thirty six
"what more could i ask for?"

Casia didn't know how on Earth she'd been roped into becoming the third wheel of saving the world from the unyielding reign of the murderous Dark Elves with far too much power than the share they deserved.

Alas, she had and there was little she could do to change it. No way back now. This was it. This was her new reality. While being an agent had been a major change from her previous life style, this was another entirely new change to her life, which she yet again hadn't asked for but had received nonetheless.

All she'd wanted was to be trained by Lusine so that she didn't live in constant fear of erupting and decimating an entire city with one rush of untamed power. The phoenix was power hungry: A city would only be its breakfast. Perhaps even the entire Earth would only satisfy it for a day or two. Fill up the belly until boredom careened in to sweep it off its talons and toss it into the air to soar once again, thirsty for blood and chaos.

Even in the partial cover of the cave from the storm rushing in, Casia's stomach flipped over and over inside of herself. Jumping like a seal through a hoop for the audience and for fish. Except nothing about this feeling was entertaining. Not in the slightest.

Outside, Lusine had refused to leave Loki's body behind and, instead of continuing on with the mission ahead, had volunteered to return his body to Asgard. Nothing about that settled well with Casia. Not because once again Lusine had chosen to stick by Loki, but more because she didn't know if she could do this without her. It was selfish and also insulting to herself to think such a way, but it was a truth that gnawed at each and every one of her rational thoughts as Jane and Thor conversed deeper inside the cave, their voices bouncing off its walls.

"He's gonna unleash it," Jane said, eyes searching as her mind worked overtime, "not just on Asgard or on a star. Malekith is gonna destroy everything!"

"How?" Every bit of Thor was desperate. "Jane, how?"

"God, how powerful is that thing he absorbed to be able to do that?" Casia questioned, brows furrowed and knitted together in a cross-stich of horror and confusion. If he really was going to destroy everything, there was no time to fix any of the disasters of her life before the end.

"Very powerful," Thor replied, though his resilience was admirable. Even in the bold face of defeat, he stood with an optimism to rival all.

Where Casia had always found herself slipping into pessimism, Thor's brightness had grown in her life as more of a beacon than anything she'd ever encountered previously. He'd asked her questions about topics she'd not thought about in a long time. Her family, her past, her motives. All of his questions brought her own to the surface once again and, even if she wasn't the child who'd run from home anymore, she still wanted to return and begin to make her amends.

And this was all thanks to the reassurances of Thor sowing a different kind of seed in her mind than she was used to. Where all that had grown for years were weeds and failed crops, now flourished. While there were still the hours of the day where the clouds of fear and unknowing rolled in thick and fast, other hours were filled with a bright sunshine to chase the clouds away and let her bask in the light for once.

Even just a taste was enough to hook her and now his attention was elsewhere, the rumbling storms had been allowed to creep in again, being taken out on the mentor who'd only ever offered help in repent. It was all awful seeing the trust and friendship that had been build up slowly but surely crumble at her feet once again because she was too scared to act when she should've.

The thought of the death she'd almost let happen consumed her thoughts as Jane and Thor put together the puzzle pieces around her. There were no words in her jumbled pile that could ever make up for that. That could ever make up for any of the vile and selfish words she'd spoken to Lusine Volkov over the past few weeks in her bid to shake off fear.

In doing so, she'd only been eaten alive by the phoenix himself as he circled, ripping chunks of her flesh away with his pointed beak, swallowing her whole.

Still, she kicked herself that it took for Lusine to almost, for the third time in her lengthy life, die for her to realise that her fear was selfish and doing more harm than good to herself and others. Though she wouldn't be able to flick the switch off instantly, this was the first step of many to becoming in control of her own body once again.

On the path to normality, she still had miles to walk, but there was no time like the present to begin.

Suddenly, music began to play and all three glanced to one another confused by the sound. Casia stepped closer to the pair, involving herself in the bid to freedom.

"It's not me," Thor said, as if they'd assumed it was.

Jane's eyes widened in realisation and she scrambled for her cell phone from her pocket. "Hello?" She answers, the hope fluttering in her voice.

Eventually, she put 'Richard' on speaker and held up her phone for the other two to listen in.

"Oh, my God! This is amazing!" She exclaimed, excitement bubbling in the way scientists always did. She'd seen that look on Doctor Greer's face a million times, but never really got the same buzz whenever she read into the same topic. Complicated science just was not, and would never be, her thing.

"Is it? I quite enjoyed our lunch despite never actually ordering anything," Richard said, clearly confused by the ordeal.

"How am I getting service here?" Jane wondered, turning and holding the phone higher.

The conversation continued. Casia and Thor shared a number of confused looks, him being more so in not quite understanding the technology she held nor who 'Richard' really could be.

