ephemeral ━━ 𝘓. 𝘓𝘈𝘜𝘍𝘌𝘠𝘚𝘖𝘕 ✔

□ captive

Loraine woke up on a dirty ground - her mind throbbing. She coughed and blinked her heavy eyelids slowly.

What happened to the battle? She thought.

The memories came back. She remembered fighting the aliens with Loki and the soldiers of Asgard. She remembered the Leviathan charging towards the battlefield. She remembered taking one chitauri down and after that - someone grabbed her away.

She groaned - the nausea pulling her back to sleep but she fought to sit up. She didn't have enough time for that. She needed to know where she was taken, who took her and why.

So she studied the place.

She was left in the open. Boulders and rocks surrounded the area. She realized she had slept on a stony ground. There was no one else but her. The place was empty. This wasn't Asgard. It looked nothing like it. From a place of gold and silver, here she was in a barren world of rocks and dust.

Loraine would've eased her head with her hands but as she moved, she realized her hands were bound in front of her. Large gold chains snaked her wrists. She looked down and saw her ankles tied together as well.

Knowing this, she tried to free herself. But unfortunately she could not feel any power or energy inside her. Panic, her head flared with pain again. She tried to scream but her voice was muffled behind a cloth that was tied too tight around her head.

What was happening? Why couldn't she feel her powers? Did someone take it away from her? Or did this place nullifed her magic? She couldn't think straight - not with her aching head.

Suddenly, someone moved.

She turned around and saw a hooded figure coming out from one of the boulders. It walked towards her - its cape sweeping tiny rocks. She continued to look at it in silence. It was awfully familiar.

"Loraine of Midgard," it spoke as it stood before her now. "You should've kept the trickster's powers for a long time. It was foolish of you to give it to him," it said. "Shame, you would have to pay the price for his failures."

Loraine scoffed underneath the cloth. She was prepared to face anything in place of Loki. Her dreams have told her much of it. If she could've talk, she should have answered it wasn't foolish of her. She knew they were losing the upper hand in battle because she no longer carried Loki's powers. If Loki had his powers back, which he had now, they would have trouble in battle.

The figure shifted and appeared right next to her. "Now, my master is seeking you," it said.

No wonder this creature was familiar - she got it now. This creature in front of her was known as The Other. It was the one who negotiated with Loki before the Battle in New York. She knew who The Other and the chitauris served. It was Thanos.

"Do not struggle. The bounds you are in had invalidated your power. Struggling is useless. It is in his mercy that you are still alive."

She could not believe the shackles have turned her powers off. What was it?

She knew there was something else for her here. She was a threat to them. Thus, being alive wasn't at Thanos's mercy nor her luck. If she was them she would've killed a threat. Thanos wanted something from her but that, unfortunately was something she didn't know.

The Other looked above as if it was waiting for something. "Prepare yourself mortal," it spat and then at an instant, it was gone.

I've been prepared for days, she thought. The dreams and warnings she had were enough to warn her of the future ahead - of this. However, she couldn't deny the fact that the situation she was in scared parts of her. Yes, she was ready and determined to take the fall for Loki. But what would come after that? What would become of Loki?