Hello :) 

So...remember that last chapter? That's going to be the "happiest" one for a while. 

Just sayin.

I would say to enjoy this chapter, but...

Music: Prim (Catching Fire); Battle Cry (Imagine Dragons)

Edit: me

Chapter Forty-Six

~Thea's POV~

Loki is acting weird.

He's more compliant, less snappy, and much more quiet than he usually is. Although I pressure him over and over about the riddle he told me three nights ago, he refuses to give me the answer, and I can't figure it out.

He has also taken my sketchbook from me, proceeds to write in it more and more often. When I thought he was hunting, I had snuck over to the book and opened it. Past my drawings, there are several blank pages with very faded letters, as if they had been erased. When I flip one of the leaves, I see actually legible ink- Loki must have written in it this morning.

All is well here, brother. She cannot remember anything, and although Archer's power is diminishing inside me, I attempt to fixate her mind on one thing, away from the truth. I've realized that Archer has taken more from her than perhaps either of us had thought, but it may be for the best. But we must face the fact that her memory will return, and that I must tell her soon. She will want to help and to avenge- I do not know if I will have the strength or the desire to stop her. If she realizes who she lo-

"Thea!"

He has torn the book from me, "What did you see?"

I'm not paying much attention to him.

"What's wrong with my memory?!" I exclaim, "What are you hiding from me? Who's Archer, what have I forgotten, what's wrong with me?"

Loki's face is taut, but there is some relief in his eyes. He bends down so that our faces our level and then says, "I'm sorry, kitten, but the time is not now."

Then, his foreign murmurings once again make their way into my head and I fall into a blissfully nonchalant state once more, only keen on wondering why Loki is behaving so weirdly.

*

~Nobody's POV~

Loki is at a loss for what to do.

He can see his psychic hold on Thea begin to diminish, and alongside that, the reality of her life coming back. No longer does she sleep soundly: instead, she wakes up crying in the middle of the night like she used to.

Her cleverness is also coming back- he caught her twice more attempting to get out of the shack when he had ordered her not to, which she had not done before. That afternoon, she also finds her cell phone, invisibility cloak, and mysterious bottle amongst his possessions, and Loki has to modify her thoughts again to get over that incident.

When she finds Princely and Max's (bloodied) handgun underneath his bed, Loki's hold loosens some more. Although he manages to get her to forget about anything Max related, her mind will not let go of Princely.

"He reminds me of my family," she says, leaning against her pillows that night, as the fire once again dances around the walls, "Of Bryce and Leah."

"Bryce?" asks Loki, his eyes shooting over to her.

"My brother," she says in a softly obvious voice, "Remember, he died in the attack you started." She says the last bit without an air of surprise.

But Loki's jaw tightens and he gives her back Princely without another word.

When, in the middle of the night, Thea wakes up screaming, Loki realizes that her memories are returning faster and faster, and apparently, in sequential order. As she pants, still crying, he pulls her close to him and doesn't say a word, but dread is tearing at his heart.

She might be a puppet, but her strings are slowly being cut.

*

Loki, you must do what you feel is best. Our situation, brother, is more hopeless than even yours. Should you desire escapism from your little realm, I will attempt to send Archer whenever the time is needed.

*

Loki, still battling with his will and his heart, throws his efforts into solidifying Thea's skill with the sword. He even lets her win once or twice, and shakes off her taunts without a care. When, with a confused frown, she notices his odd behavior, he immediately snaps at her, "I let you win, Thea, don't be desperate."

Although he doesn't want to be angry at her- not right now- he is relieved when Thea makes a face at him and doesn't question his actions.

*

I have to tell her.

*

The next day, Loki leans against the outside of the shack and watches as Thea runs around the edge of the small pond, splashing and laughing. The night is beginning to fall, and she begins to chase fireflies around the glen- Loki cannot help but feel a smile play at his mouth as he watches the thirteen year old child attempt to catch the glowing bugs in her hands.

But he knows it has to end. It is why he had put all his last efforts into controlling her mind for this brief, carefree hour.

"Thea!" He calls, "Come inside now!"

