fifteen
"let the sun kiss your brow"

Lusine took down Chitauri after Chitauri, forcing them back as she and Steve advanced through the street. Mercy did not find its way to her palms as she gripped the arm of the alien and tore it from the joint, tossing it to the side along with its weapon. Through its chest her spear went. With a grunt, she twisted it and the Chitauri sagged beneath her might.

The sound of movement met her keen ears as she ripped the bloodied weapon from its chest, readied for the next opponent. 

Lusine's head snapped to the side, her purple eyes searching for the source of the noise, wondering if it was another attacker come to play. Alas, her heart stopped in her chest as she looked upon the crumbled car to see the rosy face of a child, streaked in tears and dust peering back at her from behind the glass. 

The spear clattered from her hands as she hurried to the car, tearing the door from it without taking a breath.

The child recoiled with a scream, pressing itself back against the slumped body behind her, hand coiling around the lifeless hand of what Lusine realised with utter despair was the child's mother. A young woman, dead before her time. 

Lusine swallowed. "It's okay," She said gently, forcing her eyes to shift back to their beautiful shade of blue, pushing her mouth into a soft smile. "What's your name, sweet child?" Lusine crouched down, one blood-stained hand resting against the frame of the brutalised car.

"Clara," The little girl managed to say. Her eyes still streamed with tears of terror as the goddess knelt before her. The clutched both of her tiny hands together as she asked, "Are you going to hurt me?"

"Why would I hurt you? I am here to help," Lusine replied, careful to keep her tone steady and gentle for the terrified child before her.

"I saw you killing," Clara said with a hiccup and fiercely wiped the wetness from her cheeks, "I don't want to die."

"I am here to help you, Clara, those things I killed weren't friendly, I'm afraid." Lusine extended her hand further, all too aware of the Chitauri behind her advancing. Steve was good, beyond good, but she knew he would never be able to keep back an entire swarm for long.

Clara hesitated for a moment, but, to Lusine's relief, placed her hand in hers and let Lusine pull her from the wreckage. With the girl in her arms, Lusine turned to Steve as he put down yet another one of the vicious aliens.

Lusine's mouth parted lightly with surprise as the girl clung to her with a grip of fright that just made her hold the child to her even tighter, a hand on the back of her head to keep her safe.

Steve might've smiled at the shock on her face if it weren't in the middle of a battle with a newly orphaned child.

"I'm going to take her to some Midgardians who can care for her," Lusine told him, gently stroking the girl's hair as she sobbed into her chest. "I trust that you can fight alone for a moment?"

"Just make sure she's safe," Steve replied, understanding written across his face.

Lusine gave him a firm nod then took off running, begging the girl to hold on as tight as she could. Her entire body shifted to instinct in response to the young girl's crying. Anyone who dared challenge the safety of this child would met a swift end.

Thankfully it was only a short distance to the nearest shop civilians were held up within. She braced her free hand against the wall as an elderly woman came to the front and pushed the door open, fear in the deep lines of her face.

"Please look after her," Lusine said quietly, gently setting the child down and watching her stumble into the store, "she is the future."

"I will," The woman responded, putting a winkled hand on Lusine's shoulder. "Thank you for defending our home." Her expression may have been grave, but there was no lie behind her words as she took her hand off a speechless Lusine and locked up the store once again.

Lusine pushed her hands through her hair as she walked back out into the battle field. The woman's words would be ingrained in her mind for the rest of her forsaken life. What power a few words could have on one soul. Unimaginable, indescribable and yet utterly awe striking.

As Lusine pulled power to her palms, she knew she would remember Clara's face as she took down these monsters, only hoping that no more children lost their families as she had.

War was a cruel mistress, but purpose was her god.

-

-

Casia took down another Chitauri, hissing as she felt it grip her leg, but fired the bullet before it could haul her down with it.

Heavily breathing, she stepped back, kicking its arm from her and pacing away as she reloaded her gun. How many more would there be? There was only so many times she could reload her gun before she ran out of ammunition and she wasn't sure how long she would last in hand-to-hand combat as exhaustion threatened to overcome her like a snowstorm to a mountain range.

