The Misunderstood Prince

Chapter 29

Third Person POV

An hour of dueling and sparing left Ella and Loki exhausted.  

Ella didn't know when or how, but somehow Loki removed his shirt during their fight.  She tried not to become distracted by his pale skin gliding over his perfect abs and tones muscles . 

"What's on your mind darling?"  Loki asked, twirling his sword again.

"I don't know, maybe you should put a shirt on and I could figure it out." Ella thought.  

She looked up to see Loki looking at her with a bewildered look on his face, surprise glittering in his emerald eyes. Realizing she had just voiced her thought aloud, Ella muttered curses under her breath. 

A sharp pain suddenly spread through Ella's shoulder, its tendrils spreading through her upper torso. She cried out, though she had experienced worse, and kneeled on the ground, grasping at her injured ligament.

"Ella, love,"  Loki yelled, diving toward her. "What's wrong?"

The pain spread, flourishing and biting its way through her. She screamed, a blood curdling  howl, gritting her teeth in pain. 

"Help, someone help , please!"  Loki yelled as Ella sunk into his arms, her small form writing in pain. 

The doors thudded open, sending vibrations through the room.  Banner and Widow stood at the entrance, both of them looking slightly disheveled. Widow's hair was less than optimal, strands flying everywhere.  Her makeups was smudged slightly, showing a slight flush in her cheeks, and her shirt tugged down so that her bra strap was showing. 

Banner's shirt's top three buttons were undone, revealing his bare chest. 

"Ella!"  Widow slid next to Loki, grasping the girl'a arm.  She winced, pulling back.  "She's burning up."  

"What did you do?"  Banner yelled at Loki, stooping down to examine Ella who was still writing in pain. A warm, orange liquid seemed to flow through her, igniting her veins from within.  It flowed through her, like the magma coursing through a volcano, hot and thick. 

"We were sparing." Loki answered simply. He reached for his shirt when Banner gave him a sharp glance. 

"Hold her down."  Banner commanded, fishing into his pocket and extracting a long needle.  Ella thrashed violently, Widow and Loki gritting their teeth in pain, while Banner stuck the needle into her fiery skin. 

Within seconds, Ella started to breathe normally, her chest rising and falling like a normal human.  Her face relaxed, turning into a marble like piece. Banner sighed as Ella's howls died down to poor, desperate wimps of pain. 

"She didn't taker her meds."  Banner said.

"What meds?"  Loki asked, a cold feeling suddenly gripping his body to the core.

"Ella came to me privately, a few months ago, and told me that she had been getting these surges of power. Painful ones that engulfed her being, flushing out her mind and taking over.  She said she would be in the background, almost like an observer. 

"I ran some tests and found that Ella's heart was the most modified organ in her body.  The people who did this to her knew what they were doing.  Her heart is the place where the Phoenix lives, where it resides.  It lives within her, trying to burst out. 

"The pain she was having was a result of the Phoenix, her power, trying to break out. The process of transforming into this thing is a painful, excruciating one.  In the past, when she was in the lab, she couldn't transform because her powers weren't strong enough. 

"But she's fully capable of turning.  Now, it's the pain that holds her back.  And fear.  When she becomes this, she is no longer Ella.  She fears what she will do, what she will become if she lets go of her control. 

"So, I gave her medication that would keep the Phoenix at bay.  As long as Ella took it everyday, she would be fine. But miss one day, and it's ready to burst out." 

Widow looked at him in horror.  "Why didn't you tell any of us?  Or at least Stark?"  

"Ella made me promise. She didn't want anyone knowing what was wrong.  She thought you would start to fear her again."

Silence engulfed the room momentarily, long enough for Loki to make up his mind about something. 

Carefully scooping Ella into his arms, acting like he was carrying a delicate china doll, he turned toward the open door. 

"Excuse me, where are you two going?"  Widow asked, eyeing him suspiciously. 

"Somewhere safe." 

In a flash, the pair was gone, disappearing into thin air, leaving behind a wisp of fire, trailing behind them.