Flowergirl |L. Laufeyson|

Chapter Four

As the sun started setting, Zoë finished her drawing. With a small smile on her lips, she looked at what she had created, smiling at the face of her beloved. All she had to do, was colour his form.

She was about to start colouring the painting when she heard a scream coming from somewhere in the building. Her eyes widened and she froze for some seconds, trying to understand if she had imagined the sound or not. She kept quiet, listening for every sound she could. Seconds later, she heard Pepper calling her name.

The woman shot up and made her way out of her room as quickly as she could, convinced that she had not actually imagined the scream. Pepper had actually screamed.

She ran to the kitchen so as to make sure the woman had not slipped again on the floor, and then made her way to the room they had previously played chess in. She examined the room, her blue gaze resting on the figure of the mortal who was looking at the television in horror, trembling in place.

"Pepper?" she asked, looking at the woman in worry. At the sound of her voice, the mortal whipped around, her eyes wide in alarm.

"Zoë, I opened the television to watch the news, and everything seemed fine at first, but then, the journalist broadcasting the news started dissapearing!" The Asgardian's eyebrows furrowed in confusion as she looked at the woman who was on the verge of tears. "He slowly started turning to dust! First his left hand, then his right, then his whole body until only his head remained! And then that too turned to dust!" Before she could process the information, Pepper continued speaking. "Oh, I am going mad, mad!"

Zoë watched as the other woman sat down on the couch so as to stabilise herself, her eyes wide and filled with disbelief. The Asgardian shook her head so as to make sure that she had heard her correctly. She stole a look at the mortal. She practically claimed that the journalist had turned to dust, but could that be true?

She glanced up at the television, only to see that the image had somehow gotten stuck, and the only thing she could see was the empty chair where the journalist should have been sitting. She moved closer to the television, her eyes widening as she caught sight of something like dust on the desk in front of the chair.

She looked briefly at Pepper behind her and then at the television, not willing to believe her eyes. This couldn't be happening. It was completely irrational, she could not understand it.

"I don't think you are going mad," she murmured, and Pepper gasped as she looked up.

"You believe me?"

"I don't know," Zoë said truthfully, not taking her eyes away from the screen for a second. "All this is just peculiar."

"I know, it is completely irrational, it is impossible-"

"Why is it impossible?" the Asgardian cut in, finally turning her eyes to the mortal. "The universe in which we live in has so many different creatures. Some of the heroes of this planet are not even completely humans. Why does a person turning to dust seem impossible to you?"

Pepper frowned as she looked down at her feet. "But why are we not turning to dust, then?"

"I do not know," Zoë admitted with a small sigh. "But you are not going mad, Pepper."

"I am not so sure about that," she laughed humourlessly before quieting down. She looked at her hands resting on her lap, a small frown on her lips. The Asgardian frowned as well before she took some steps forward, until she was standing just in front of the mortal.

Placing a hand on her shoulder, she offered a small smile to the woman as she looked up at her. "Why won't you go and rest for a bit? This is a lot to take in."