Tabula Rasa (Unlike Loki: Book Two)

Chapter 84

(Loki)

"Anna!" I yelled, pulling her closer to me and scooting her away from Thanos and the pointed end of the sword that jutted out from By's chest. She was alive. Alive. By had brought her back to life. 

He had practically given his life for hers. 

The orange light was leaving him and flowing straight towards Thanos, but before it reached him it transformed from light into a small stone, smaller than my fist. 

The moster gleamed with victory. 

He had the stone. 

Thanos let By fall to the ground, his blood spilling on the dark ground in a deep red that contrasted his new blue skin. I looked at him sadly. His eyes were still open, but not a breath passed through his lips. He was dead. 

Thanos laughed triumphantly as he took the stone and put it into a clear orb he held in his hand. 

Then, Anna suddenly began screaming in pain in my arms, clutching at her chest. "Anna?" I asked, worried. "Anna, what's wrong?" 

"It hurts!" She cried, throwing her head back, tears in her eyes. Her skin was slightly pulsing orange. 

"Get out of the way!" I heard a voice behind me. 

Amora went to the other side of Anna and pushed me off of her. 

"What did you do? What was that spell supposed to do!?" I yelled at her, holding Anna's hand tight in mine. She squeezed back, trying to stay strong. 

"It was supposed to bring her back to life by putting the stone back in her, and then take the stone out!" 

"Then why didn't it work?!" 

"Because he didnt' finish the spell!" 

"Then what's happening?!" I was panicking now, my vision blurry. 

It was then that I noticed that I was crying. 

"He didn't finish the spell, so not all of the stone got out. When it left the first time, when she was stabbed, she was immediately turned mortal. Mortals can't handle the power of the stones." Amora was hovering her hands all over Anna's body, as if she was scanning her. Anna continued to struggle with whatever was going on inside her. 

She opened and closed her eyes, screaming when the pain heightened. She looked as if she was buring from the inside out, her veins glowing orange, her eyes flickering. I squeezed her hand tighter. 

"THEN GET IT OUT OF HER!" I was shaking now, unable to contain my fear. Her sudden death before had stunned me. But this, this slow death was so much worse. Her suffering was ripping me apart, because I didn't know how to fix it, I didn't know how to take away her pain. 

"I can't!" Amora said. Her hands were shaking slightly, and she looked embarrassed, guilty. 

"Why not?" I reached out and grabbed her throat. Her hands immediately went to my hands, trying to pry them off of her. "You're a witch!"

She gasped, fighting for air. I loosened my grip just enough so that she could talk. "When By freed me, I went to someone; someone who could make me mortal." I released her and she looked at me, ashamed. "If I take the stone from her, it will only kill me. And then it would probably head back for her." She hung her head, defeated. 

I wanted to claw her eyes out. "Then find some other way to save her." I growled. I tried to pretend that Anna's grunts of pain and twitches weren't as bad as they seemed, when in actually I knew they were much, much worse. 

Amora looked at me and stammered. 

This day just kept getting better. 

"You win some and you lose some." I heard Odin's voice in my head, something he had told Thor and I when we were young. 

"I HAVE LOST EVERYTHING!" I yelled back at him. I didn't realize I had said it out loud until Amora jumped back in fright. 

Anna continued to writh in my arms. She opened her eyes, wet with tears, and looked up at me. "Loki." She whispered through her teeth, and then arched her back as another wave of pain over came her. "Where is-"

"He's fine." I spat out, touching her face. 

I don't know why I said it. I knew that she was talking about Leolin. But I don't know why I told her he was fine. Because he most certainly was not. He was dead, laying cold and alone on the stones. At best, he had transported his consciousness to a robot on Midgard, doomed to further his phsychotic mind into a deep void. 

But for her sake, he was fine. 

But she knew me too well for that. She immediately saw the look in my eyes and faked a smile, but it didn't reach her eyes. No, a look of pain and loss filled her. 

"You're mother and him will get along splendidly." She choked out, tears running down her dirty face. 

I smiled back at her softly, choking back my own sobs. "Most indeed, Darling." 

Suddenly, Amora was surrouned by a pale pink light, enveloping her in a ball. "No." She said. "No." She looked up and her gaze locked on something behind me. 

I turned just enough to see Talia standing next to a woman in a purple cloak. Talia hands were extended towards us and  were glowing with the same pink color that surrounded Amora. 

"Talia! What are you doing? Stop!" I yelled. What in the world was she doing?!

"Trust me!" She yelled back. "Please." She pleaded, her silver-lined eyes meeting mine. 

"Please. Sister! Please don't do this! Don't trap me again." Amora yelled, her voice muffled. 

I turned back towards Talia, and the woman who must be Amora's sister. "Why are you trapping her?!"

Talia and Amora's sister walked towards us.  "Because." Amora's sister said. "She broke an oath to me. She said that if she was ever freed, she would come straight to me, as she owed me a huge debt. But, seeing as she bailed out of that oath, now I must take her by force. I need as many witches as I can get, you see, for this upcoming war. And I'll need my little sister by my side." She smirked at me, as if she was better than me. "Oh, don't look at me like that." She said, standing over me now. She turned to Talia. "Say it." She commanded. 

Talia uttered a word in a language that I did not know, and Amora was suddenly released from her cage and put into magic shackles. "Loreli, please!" Amora begged. Talia's hands dropped to her sides and she immediately bent down next to Anna. I stared at her, not wanting her anywhere near Anna. 

Amora's sister, Loreli came around and grabbed Amora by the arm and dragged her towards Thanos's throne. On her way there, she looked back at Talia, "You have five minutes. Use them wisely." She said. 

I looked back at Talia. She was trembling, trying to keep her breaths even. She couldn't take her eyes off of Anna. That is, until she felt my intense gaze on her. 

She looked up at me, fear in her eyes. "Can you trust me?"

"To do what?" 

"Can you trust me?!" She asked, desperately. 

"Can I?" I whispered. 

She nodded her head slightly. "This time, yes." She breathed the last word. 

She returned her attention back at Anna, who was weak now, not struggling as much. Her energy was drained, the pain too much. 

Talia put her hands on the side of Anna's head, and bent down to touch her forehead to hers. 

"I'm going to help you, Mother."