She stumbled over her own feet as she came to lean against an overturned car for a moment to rest. Although she felt on the edge of collapse, deep within her an ember flickered. With shaking breath, she blew on it, trying desperately to bring it back to life to continue the fight.

When a frozen hand clamped down on her shoulder, the ember dimmed further.

"I didn't think they'd be so foolish as to leave you to fight alone, Agent Radcliffe," An icy voice crooned from behind her. The mouth of the fiend was close to her ear as she said, "But it seems they're willing to sacrifice you for the greater good. It's just a shame you'll never get to see it."

The hand curled tighter around her with every word that spat from their mouth.

Casia ripped herself from the grip with flagging strength and whirled to see a woman with bundles of white hair pouring around her face, staring at her from atop the bonnet of the car with blue eyes piercing into her like ragged shards of ice. 

"Who are you?" Casia asked, reminding herself to breathe as she readied her finger on the trigger. Shoot to kill. 

When the woman jumped off the car, Casia raised the gun in a blink of the eye and pointed it right at her heart.

"I am Cathal Kella, goddess of winter, and you dare point that pathetic weapon at me? You think yourself defended?" She strode forwards. "Able to fend me off? My cousin almost killed you, but where her heart still beats, mine does not. Mercy is not in my nature, but maybe it would be mercy to finish you off," She hissed, striding towards Casia.

Casia fired once, twice right into Cathal, but the bullets fell to the ground before they could strike their target.

Cathal laughed crookedly, her head rocking back on her shoulders.

"You do not deserve what power radiates from you. That gun you grasp is a speck in comparison to what dwells within you and you should die for the neglect you have lashed said power with over the years. Never letting it come to fruition."

"I have no power." Casia's voice trembled as that ember pulsed with every shot she fired and embedded into Cathal's shield. "I'm nothing but a human."

"Partially, yes, but you disrespect your heritage with your words, girl," Cathal seethed. In a flash of movement, she flicked her wrist and send a ball of ice barrelling into Casia's hand.

At the impact, the gun clattered from her hand and skittered across the floor. She cried out in pain, clutching her hand to her chest as that ember began to throb and twist within her.

Casia took a step back, grit her teeth tight and reminded herself who she was. She was Casia Radcliffe. One of the best agents of S.H.I.E.L.D and she would not die a coward, reduced by the words of a goddess who had, like her, been near death at the hands of a powerful goddess.

She could be harmed. 

"Didn't you almost die like a day ago?" Casia quipped, keeping her voice steady while her hands trembled and knees shook with fear for the unimaginable force and unpredictable rage that stood before her with the wrath of winter itself at her palms.

"My cousin was much more adept than I thought she would be. Stronger than I remember her being, but she is not stronger than I am. I was caught off guard, betrayed," She spat the words out as if they were rotten on her tongue, eyes glistening with amusement and anger.

"You underestimated your own cousin? Some family you come from," Casia said, gathering time into her arms like never before.

"You mock me and yet you should be bowing at my feet, begging for your life, Agent. Do you know nothing at all of court manners?" Cathal questioned sharply as she took another step forward. 

As a funnel of dark magic rushed into the sky, Casia watched the Winter Goddess before her swallow and flicker for a moment before she turned back to Casia with a snarl. 

"You are running out of time."

"Time for what?" Casia responded, flexing her fingers, testing against the pain that shot through them. "You talk too much."

Cathal growled from low in her throat as she leapt forwards, grabbing Casia by both of her forearms and swinging her around, tearing her off her balance. When she released, Casia barely had time to breathe before the wind was knocked out of her as she collided into the wrecked car.

As her spine crunched, the ember ignited into a simmering flame deep inside her stomach.

"I can hear that Asgardian in you screaming to be released," Cathal cooed, her hand gripping casia's jaw and the other at her shoulder, holding her down as she seethed, "So why don't you let her out to play, darling?"

"I'm nothing like you," Casia choked out as Cathal began to press her wrist into her throat.

She laughed airily, her breath clouding against Casia's cheeks. "You have no idea how alike we truly are, Radcliffe, and you never will." Her hold tightened as the other hand forced its way around her neck, ice cold against her burning skin.

The simmering flame burst against the pressure, pulsing out of her chest in a burst of fire before Cathal could make another remark or crush her throat.

