18| SHE WAS A DEADLY COMBINATION OF BROKEN AND INSANE

Feeling an overwhelming sense of dizziness as Thor opened the door to the library, Lusine wanted to throw up. She did not want to talk to her father. She'd rather just find her own comfort in her own solitude. But how would that make things better for her?

It wouldn't. So she turns to Thor, swallowing her anxiety. "Thank you, Thor," She says, forcing a slight smile. "Please, go and enjoy yourself and forget about my troubles." Lusine let out a heavy sigh as she moved a crimson hand to her lip, the metallic of the blood burning her taste buds. Realising who's blood was on her hand, she rips her hand from her lips and folds it over her stomach.

"It was no trouble, Lusine," He tells her, a goofy grin on his lips that made Lusine wish she could be just as happy as he was. Thor was sure of himself, cheerful and a warrior. Lusine was none of those things. She was not a warrior, but she could fight. She was not cheerful, but she could spit sarcasm as if it were her first language and she was definitely not sure of herself, but she carried herself with an insane confidence. "Speak with your father. It'll make you feel better and do not worry about my brother. Loki is... temperamental."

"His anger will be his downfall," Lusine mutters, her gaze focusing indefinitely on Thor's smile that brought her a soothing sense of calmness. "Thank you again, Thor. Your kindness will not be forgotten."

"You're welcome," He smiles, giving her a final wave of his hand before turning and striding away with his stunning red cape flowing out behind him.

Lusine watches him go until he turns the corner, out of her line of vision. Then she turns to the door and suddenly it's stature was intimidating to her. As she brings her knuckles up to rap on the door, it swings open to reveal her father with his oceanic blue eyes and his thin lips. It was as if he knew.

"My dear daughter," He begins as he sees Lusine's face crumbling all over again, her lip trembling with the overflowing emotions. "Come in, please, and we can discuss the matters at hand." He pulls the door open wider, smiling grimly at her. She walks past him into the room with a haunting aura about her.

"Father, I feel the darkness crawling along my skin from where I stand." She lifts her hands in front of her face, staring at the blood. "This is the blood of Cloris, father, I had to kill her."

Bulan sits back down into his arm chair, sinking into its comfort as he takes in his daughters confession. "And why did you have to kill her?" He asks, pushing her for more information and snapping her out of her slight daze.

"Pelia. She came to my room. She was there when I returned after the feast and she was threatening poor Cloris."

"You reacted to her threateningly?" His assumption causes Lusine's defence to rise.

"No, I asked her to leave and when she refused I-"

Bulan cuts her off, sitting up in his chair. "You threatened her. You challenged her and you won the challenge, but at what cost?"

"When it was clear I was going to win, she reeled back and sunk the dagger straight through Cloris' pure and innocent heart as if she were nothing at all." Lusine breathes in deeply, feeling her anger rising again. "And that was when the rage flooded my vision. Nothing else mattered until Pelia was dead."

"And Cloris? You said you were the one who killed her."

"I was. I killed her just like I killed Regina. It was their final wishes, it was their dying wish. I couldn't deny her that, father," Lusine exclaims, bawling her hands into fists at her sides. "She had a dagger through her heart and much more than her words begged me to end it all for her."

"You did a good thing," Bulan finally says after his moments of silence after hearing the pain his child had been through.

"What?" Lusine squeaks, her lip quivering once more.

"It takes a lot of strength to do what you did once. Doing it again shows your strength, Lusine. Not only does it show me your strength, it also shows me that you still have good left inside of you. But it will be tested when your brother comes to you searching for the answers, demanding the answers, to why you murdered his wife."

"I will be strong, I swear it," She promises, relaxing her hands and letting a smile slip onto her lips. "But what's to say I won't have to defend myself?"

"I'm asking you to be strong, not defenceless." His eyes fall to his hands, staring at the lines of years gone by and finds himself staring at the one scar running along the back of his hand. "Sometimes, we are forced to defend ourselves against the ones we love because they have chosen the wrong pathway. Lycus, I fear, will let his anger get the better of him."

