⠀
⠀

"LOKI!" Aurora has no choice but to slap the God of Mischief awake with a precise strike against his cheek. Loki is startled by the hit and pangs his eyes wide open, his whole body is drenched in sweat and coated by a strong trembling. Gasping for air, he glances at Aurora in shock.

"What was that for?" Loki realizes that his head is lying on her lap and he sits slowly up, looking around. The same, bright cell as always, not the dark place of the Other. He's back, yet it feels like Aurora's blood still nets his hands.

"I'm sorry." She mumbles weakly and a forced smile lies on her pale lips. "It took me a long while to wake you up, I was almost scared you wouldn't open your eyes anymore and- "

Suddenly, Aurora is engulfed in his arms, her petite figure almost completely hidden underneath them and she's taken aback by the sudden hug. She was not expecting that, especially not from Loki and she can still hear his fast heartbeat. He seems scared which is very uncharacteristic from him. And this makes her worry even more.

"It was just a nightmare..." Her voice trails off, feeling slightly overwhelmed by his embrace which only tightens. Of course, she could figure out that he's hugging her because of the bad dream, she can always read him.