Thanos' Daughter

Chapter 18

     Loki had stepped away from Thor and I saw him clutching his lower back. Thor must have thrown him rather forcefully earlier.

     I winced in sympathy for the god, then I stopped.

     I had felt sympathy. I wasn't even aware I was capable of such a human emotion. I squirmed a bit in my vantage point. I wondered what Loki had done to my mind to make me feel human emotions like love and sympathy. Neither of those had been a part of my life before I'd met Loki.

     If I wasn't careful, my father would find out the strange connection and emotions Loki and I shared. If my father found out, it would mean death for both of us, eventually. Thanos was too cruel to simply kill us quickly. Our deaths would be dragged out for days, months even. I'd seen what my father did to his prisoners; I didn't know what he would do to his own followers, not to mention his own flesh and blood.

     No one deserted or betrayed my father, no one. In the entire course of my strange life, not once had I seen someone betray Thanos. Everyone was smart enough to know not to cross him. We all knew what he did to his prisoners, and no one wanted that type of treatment. Father would take the betrayal very seriously and I didn't want to think about the tortures he would inflict on any who dared to abandon him. I knew without a doubt that it would be worlds worse than anything he did to his prisoners.

     "I remember a shadow," Loki's voice calmed my nerves even from several yards away. Even though the words weren't directed at me, the mere sound of his voice comforted me.

     That was something else I hadn't needed before Loki. I was taught to shut up and deal with the consequences of my actions. I hadn't been coddled or comforted once. How was it possible that, as I matured, I felt the need for comfort? If being involved with Loki was going to turn me into a simpering emotional wreck, I wasn't sure I wanted to be. Damn Loki for turning my world inside out and making me question things about myself.

     "I was living in the shade of your power and greatness. I seem to recall you throwing me into an abyss. I, who was, and should be king now." Loki's voice took on a heated tone.

     Thor stomped towards Loki. "You would take the world I love and am sworn to protect as recompense for your so called slights? You do not get to take it. Earth is mine to protect."

     Loki chuckled, but neither Thor, nor I found anything amusing. "Well you're doing a fantastic job of that. The humans slaughter each other in hordes while you stand back and twiddle your thumbs, wishing you could do something to stop them. I mean to rule them, and why should I not?"

     I tensed. Like in S.H.I.E.L.D.'s headquarters, Loki was close to revealing our plans to Thor. I couldn't allow that to happen. I began devising scenarios that would allow me to stop Loki from unveiling our entire plan. No good plans came instantly to mind, but if that idiot kept talking, I was damn prepared to follow through on one of the bad ones that had sprung to mind.

     I really needed to teach him not to divulge information when he gets angry. It was a dangerous habit that might very well cost both him and me our lives if my father found out our cover had been wrecked.

     Fortunately, Thor didn't allow Loki's rant to continue. "You think yourself to be better than them?"

     Loki blinked. "Well yes."

     Thor smiled sadly. "You miss the truth of ruling, brother. A throne would destroy you."

     Loki looked outraged and I opened my wings, ready to swoop down and snatch him away. The anger and shock on his face told me that he was going to reveal Thanos' and maybe even my involvement in this plan.

     I couldn't let my father's identity become known. Thanos might decide to destroy Earth if he couldn't conquer it and I knew if that happened, every realm would dive head-first into a full scale war that my father wasn't prepared for yet.

     Loki snarled and shoved Thor out of the way. He stormed back up the cliff. 

Hello everyone,

I'm back for the summer and I will be trying to post more regularly in between work. I am amazed at how many new readers this story has had recently and I just wanted to take this time to say thank you all so much, and tell you how much it means to me to know that you are enjoying my story. I will work on posting soon, but in the meantime, keep on reading!

Ciao,

Jinx