The Valiant (The Seventh Avenger)

Chapter 80

Whatever spell Loki had cast unto me had disappeared yet I can't move. I thought he died, he is dead yet here we are. His eyes linger on me for a while and a smirk flicks on his lips. My knees wobble and my breath hitches as I collapse to the floor. My legs cross over each other and I remind myself of my surroundings. 

"What on Earth are you doing?" Loki questions. My eyes flick up towards his and I force the air into my lungs. 

"This is all too much," I rub my temples and pray to my brothers and sisters that this will be simple or that it is all a dream. "How are you still alive?" 

Loki just raises his eyebrows at me and chuckles. How is this even possible? Could there be any way we get everyone else back? 

"If you would stop talking then I could speak," he scoffs. I send Loki a look and he just gestures to his mind. I almost forgot we can connect our minds, but how are we still doing that? My abilities got ruined when Thanos destroyed the stones. 

He just rolls his eyes. I need to figure out how to keep them more to myself. 

"One question at a time," Loki says calmly. I've never seen him act like this, this calm and not calling me something. "It was quite simple actually, I created another me. I hid in the back of the ship and when it exploded I went into the void of space."

I try to connect the dots in my head and remember I never checked to see if he was alive. He's been alive this whole time and no one knew. But I do remember my mind still reaching out to the people, and it only finding Thanos, his children, and Thor.

"How did I not find you?" 

"That was the tricky part, I blocked you out of my mind." He says, "Of course that did take a lot of energy. Going against an infinity stone and someone like yourself. Now that we are on the subject, why was it difficult for me to reach you?" 

"You haven't heard?" He simply shakes his head. "The stones have been reduced to nearly nothing, which means my abilities have been too."

"Grace," he licks his lips and looks up at me, "remember when I was teaching you how to properly use your abilities. We barely began to touch the surface and you were able to reverse time to a column, it may seem like nothing then but it shows how much capability you have. Just imagine it, how much you had when the stones were at full scale. Now think about how much you didn't discover or unleash. Imagine how much of it you have left." 

"Loki, it takes more out of me than it did before and I can barely even hold the flames!" My voice raises at the end of the sentence and a flicker of fear appears in his eyes. "You expect me to somehow come out of this stronger? To somehow bring everyone back? I'm not the girl in the fairytale you are living in that slays the dragon. I'm the girl who had her moment yet failed everyone and caused the destruction to happen." 

Loki's gaze flows down to my arms and I follow it. Flames surround them but they are not the ones I have possessed; red, blue, and orange weave around my fingers. They don't waver, they continue to build their way up my arms as I commanded. I smile at the new feeling of the three stones and the familiar feeling of the flames. 

"As I was saying, you still have so much to unlock with your abilities," I create a ball in my hand and allow it to roll around in my palm. I summon the other three abilities and watch as they all gather into the ball. "You have so long to go and have come so far. You will be the key to winning and bringing everyone back, Grace." 

"This isn't one of your tricks, is it?" I ask and he just raises his eyebrows. I have never seen him this serious. Never seen him without that sparkle in his eye that shows he is up to something. 

"Grace, when I was in space, it became clear to me that there is only one way for the Avengers to win this war and the most important part of it is you." He leans towards me and the bed squeaks. "You will need to find the infinity stones." 

"How can I do that? They are gone." 

"When the time comes you will understand. I'm afraid it is not the proper occasion for me to explain it or else it won't happen," Loki explains. "Time has shown me that this is all I can give you." 

My mind wanders back to Zaydon reciting those lines, each will have to lose one of which they love. We are both supposed to be alive and lose someone. He should be alive and we should be together and protect the galaxy. Evan should be the one alive, not me. He barely got a life. 

"Would you stop with the whole boo-hoo?" Loki snaps. I look up at him and he crosses his arms while leaning back. "You lived and soon you will have the chance to fix all of it."

"When will the time be?" I ask, the shock of seeing Loki like this still coursing through my veins. 

"It depends on the path you take: days, months, years. But the point is, you will have a chance and you should take it." Loki sighs. The room begins to shift back to mine and our eyes look around. "This may be the last time you hear from me for a long time. So this will be goodbye." 

Before I could say anything my room flashes back into normal. I twist around and my heart pounds against my rib cage. A knock sounds at the door and realization hits me that the sun began to rise in the horizon. 

"Yeah?" I call out as I begin to run around to throw everything into the bags and boxes. 

"Grace it's time to go," it was Pepper. I reply with an 'okay' and continue to pack things before opening the door. A smile I can't wipe off my face stays throughout the whole time. There is hope that everyone will be back, that we will be able to fix all of this. But I know that I must keep this to myself and let time take its course and when that comes I will be ready.