Hello, hello, hello. 

I apologize, because I know this is a shorter chapter, but I'm trying to cut up the last bit of the book in more managable chunks. 

I hope you like it!

Love, Sierra

Chapter Fifty-Eight

~Nobody's POV~

Loki does not speak to Thea or even recognize her entire existence for an entire hour. During that time, Thea doesn't say a word to anyone. Also during that time, the thirteen travelers manage to get through a little bit more of the tunnel. They are moving slowly now, Tony scanning for any sort of extraterrestrial movement as they grow closer to the Mantra.

They stop for about ten minutes at a large open area of the cave where they can all spread out. Steve, Tony, and Thor walk forward a little bit, speaking in hushed tones as they point to the way forward. 

Thea sits down against a wall. She uses her finger to trace patterns on the wet gravel, dirtying her nails. She is no longer crying, but her eyes are still red, not from fury, but from sadness. 

Nearly nobody walks up to her, mostly because they are afraid of either angering her or making her feel worse, which she appreciates. 

Of course, there's one person who is not afraid of angering Thea nor making her feel worse, and he comes in the form of an Asgardian god with a hooked scepter and a golden helmet.  

Loki's shadow, deflected in the dim glow of the flashlight, falls over Thea. Her finger immediately stops moving, digging into the gravel, but other than that she gives no indication of his presence. Precisely what he has been doing to her. 

"Look at me, Thea."

She does not move. 

"Theodora, look at me right now." 

"Don't call me that." she mutters. 

"Thea, look at me." 

Stubbornly, she refuses. Loki curls his lip slightly, then crouches down in front of her, trying to get a response. But when he reaches out to lift up her face, she slaps his hand. "Don't touch me." she growls. 

He raises his eyebrows, although, of course, she can't see him. "Thea..." 

"Get the hell away from me." she snaps, standing up and turning away from him. 

Two seconds later, Loki has grabbed her elbow, pulled her around the corner and pushed her against the wall. 

"Let me go!" she howls, fighting madly against him. What she doesn't know, though, is that Loki is still stronger than her, even when she has undergone her transformation. While she expects him to be pushed away from her, Thea finds that Loki merely holds on to her tighter, unrelentlessly. "Loki I-"

"Thea, please look at me." Loki says, his tone surprisingly gentle. "C'mon, kitten." 

After what seems like forever, Thea raises her face. Her eyes are shining, tears threatening to spill out. But her tone is harsh, masking her pain. "What. Do. You. Want."

He does not reply, but moves his free hand towards her cheek, where his slap had cuffed her. "Don't ever do that again." he says quietly. 

"Do what?" she growls. 

"Don't fight me." 

"You were the one who hit me." Thea cries, not even attempting to hide her feelings now. "You...you hit me..."

Loki doesn't say anything. 

"And it wasn't even my fault!" Thea's wavering voice is heartbreaking, and something stirs very, very slightly even for the god of mischief. "It wasn't my fault!" 

As she dissolves into a fresh bout of tears, and Loki's hardened heart finally gives an inch. He reaches out and pulls her close to him, wrapping his arms around her as she sobs. Loki does not apologize, but just stands there, holding her, until Thea's cries soften and she finally falls silent. 

*

The Imeldi attack ten minutes later, just as the party is about to set out again. The first to notice something is amiss is Peter, who is currently hanging upside down on the ceiling, amusing Thea and Jack. 

Suddenly, he stops, and flips around to land again on solid ground. "Guys..." he says, his eyes darting around. "We might have a prob- GET BACK!" he roars, shoving Thea, and then Jack behind him. Just in time, because a fresh bout of arrows come spilling in from the entrance of the cavern. It is only with Peter's quick reflexes that he manages to escape from the arrows' marks. 

There are seven Imeldi of what appears to be the scouting party. In a scattered frenzy of arrows, fists, daggers, and (for Steve) shields, the Imeldi are forced back against a wall, powerless. Thea opens her mouth, but before she can say anything, Max, Kyle, and Natasha have shot all seven of them dead, collapsing to the ground. She winces at the sound of each gunshot. 

"Let's get moving," says Natasha shortly, kicking aside the bodies and the bullet shells. "These aren't the first." 

Thea is like a statue, the gunshots still fresh in her ear. Steve pushes her forward, gently, as the thirteen of them begin to hurry through the tunnels of the cave. 

"Why did we have to kill them?" Thea asks to nobody in particular.

"What other option would you have given us?" asks Loki. 

"But-"

"Yeah, Thea," says Kyle. He and Loki have reached a point where they acknowledge each other's existence and are blankly polite to one another. "What do you want to happen? Them run off and tell their queen?"

"I'm pretty sure Kafrandi and Lahyri aren't gir-"

"Thea, it's an analogy." Kyle sighs, pretending to be frustrated. "You know, like honey bees and their queen?"

"Fascinating analogy." says Thea dryly. "It was so good, I couldn't even figure it out."

"Who could have figured that out?" demands Jack, and upon seeing Kyle's annoyed look, he and Thea high five. 

"It must be his elevated IQ." says Thea with a straight face. 

"Or perhaps it was your lowered sense of overall intelligence." says Loki coolly. 

Thea makes a face at him, but Kyle claps his hand on Loki's shoulder. "Thank you! Finally, someone who understands!" His tone is clearly one of slight mocking.

"What, are you two ganging up on us now?" asks Thea, her lips twitching mischievously, because she knows it isn't true.

Kyle and Loki look offended, carefully not looking at each other. 

*

~Thea's POV~

As we hurry through the cave, I find myself blanking out at odd moments at a time. Like I can't exactly remember where I am, or I feel like I should be doing something else. My eyes feel strangely watery too, as if I have contact lenses in that don't quite fit. 

We approach a small little pond, which isn't very deep, and Tony informs us that it's completely harmless. Jack of course, upon hearing this, runs forward, splashing me in the shallow pool- it is only about a foot or two deep. He also proceeds to get fake-yelled at by Clint, who unfortunately gets in the way of Jack's playful escapade.

Smiling, I run forward, wanting to join him. 

"Stop it Thea, that's enough." Loki's voice seems to have a sort of echo. 

"I don't have to listen to you," I say airily. 

But then, just as I reach the edge of the pool, I find myself thinking, "This is completely stupid! Why on earth would I want to jump in a small cave pond for fun?!" The little voice in my head is distant, but it makes sense. I just...I have to listen to it. 

"Thea!" calls Jack, his voice distant and a bit confused.

I ignore him, turning around and walking away from the pool. Oddly enough, I find myself standing next to Loki. Huh. Not the person I would've picked. Oh well...

*

~Nobody's POV~

As Thea walks away from the pond to join Loki near the front of the line, her limbs relax slightly, as does her entire person. 

Nobody notices Loki's small smirk that plays at the ends of his mouth as she walks beside him.

Nobody notices Thea's unusual behavior, how she passes up the chance of fun at the pond.

Nobody notices Thea's eyes that have transformed into a very soft, pale green-blue.

Nobody notices that the orb of the scepter in Loki's hands is slowly turning from emerald to a bright turquoise blue. 

------

:O

So...

Hope you liked it. Please VOTE and COMMENT. Shanks. 

I'm thinking about making a little mini Q&A thing for Blue Moon, because I've gotten quite a few questions about it which is great. But I mean I want to share it all with you, because I love you. :) 

So if you have any questions about the book, about me, about the circumference of the globe, for goodness sakes, just as it lol. I'll probably be posting the Q&A thing either seperately or alongside the next chapter. 

Thank you for all the support. And the 20K of course, because that's fabulouuuuus. :) :) :) 

~sierra d. ~