"Oh, my God!" Jane said as she ducked down to the floor to pick up a set of keys, all rattling on the key-chain in her fingers. Though she was quicker in realising how they could return to Earth, Casia caught on quickly as she and Thor followed her further into the cave.

"Where are we going?" Thor asked, but following all the same.

The phone signal dropped, but there was no use in it anymore when they, at last, appear back on Earth outside of an abandoned factory. Jane appeared to know exactly what she was doing and where she was as they get into a parked car. Casia slumped into the uncomfortable cushions in the back seat, again a third wheel, as Jane attempted to start the car.

-

-

Back on Asgard, Lusine had successfully returned and was locked away in her room with only the quiet company of Olea Kella, who sat on the opposite side of the room, huddled beneath the covers of the bed while Lusine sat on the window seat, staring out.

Her wounds had been patched up and were slowly healing beneath the bandages. Every inch of her body was sore, but she knew herself spared from grief in knowing Loki hadn't really met his death on Svartalfheim.

"Olea?" She asked, her voice cut through the comfortable silence between them like a throwing knife to the bullseye.

"Yes?" Her cousin glanced up from her book, yet another on potions, with tired eyes from weeks of little sleep and expending too much energy for her body to keep up. Lusine wished she would just sleep, but being a healer was what she'd devoted her life to. Asking her to stop would almost be insulting.

"Do you think I should carry on attempting to train Agent Radcliffe?" She questioned, toying with a button of Steve's shirt she'd quickly folded herself into after a brief shower, seeking the comfort while she thought about a million things at once.

Olea sat up and closed her book, not before slipping in her bookmark to keep her place. "I think that the real question to consider here is: Do you want to?" She pointed out, wise beyond her years.

Lusine chewed on her lip, craving the wine she'd been advised to go without. This was food for thought. She'd never really considered if she wanted to, just what it would do to Casia if she pulled out now. Was this giving up? Admitting defeat? Surrendering wasn't in her nature as the daughter of smoke and chaos, brought into the world to be everything a warrior needed to be.

But now? Now she wasn't that same ruthless warrior. Not the brute pawn her mother had wanted her to be. So maybe she could let this go. Maybe she should let Casia go, even if the guilt of letting her do this alone was latching.

But she wasn't alone. She had Thor. He would take care of her, be there when she needed a shoulder to cry on and a source of laughter and be the one who could build up her resilient mentality once again.

She had Kyrie and Lady Sif who could teach her what she wanted to know. Kyrie was no advanced sorcerer, but she knew enough to teach the basics. Besides, they were warriors. They knew control and discipline better than most.

Lusine wiped her palms on the fabric of her trousers. "No," She said. "No, I don't want to. Not anymore."

Olea's head tilted to the side with a soft smile. "Then you don't have to," She said, her caring nature warming. "And you can't say you didn't try your best. Gods, Lusine, you pretty much came back from the dead and you were still keen to get her training done!"

"I know, I know," She replied.

Lusine slipped off the window seat and walked across the room to the bed. Her cousin lifted the covers for her and she got in, soaking up the warmth and comfort of the only remaining family she had left who, hand on heart, cared about her. Or at least showed that they cared.

"I don't want her to hate me," Lusine mumbled, curling her fingers into the covers and pulling them up to her chin as she sank down into the pillow. "I know she's going to hate me."

"Don't you think she'll understand that after everything you've been through from your mother to Loki's death," Lusine rolled over, pressed her face into the pillow, "she'd be a little bit understanding?"

"No," She replied honestly. "She's a selfish brat when it comes to this. I know she's going to hate me, lose her temper, and then the last thing I'll ever do for her is knock her out before she does too much damage." Lusine rubbed a hand over her face and turned back over to her cousin, who kindly stroked her hair in comfort.

"Then if that's what it comes to, it's a reflection of her, not you," Olea told her, a steadiness to her voice that bordered on sternness. "You don't need to worry about Casia when you're still healing. It's not healthy."

Lusine hummed in agreement. She was right, as always, about this and there was nothing more either of them could do for Casia at this point. In continuing to strain herself to break through to this woman who was consumed by her fear, Lusine was draining her own energy away from what was more important: self-healing. Not just physical wounds, but psychological. The ones that couldn't be starved away by magic. The ones she would have to fend off alone.

Suddenly, Lusine sat up, crossed her legs and reached out to grip both of her cousin's hands in her own. "Maybe we should just leave before she comes back?" Lusine said, the idea already taking root thick and fast.

"I don't know..." Olea trailed off, her smile dimming in uncertainty. "Don't you think that's a little impulsive?"

"Impulsive? No. I've been sick of the sight of Asgard for weeks now. I need to get out of here and I know you said you wanted to come with me, but if you don't want to leave right now... well, you can just join me whenever you're ready. Florian too. I'm not forcing you to leave now. I'm just telling you that I'm leaving within the next few hours." Her gaze flickered across Olea's face for approval, wondering if she would take the jump with her and finally leave this dreadful place and all its ghosts.