"Lycus always did let his anger rule him."

"You were the one who provoked him. It has always been you, Lusine, and now you're simply paying the price for the monster you created."

"You think Lycus is a monster?" Her heart skips a beat for a moment as her smile expands.

"No." Bulan shatters her smile with one word. "When you find yourself tending to the darkness, look into the light and remember that you're only digging your own grave. The darkness does not prevail, Lusine, no matter what Loki tells you."

"Do not bring Loki into this. He has nothing to do with my choices." Suddenly her anger is back. It was as if defending Loki was natural to her, but she pulls herself back and lets out a heavy sigh. Her eyes blink closed as she breathes in again, the cool air rushing into her as if it were the only variable saving her now. "The choices I make in my life reflect who I am, not who anyone else is."

"I know that. I could just look into your eyes to know that." He looks at her in his usual analytical way, but this time it made Lusine squirm beneath her skin. She was used to the father who took her side and taught her how to control her power, but now she looked at him and all she saw was a king. He was firm and mighty, even in his arm chair, and Lusine knew that she could never contest with him.

"If you'll excuse me..." She says quietly, turning away from him to leave.

"Lusine, be careful. Do not let the void overcome you." He warns, but his final words do not reach Lusine. She's already let the darkness take over her mind again as she walks blankly from the room to find Lycus, to accept the fate that would succumb her and condemn her to her life pathway.

-

Lycus did not see the body of Pelia. He was told that seeing it would be unwise as she did not look the same. She had been brutalised and ruined by his sister's weaponized anger; it was murder. Murder that could not be forgiven, even if it had meant Lusine dying in Pelia's place.

Not being granted the chance to give her one last goodbye kiss made the burning hatred for his sister's deed overcome him greatly. What he would give to just tell Pelia that he loved her could not be put into words.

With his iconic double ended spear in hand he round the corner, hunting for his twin who was once his partner in crime. No longer was she a mischievous child, now she was a whirlwind of chaos and a demon that needed to be locked away and the key destroyed. He wanted to be the one to do it. No one else had been through what he'd been through.He would be Lusine's downfall, even if it cost him his life.

That thought was racing through his mind when he saw her stood at the end of the corridor, staring into the oval mirror. Her fingers pried at her cheeks as she wiped away the wet, cold tears from her skin. The blood covering her made Lycus' rage bubble. That's Pelia's blood, he thinks to himself, soon it will be hers. He begins to walk toward her, thinking she was oblivious to his presence.

He was wrong. Oh so incredibly wrong. He doubted and underestimated his sister frequently; perhaps that would be his downfall.

"Brother," She says, suddenly spinning on her heels to face him with her eyes as black as the void without a trace of a star within them. "I am very sorry for what I have done." Her honesty was not heard by Lycus, he knows how she lies and how she tricks. She was a trickster and he was not falling for it this time around.

But Lusine was not lying. She was sorry for killing Pelia in the way that she did for she knew they would not allow Lycus to see her body. However, she was not sorry for murdering Pelia, that was something she would never regret.

"You're lying to me again. You always lie to me, Lusine, and I'm tired of your lies!" He shouts at her, the hot red rage burning his throat, coursing through his veins and through his ever instance of being as he walks toward his sister, spear readied.

"Lycus, you don't have to do this. You know what I'm capable of and you know I won't be able to stop myself." He was at the other end of the corridor but approaching fast. Lusine squares her shoulders and steadies herself on her feet, curling her fists at her sides.

Lycus did not change his pace, not did he change his destination. His eyes were set on the prize and that prize was his spear gliding smoothly through Lusine Volkov's stomach and emerging out the other side.

Lusine's eyes narrow as her flicker of a smirk bursts into a flame of deviance. "Don't say I didn't warn you!" She calls out as she sends her fist flying into the mirror, shattering it into hundreds of shards. She closes her eyes, focusing on every glimmering shard that reflected her being, and they begin to rise into the air. They point to Lycus as he continues to charge, but Lusine keeps her ground and keeps her cool. "You're defending her. You're defending the one who tried to kill me?  You're no brother, you're long gone, Lycus. Which is why I feel no remorse for the deed I am about to carry out."