Cathal flew back from the force as it burned into her front. Both women dropped to the ground. Casia sagged against the car, sweat beading on her forehead as she gasped for air, mouth wide open.

Cathal chuckled as she rose to her feet, but said nothing as Lusine finally arrived to handle the Winter born goddess.

"I believe you have caused quite enough damage here, cousin," Lusine said calmly, casually stepping between Cathal and the expended agent. "Perhaps it is better for you to return home."

"Home?" Cathal replied, face screwed as she laughed loudly, emptily, "I was banished from my home."

"Banished for conspiring against my father. A good reason, don't you think? Now," Lusine said, not flinching as she heard Casia's cry of agony behind her as the fire surged through her flesh and bone, "you either come quietly or we duel once more."

"Where's the joy in the quiet, Lusine? You, the Goddess of Chaos, should know better than that," Cathal replied, wiping blood from her split lip.

"We don't have to do this, Cathal," Lusine said, lacing her fingers together before herself as Thor landed behind her with a thud.

He took one look between Lusine and Cathal before rushing to Casia's side, understanding immediately. He had known. He had known from the moment he'd seen her eyes flare as Lusine pummelled her with bloody fists that Casia was no ordinary Midgardian. 

When his hands reached out to her, she flinched away with another hiss of pain. With a gurgling cry, her back arched as her skin radiated pure heat.

"Casia," He said desperately, "You need to calm yourself down. Stop and think and breathe or this power will consume you. Breathe. Focus on my face, focus on anything." Those glowing eyes rolled sluggishly towards his face, her face dripping in sweat as her body shuddered.

"Do you not want to see me dead, Lusine? To see my corpse beneath your palms? Or has Midgard turned you soft?" Cathal barked out a laugh as she raised her hands, crackling with forming ice shards. "Who knew that after all the armies you've faced it would only take one soldier to ruin you?"

Lusine plunged her hand into the pit of energy and sent a rippling burst of dark magic barrelling towards her cousin who smiled as she dodged out of the way.

"A predictable move," Cathal commented slyly.

"True joy would come to me from seeing you locked away for all of eternity. Never allowed to see your sisters again, never allowed to see the moon, never allowed to walk with freedom, and never able to save yourself from the spiral you insist on throwing yourself down," Said Lusine, reaching her hand into the quickly replenishing magic. "Would you enjoy that, cousin? Or would you rather execution?"

"It would not be beyond you to kill one of your own," Cathal spat back, swishing her white hair over her shoulder as she sent one of the ice shards hurling towards Lusine.

"Execution it is, I suppose," Lusine replied as she caught the ice mid-air, "What will it be? A beheading or shall I let my wolves hunt you down like the vermin you are?" Her eyes shuddered black as she advanced, power surging as the familiar black veins crawled across her white skin, a smirk dancing across her mouth as Cathal took a step back, face slack in horror.

"Cousin, I-"

Lusine's fist collided with her cheek before she could continue, sending her stumbling back. The second punch she predicted and took a hold of Lusine's wrist before it could connect with full force. Her hand crackled with cold as she tightened her grip, freezing her beneath the touch.

With the touch of her cousin, Lusine growled and shoved her backwards, forcing her knees to buckle with a swift and strong kick to the legs. She was upon her in the blink of an eye, holding her down with every muscle in her body.

"You have always thought yourself better than me," Cathal said, eyes still glowing with ice cold fury as she thrashed against her cousin.

The black veins reached her neck and began their climb up her throat as she grit her teeth against the strength of the goddess beneath her. With Cathal's head held tight between her hands, she did not let go even as she writhed and squirmed against the force.

"You have left me no choice, cousin," Lusine breathed down at her, forcing herself to look Cathal in the eyes as she sent that wave of power from deep within through her skull, vibrating against bone.

Cathal went limp beneath her, eyes rolled back into her head.

"Is she...?" Thor tried to ask, but could not find the words to finish the question through uncertainty of Lusine's feelings.

"Dead?" Lusine filled in the gap. "No." Her eyes locked onto Casia as she convulsed again, her eyes burning bright and her fingers curling into the ground beneath her. Lusine hurried to the woman's side, knowing the pain like an old friend.