She's panting as she skips up to him then grabs his hand and swings it gaily, "Come ... catch ... fireflies... with me!"

"No Thea," says Loki, sliding his hand from her diminutive one, "You need to come inside now. And stop jumping like a flea."

"I'm not jumping like a flea," says Thea brightly, "I'm jumping like a kangaroo!" She proceeds to hop joyfully about the cabin floor.

"Thea, stop!"

His sharp tone causes her to stop hopping, but still pants and grins as she pushes some of her windblown hair from her face, "Why?"

He grimaces, then says, "Sit down, Thea."

Obediently, she sits down on the bed, still bouncing slightly so that the springs squeak softly.

Loki sits down next to her and turns to face her, "Thea, do you remember the riddle I gave you several days ago?"

She cocks her head, "What riddle?"

Shaking his head, he repeats slowly,

"It's a letter but a word,

She will never know for sure,

That dark will seep

And forever keep

Though light shines through

It's through cracks of few

The answer'll appear

Once you've thought of the

Thing you holds most dear"

"Oh," says Thea, shrugging, "Now I remember." She yawns, "What about it? You wouldn't tell me the answer, remember Loki?"

"Of course I remember!" He tries to ignore her surprised look and adds, slightly less vindictively, "The answer is 'you'."

"Me?" Thea looks confused.

"The precise answer is 'you', but yes, you were to whom I was referring."

"Okay," Thea says, swinging her legs nonchalantly off the bed, "What about me?"

"Thea, you have been confused lately, haven't you?"

"Sometimes," she says, "Sometimes I can't remember things. But then everything's okay, because I remember."

"No Thea," Loki shakes his head, "Everything is not okay because you do not remember. And everything is worse when you do remember."

"Remember what?" she asks, bored, focusing not on him but on the soft furs next to her on the bed. She yawns and says, "I'm tired."

He closes his eyes, then takes her hand in his, "Darling, look at me."

Her green eyes rise up to meet his.

Loki sighs, leaning against the wall and then looking back down at her.

"Leah is dead."

She looks at him blankly, "What?"

He doesn't say anything, but just looks down at her as he allows all-not all, but most- of the memories of her younger sister to come rushing back to her in a flood. It has been the first time Loki had mentioned Leah.

And then, he realizes it has sunk in. She begins to pant, clutching the blanket and his hand tightly, and a small wail escapes from her mouth, "...Wh...wha, what, NO, you're lying, Loki you're lying!"

"Darling, I wish with all my heart that I were."

"NO!" Thea cries, tears beginning to run down her face, "NO NO NO NO, NO!"

"Thea..."

"You're lying!" she sobs, "You have to be, she can't be dead, no, no, NO, not Leah, not her!"

"Thea..."

"How? How!!?? She can't be dead, please, Loki, take it back!"

But he just looks at her with drawn and mournful eyes.

"Who killed her!?" Thea exclaims, "Who did it, Loki, who did it?!"

Thea's memories apparently have not broken enough so that she remembers Videl or any other notable suspects.

He looks at her sadly, "I di-" He stops, then closes his eyes, stopping the lie coming from his mouth.

"Who killed her!? I'll kill them, I'll kill them, I'll kill them!"

Thea is sitting there, muscles tensed, panting, enraged, in grief, in denial, in anything except for imagining that her sister is dead. If Loki hadn't grabbed her arm, she would have leapt up.

"No, no, Thea, you mustn't think that way! Swear to me-"

"WHO KILLED HER?"

Loki shuts his mouth and takes a deep breath. Then wipes a tear from her face. Then closes his eyes.

But finally, he looks at her, knowing he has to get it out.

"You did." 

---------------

*cries internally* 

I'm waiting for the explosion.

The author would appreciate it if there were no death threats, please and thank you. 

So...the closest guess/hypothesis goes to bookwriter12356789 

Oh and I have a twitter I think it's @sierra_rites. Don't use it often, but still.

Ok. 

have a nice day 

:D 

(PS: It might be a while until you get another chapter.. so sorry to have to leave you like this)