(1)The Avengers: The Lost Goddess

27

This time, we all went up. Loki was crazy and we needed the extra backup. There was no way my necklace was coming off now considering Tony had welded it together.

Everyone continued up but I stopped in our training room so I could strap a sword to my back. I was good with knives, but I was better with a sword. I caught up to the group quickly and we continued up. Loki was basking in his temporary success when we finally made it to the roof. He was too proud of himself to leave like he should've.

"Ah, back for more I see?" he winked at me, sending a shiver through my body.

The air smelled like a thunderstorm had just went through. The wind was chillier up there and I was suddenly aware of being terrified of being on the roof.

"Should we switch it up and I'll throw you off the building this time?"

Loki was gloating now. There was no sign of anyone besides Jacob and Loki so I was starting to wonder if Thor had been wrong. Loki must have seen my expression because he laughed.

"Looking for our company?" he shimmered and disappeared.

I spun around to see him behind me, holding my mother off the ground by her neck.

"Let her go, Loki!" I yelled, suddenly feeling more confident.

"'Let her go, Loki!'" he mocked me.

I pulled the sword off my back and stood ready to attack.

"How cute. Jacob."

The sword seemed to be tugging on my hands but I refused to let it go. I stared Jacob down, waiting for him to give up. When he finally did, Loki was livid.

"You can't even take her sword from her? I thought you were a villain, Jacob. You're almost as worthless as Freya."

My mother made a noise of terror. Loki shook her, forcing her to be quiet.

"You better do something, kid. Before I throw you off this building."

Jake panicked. He ran at me which was probably the stupidest thing he could've done. I slashed the sword upwards and sliced it across his cheekbone. He grabbed his face, blood spattering the ground, my sword, and the side of my head as he stumbled backwards. I totally could've done a lot more damage but I refused to believe Jacob was as evil as Loki and everyone else thought.

You gave the enemy a second chance.

I looked at Freya. Her eyes flitted towards Clint, mine followed. For a moment I wasn't really sure of the meaning of her look. But the longer I stared, the clearer it became.

Clint shifted from foot to foot, arrow nocked and now waiting in his hand. I looked back at Freya to see her eyes flit towards Loki. If she was suggesting what I thought she was, then she was crazy.

Loki had just finished yelling at Jake for being a failure. Curse my big heart for feeling bad for Jacob. But at least Loki hadn't noticed my brief interaction with Freya.

I weighed my options for a split second, then I was sprinting across the roof towards Clint. Loki screamed at Jacob to freeze everyone and I pushed my legs to go faster. I reached Clint just before Jacob started freezing people. Clint must've known what I was doing because he was immediately pushing the weapon into my hands.

His body froze half a second after I took the weapon. I whipped around, arrow nocked, pointing right at Loki's head. The roof, which had just been full of chaos, was now absolutely still. The only movement was the wind blowing my hair across my face, forcing me to smell my coconut shampoo. The smell soothed me, reminding me of home, and more importantly, my father. I knew then that he was there with me.