"I don't know how to help her," Thor said slowly, his eyes searching Lusine for help.

"There is not much you can do for her at this point. You have done well, Thor. The battle is hers to fight now, but the woman who comes out of the other side may not be the Casia Radcliffe you call your friend," Lusine told him. "Just keep talking to her. She will know your voice and will come to it through whatever power is trying to consume her."

"I've tried, but-"

"Keep trying," Lusine cut him off harshly. "Do not give up on her when she needs you the most."

"I would never," Thor replied, taking a chance and folding his hand over Casia's burning hot one and began to speak to her, pleading with her to bring herself back to reality and away from whatever power had manifested. "Casia, you are a strong woman. You have faced many more threats than most who walk this planet and this is not where you end."

Lusine watched silently.

"It hurts," Casia choked out, tears leaking down her damp face from molten eyes that looked at him with true agony. "I just want it to end."

"Then you must fight," Thor replied, clutching her hand tighter. "Fight this force and learn to control it. You must not fear, you must fight for your life."

"I can't," She croaked, swallowing thickly as she shook her head weakly. Another wave of pain flooded over her and she braced herself against the car, pushing back and clutching Thor's hand tighter.

Desperately, Thor gripped her back. "You can. I believe in you, Casia, you will not break under this pressure. You will come out victorious. Get through this and we can help you control this power to use it for good. To save lives. You'll be the greatest S.H.I.E.L.D agent there has ever been."

Casia gurgled a laugh. "I already am, idiot," She replied, sagging as the pain subsided and her eyes closed. The flames surged around her as she delved into unconsciousness.

Thor moved to shake her awake, but Lusine caught his hands.

"You mustn't. She is finally facing the battle. You must wait until she awakes and take action from there, whether the outcome is good or whether it is bad," Lusine explained. She placed a hand on his shoulder. "I trust you can look after her while I rejoin the battle?"

"Yes, of course," He said.

"I will remain in this area to fend off any Chitauri that come close while she regains control," Lusine said, summoning a pair of golden daggers to her palms. "Do not wake her or there may be consequences."

"Thank you," Thor replied, turning his attention back to Casia as she murmured in her state, not looking long enough to see Lusine stalk past the body of her cousin and grin as Chitauri rushed her, running right to their deaths.

-

-

The wall of fire around her burned white hot as it reached up and up into the darkness, capturing her in its raw, untamed power.

Casia reached out, but its heat was too great as it lashed out towards her.

"Casia Radcliffe," It crooned, swirling and climbing higher by the second. She wasn't sure if she was imagining it, but it seemed to coil tighter around her by the second. "Finally I manifest and yet you seek to control me? The whim of a weakling should be of such, I suppose."

Casia balled her hands into fists at her sides as the blazing heat bore against he face, sweat beading on her upper lip and across her forehead. With grit determination and Thor's voice roaring around her skull, she knew not to fear what rose before her and struck her fist into its flames.

Expecting agony, she squeezed her eyes shut but did not cower away from its wrath.

When pain did not come for her, she struck again. And again. And again with a forceful kick.

"What are you doing?" The flames shrieked as they parted and bent beneath her strength, unable to harm her as she attacked with every ouch of strength and will that raged within her.

She was not a woman who would go down without a fight, who would go down in fear or die a coward. Whatever this force was, it was inside of her and it needed to be tamed.

Casia roared as she strained against the fire, forcing it to part like the red sea as she dragged herself through, bracing against it to pull her weight through behind her. The heat all around her tried to drag her back into its cage to play with her a little more as if it were no more than a cat and she were even less as a mouse.

In desperation, Casia kicked off the wall and fell through the gap. She collapsed onto the floor in a bundle of exhaustion and relief, pouring with sweat. Reminded herself to take slow and steady breaths as she rose to her feet to see that the fire had dissipated into the ember it had always been.

With relief, Casia sunk to her knees and sighed, eyes fluttered closed.

-

3599 words
28.5.18

part two of the battle of new york

i know a lot of people go on hiatus over exam period, but i just can't bring myself to stop writing. i revise for most of the time in short bursts and then write in the evenings.

next chapter will definitely be the last part of the battle of new york.