With a flick of her wrists the mirror shards are sent into her brother's running body. Her eyes shoot open to see the damage she had caused. Lycus cries out in pain as a majority of the mirror enters his body, splitting skin and tearing him open, but he keeps running.

After seeing what she could do with mirror fragments, Lusine's confidence grows. "Pelia killed Cloris. Until that point I had no intention of killing her, I knew what it would do to you." He is close now, no more than a few steps away from his victory, but as the spear is about to push through her gut Lusine disappears and reappears behind him.

The ball of magic in her hands was supposed to be white, but it was black just like her eyes. No thought other than survival ran through her mind as she threw her magic into her brother's back, sending him flying into the wall. The sound of the impact echoed around the hall, bouncing off every brick and every door.

Lycus rises to his feet, his spear still in hand as he turns to face her. "You use your magic because you can't fight like a warrior, because you're scared to fight me."

"I'm not scared!" She cries, her nostrils flaring and her chest rising and falling quicker than her heart beat. "I have and never will be scared of you, Lycus!"

"You're scared you'll lose," He calls out, mocking her and pushing her every button. He'd seen and felt her do it to him thousands of times and now he knew why she did it; it made him feel powerful.

"You've changed since you met Pelia. You used to be less serious." She stares into the ball of magic forming in her hand and smiles slightly at it for she knew its power and potential. Loki wasn't the only one who read books. She thrusts her hand to the side, the black magic forming a spear of her own. "But I can assure you that I've missed our little fights, they were always most interesting to me. You taught me how to fight, after all."

"You've changed too," He says, levelling his spear as he begins to walk toward her with new determination. "Loki's silver tongue has corroded you. You're not your own person now, Lusine, it's like you belong to him."

"Don't, Lycus."

"Don't what? Tell you the truth? Because that exactly how I see it. You're powerful and he seeks power, he sniffs it out. Did you really think it was such a coincidence that out of everyone in Asgard, Loki was the one to ask you to dance?"

"Stop." Lusine found herself reduced by her brother and it was a feeling she did not like one bit. Being inconsiderate was her trait, not his.

Lycus runs his tongue across his lips, his violated heart urging him to go on and to make his sister feel his pain. "He's taking advantage of you, just like every other prince who's ever come your way."

"Don't play mind games with me," Lusine says, surprised he even knew how to play such games with her. It slightly amazed her how his technique had developed, but his heart was set on something and he would chase it to the ends of the galaxy if he could.

His jaw clenches as he steps up to his sister. She lowers her spear, her fingers fidgeting around the magic in order to expend the energy caused by her sudden rush of adrenaline. Her right leg moves backward slightly too, preparing for the violence to commence.

"I'm not scared of you," She breathes, the smirk at her lips back up her brave words but her watering eyes betray her.

"And I'm not scared of you."

"Good," She mutters as she swings her spear down, scraping it along the front of his knees in an attempt to throw him off his steady balance, but Lycus dodges back with nothing but a graze and a slice in his clothing. "Can't you just make this easy, brother?"

"No, can't you?" He responds, his lips curling into a snarl as he brings his spear around along Lusine's stomach. He misses, barely, leaving a large cut out of Lusine's dress.

"You asshole, you ripped my dress!" She cries, laughing as she thrusts her spear forward, the magic swirling and dancing in her hands as she aims for his kidney. Her attempt is blocked. Lycus pushes her spear upward to lock them into a battle of strength. Lycus fights honourably, but Lusine does not. She kicks her legs up, kicking them into his stomach and pushing him back onto the floor.

The point of her spear hovers over the left of his stomach. "You should have believed me, Lycus, I was telling the truth after all. But now I know where you stand which is why," Her eyes flicker back to their void black as she looks down at him and pushes the spear into him, slowly and painfully. "you need to be eliminated."