"Lusine, this is a lot to spring on me." Olea sat back and rested against the wall, though her fingers still held tight on the other woman's palms.

"I'm not asking you to do this for me. You do what you need to do for yourself, but I'm sick of making my choices based on everyone else. First, I made them for Loki and died for it. I got a second chance, and still I let my decisions be controlled by my feelings of responsibility for aiding Radcliffe, and almost died for that too. So, I'm making a leap by my own volition for the first time in years."

Lusine smiled slowly, but it grew and grew until it was a grin partnered by bubbling tears.

"And I don't want to fight anymore. I don't want to be a part of wars against anything or anyone. I just want to live a life of love, trust and happiness. And that's all I can ask you to do too, Olea. Make a choice for yourself, not for me or for Florian or for Kyrie."

Olea dived on Lusine and pulled her into the tightest embrace, which she returned without question, basking in the hug like a cat to the hearth. When she drew in a shaking breath, all she could smell was herbs as her face pressed into Olea's shoulder.

She withdrew from the hug, smiling still. Olea put her hands on her shoulders, cheeks flushed pink and wearing a beam that rivalled Lusine's.

"I want to come with you, if you'll have me, cousin," She choked out, her throat bobbed. "You deserve to be happy and loved after coming out of the other side of repenting for your sins. As long as you continue to be this version of yourself, I will stand by you."

Lusine yanked her into another hug, rocking her side to side as she laughed and cried with happiness. "Thank you, Olea, thank you for everything." She drew back and clambered from the bed. "We leave in two hours. Inform Florian and ask him if he still wishes to join. Pack whatever you don't want to leave behind, but pack light. We should take the Bifrost." The plans were already formulating in her mind, coming together in rapid fire. "From that, S.H.I.E.L.D. will be alerted of our presence and we can go from there. They already know who I am."

"This sounds daunting," Olea admit as she watched her cousin pace across the room and yank a large bag from one of the many draws, immediately beginning to roll clothes up and stuff them in. "But, if you trust these people then I believe we'll be fine."

"Of course, we will!" Lusine laughed, her head rocking back as the sound vibrated through her, a foreign sound. "I'm sure they can find us somewhere to stay and, if they can't, it turns out they're very easily persuaded by the right person." She held the bag with one hand and, with the other, swept the bottles of perfume and other cosmetics from the dresser top straight into her bag.

"Right, yes!" Olea slipped out of the bed and pushed her feet into her shoes.

"Well, get a move on!" Lusine said, the flush of life streaking through her, though it was likely to burn out within the two-hour time span she'd set for their departure. "We don't have all day, you know."

Either way, it was a pleasant sight to see the woman of chaos become someone new in her excitement to finally leave all of this behind. While Olea knew part of it was because she would be able to reunite with many of the allies and acquaintances she'd made in her prior time on Earth, she also knew that it was relief. A weight had been lifted off her shoulders and now she was free to do what she needed to do to become the woman she wanted to be, not who someone else needed her to be.

Olea smiled as she bid Lusine farewell and exited the room to pack her own belongings, though she had very few material possessions she was precious enough over to keep.

This was the beginning of a new adventure all together. Midgard would be kind to them, she hoped. For years, she'd known Remulan was not the place for someone like her. She was just lucky that Kyrie and Cathal were loyal enough to defend her in the face of offence, but on Midgard she wouldn't have either of them. Kyrie was unlikely to leave. And Cathal? She had no clue where she was.

Midgard would be where she'd become more independent. It was undeniably safer there and, so, there was room for growth. Growth she'd been craving for years. Maybe that's why she'd agreed to leave with Lusine, but she also knew that, if she stayed on Asgard, the likelihood of death was far greater in comparison.

If Lusine was confident Midgard could be their home, then she would believe her until proven otherwise, though she believed this extremely unlikely to happen from the way her cousin had spoken of the place. It would be their safe haven.

Not to hide, but to flourish.

-

3030 words
21.8.18

Yes, the second gif is the face claim for Olea: Astrid Berges-Frisbey. I think she fits perfectly for the kind of way I want Olea to come across as, but feel free to continue to imagine her the way you have been if you want to.

just a few notes:

1. I recently started writing a Tony Stark story called 'Not the Only One' and, if you're interested, I'd really appreciate it if you guys checked it out!

2. I'll also be starting a brand new Loki fic so for anyone who liked Black Lies and the darker relationship he had with Lusine, 'A Fairly Honourable Defeat' is definitely for you (I'd be happy if you had a cheeky read when I start posting actual chapters)

3. How would you guys feel about a short spin-off story from Black Heart dedicated to Thor and Casia's relationship? It would be post-Dark World and really explore the possibilities of their relationship more. Let me know if you're interested.