hi!!! :D 

So here's the next chapter. Hope you like it! 

Love, Sierra

Chapter Seventeen 

~Thea's POV~

That night, I am restless. Dinner, held in the middle of the secret hallway, had been very fun, mostly because of Fandral and Tony's antics- the two of them act like frat brothers. Sif had been present at dinner, which had made my seating decision difficult: I could either sit beside her or Loki. 

I chose Sif. Which made Loki's eyes grow even stormier, and the vindictive beast inside me growl with satisfaction. 

Dinner had also been lovely because I got to spend time with Leah. We were the only two kids here, which gave me time to re-connect with her after five months. She seems happy to see me too, and constantly prattles on about her life in Asgard. 

After I eat, I go to my room, as Thor has taken Leah to her chambers. Immediately, I sink into onto bed, still in my dirt-stained, non-Asgardian clothes, exhausted. I finger the dagger in my hand. It sparkles in the light, causing me to blink. The point of the dagger seems to be sharpening as I look at it, wicked and ready for anything.

Suddenly, I grow furious at the weapon. Screaming with rage, I throw it into the wall, where it cleaves it as it stays put. Then, I collapse back onto the bed, crying. 

I know it's Loki who comes into my room, and I yell at him "Go away!" 

I can hear the thump of the dagger as he removes it from the wall and then his footsteps as he walks over to me. 

"I said to go away." 

"Why are you crying? Again." 

"Why do you think?" I snap, still not looking up at him. 

"Oh, Thea, you can't still be upset about nearly killing me, when, in fact, I had it all completely under control, can you?" 

I blindly aim a kick at him, which I assume he dodges, because I hit the air. 

"Evidently, you can." 

"Please go away." I say. "Please, if you have any shred of humanity." 

"I haven't realize that I posses a shred of humanity," he says coolly, "Now are you going to tell me why are you crying for the umpteenth time, why you are not talking to me civilly, and why on earth you've impaled the wall with your dagger?" 

"No." 

"Thea...?" his tone is warning. 

"I don't want to kill people," I sob. I know I sound pathetic, and I've begun to throw pillows in frustration.. "I just don't! I don't want the dagger anymore, I just want to go home!" 

"You're acting like a child," Loki says, disgusted. "Which, frankly doesn't surprise me in the least!" 

"I don't want to kill people?! How is that acting like a child? It's not acting like a self-obsessed serial killer with a superiority complex, like some people I could mention!" 

"Oh you," says Loki with a slight snarl, "Just because you're frustrated, you cannot go on about other people like this!"

"I can do whatever I desire," I snap, mimicking his exact words.

Loki's lip curls. "Thea, you're being absolutely ridiculous. As per usual, I might add."

"No, I'm NOT! I JUST DO. NOT. WANT. TO. KILL." 

I shriek as Loki grabs me by the shoulders, hauls me off the bed, and slams me into the wall so hard, I gasp. 

"Listen to me!" he hisses. When I glare at him stonily, he continues angrily, "Thea, I know you do not want to kill. You're afraid to take life." 

"How is that an issue?" I demand, struggling against him. 

"It is not an issue," he snaps, "Unless it takes your own life in the process."

"You know what that's called?!" My hands are quaking in anger. "That's called self-sacrifice!" 

"Argh, Thea!" he shakes me hard. "Listen! More likely than not, you are going to have to kill. Not innocent people-"

"You're one to talk about not killing innocent people!"

Loki is getting mad. "Thea, just listen. Please, I am actually imploring you to listen!" 

"I don't-"

He just talks over me. "You're going to have to kill, if you want to survive. Your enemies. Thea, you've done it before, why are so desperate not to now?" 

"Because..." I struggle with this question, "I don't know, I just don't!" 

Loki sighs. "Thea, please. You need to survive. And you might have to go around about it the hard way!" 

I stare at him stonily. 

"THEA. I know you. Your heart is pure, an innocent child. But you may need to protect yourself, and the ones of those you love." 

I growl, still struggling to get out of his grip. 

"What, are you just trying to protect me? Are you afraid of me getting killed or something?" I laugh dryly. 

"Yes." 

I stop laughing immediately. That wasn't the reply I was expecting. "What?" 

"You heard me, I should hope." 

"You're really mad, Loki." 

"I've heard that before." Loki lets me go, and I immediately cross my arms. 

"You're bossy." 

"I know that." 

"And you're also machiavellian." 

"I know that as well." 

"And you're mean."

"I know that." 

"And I wish you weren't such a prat." I throw my arms around him.

"I know that," he says coolly, squeezing me. 

"Do you know everything?" I ask sarcastically.

"I do not know why you are so willing to risk your life for perfectly useless things." 

"Life isn't perfectly useless." I say, my voice muted, because my head is against Loki's chest. 

"Not, Thea, if it's to save your life and other innocent lives."

"Fine." I snap, then push away from him and sit down on the bed. "I get it, Loki!" 

"No, you really don't." He kneels down in front of me, next to the bed. "Thea, the reason I gave you that dagger, now infused with the star, is so that, if needed, you can kill a Velah."

"I don't have problems killing them." 

"Except that you are more afraid of them even more than you are afraid of me." 

I scoff. "I'm not afraid of you."

"Whatever you wish to think."

"I just don't want to accidentally...kill...someone...innocent." 

"And that is why I tried to get you to learn to resist the depths of mind control."

I wince. "Okay, then-"

"No," he snaps, "I'm not doing it anymore." 

"Fine. Then what-"

"I just want you to be safe, Thea." He says, reaching up to take my hand. "Remember what I told you? I can't promise your safety. Not always. That's why you must take some things into your own hands, kitten. Killing those who endanger you or those you care about. All right?"

"I got your point five minutes ago," I snap. 

"Be respectful, Thea."

"No."

He smirks. "I did not think you would."

*

~Nobody's POV~

The next morning, just before departing for Myrinea's world, Thea spends more time with Leah. The two sisters sit together on a balcony, watching the sun rise over the city. Leah is leaning her head against Thea's shoulder. 

"Will you be coming back?"

Thea is startled by this question. "What?' 

"Will you be coming back?" Trembling, Leah continues, "Everybody is worried. Are you coming back?" 

Thea opens her mouth and then closes it. "Of...of course." 

"Pinky promise?" Leah sleepily extends her smallest finger out to her sister. 

Swallowing hard, Thea hooks her pinky finger with Leah's. 

As soon as Leah leaves with Thor, to go to breakfast in the palace, Thea runs from the balcony, blinded by tears. Someone catches her, and she immediately assumes it's Loki and begins to fight her opponent "Let...me...."

"Thea, calm down." 

It's Steve.

"Oh." she stops. "Um, hi. Sorry." 

"Are you gonna be all right?" He is looking down at her with an aura of half-amusement, half- concern.

"Yeah. I just," she swallows hard. "I don't know if I can keep my promise."

"What promise?" 

"To...come back to her."

"She asked you to make that promise?" Steve sounds worried.

"Leah's smarter than you think." 

He chuckles, "She must've gotten that from you."

"No," Thea says quietly, "She got that from my parents." 

Steve holds her as she continues to cry. Behind him a few yards, Tony and Loki stand. Both look worried. Tony's arms are crossed and he's shaking his head. Loki, however, only has eyes for the sobbing girl in Steve's arms.

Because all of them know that Thea's promise to Leah may very well have been a lie. 

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