The spear goes through him and as it does he cries out and pleads Lusine for mercy, but she does not hear him. She is soaking up the chaos, breathing it in like she was suffocating and the chaos was her oxygen.

"Lusine, please!" He calls out, his back arching up as the spear begins to be moved from his stomach upward, slicing him. "Lusine! You're killing me!" He finally manages to get through to her through the thickness of the dark. She yanks he spear from him and tosses it to the side in disgust with herself. It disappears into nothing before it can hit the wall.

"Lycus..." She whispers, looking down at him. "I'm sorry... I warned you. I told you that I couldn't control it, but you didn't listen." She drops to her knees beside him, her hands fumbling over his wound as she tries to stop the blood oozing from him.

"You've definitely changed since you got here," He breathes. Suddenly, his hands grab at Lusine's neck and pull her down to the ground. His weight holds her down at his fingers compress her neck, she gulps for air. "You're right, love is a weakness."

"Lycus..." She manages to say through her desperate attempts for air. Her hands, warm with blood, clutch and claw at his wrists leaving finger prints of red along his pale skin. As her eyes begin to drift closed he is ripped from her, the air rushes into her filling her with life again. Death was so near and yet so far away, but Lusine wouldn't have minded being pushed into the afterlife.

Her eyes focus on he man above her brother, over powering him with ease due to the wound Lusine had given him. A blade is in his hand, small yet deadly, and a kind of fury only a lover could hold. Seeing that look of fury upon Loki's face reminded Lusine of the anger and determination she'd witnessed upon Lycus. He had been so driven to kill her and yet her own rage from lost loves assured her victory. It was only her love for her brother that almost cost her that win.

"Loki," She sighs, leaning her head back against the ground for a moment just staring at the ceiling until she realised his intent. She shot up, looking across the room and scrambling to her feet. She always knew that she would be the death of Lycus, but she'd always thought it would be her to do it.

Lycus looks over to his sister, his eyes begging her and his words asking for her to he his saviour, "Lusine, please, make him stop." His breath hitches as Loki pushes the dagger toward him slightly.

"Brother, I want to help you, but you just tried to kill me twice. Who's to say you won't try it again? But, I can't have you killed. Loki, please." Loki's head turns to her, his jaw clenched and his hands trembling with anger.

"You want him to live after everything?" He asks, her mercy was a weakness of hers which he did not know she had. "Who's saying he won't come after us both next time?"

"I'm not promising anything, Loki," She says, her lips seductively curving into a smile as she saunters over to him with swinging hips. "Just give me the dagger."

Loki sighs, slipping the dagger into her hand "He was going to kill you, are you going to let that slide? He doesn't even care that you had to kill Cloris because of the amount of pain and torture Pelia subdued her to, doesn't that make you angry?"

Lusine's eyes burn black as she forces the dagger into Lycus' shoulder. "It does anger me," She replies. She yanks the dagger from her brother's flesh and kicks him in the stomach, he doubles over in agony. "But I still won't kill him. My heart may be as black as coal, but he's my brother and I could never forgive myself if I killed him." She sinks the dagger into his upper arm, he cries out in pain. This time she does not remove the dagger.

"You're really something else, aren't you?"

"Yes, I am. Now, come and help me clean up my wounds. He'll be found if we leave him here, he'll survive."

"As you wish," He murmurs, pressing a kiss to her cold, dry lips. Her looks down upon her. She was broken, any fool could see that, but she was a deadly combination of broken and insane.

Lusine Volkov is perfectly deadly and would never cease to amaze him, not even if she was dead.

-

3436 words

so this was a hell of a chapter. Lusine basically got pushed over the edge in this chapter because he didn't believe her so she was like if you don't believe me im going to have to live up to your expectations of me and fuk u up sun. which she hella did, like oh god lycus is probably going to be out of action for a while now.

let me know what you think of this chapter down in the comments, i love hearing from you!

dedicated to Mrs_BuckyBarnes for being so supportive of me <3

love from, lau <3