A few days had passed since Malekith's defeat, and Zima and Thor had returned to Asgard. Sif, Fandral, and Volstagg were glad to see that the two were okay, but there was still the matter of how much trouble they would be in for Thor's whole plan. When they were summoned to talk with Odin, they made their way to the throne room, kneeling at the base of the steps.

"You once said there would never be a wiser king than me." Odin addresses them, mostly Thor. "You were wrong. The Alignment has brought all the realms together. Every one of them saw you both offer your lives to save them. What can Asgard offer its new king and brave warrior in return?"

"My life." Thor responds, standing. "Father, I cannot be king of Asgard. I will protect Asgard and all the realms with my last and every breath, but I cannot do so from that chair. Loki, for all his grave imbalance, understood rule as I know I never will. The brutality, the sacrifice... it changes you. I'd rather be a good man than a great king."

"Is this my son I hear, or the woman he loves?" Odin asks.

"When you speak, do I never hear Mother's voice?" Thor asks in response, "This is not for Jane, Father. She does not know what I came here to say. Now, forbid me to see her, or say she can rule at my side. It changes nothing."

"And what about you?" Odin asks Zima, "Is there anything you have to say?"

"No, sir." Zima responds, now also standing, "The things I want most are what I can't have. For now, I just wish to understand myself and what I can do moving forward."

Odin nods before looking back at Thor.

"One son who wanted the throne too much, and another who will not take it. Is this my legacy?"

"Loki died with honor." Thor states, "Zima and I shall try to live the same. Is that not legacy enough?" He then offers Mjolnir up.

"It belongs to you. If you are worthy of it." Odin responds.

"I shall try to be." Thor says.

"I cannot give you my blessing, nor can I wish you good fortune."

"I know."

"If I were proud of the man my son had become, even that, I could not say. It would speak only from my heart. Go, my son. And Zima, don't cast any doubt on yourself. You are far stronger than you may think."

"Thank you, Father." Thor says, before turning to leave.

"Yes, thank you." Zima adds before she follows him out.

When the two had left, a green shimmer forms, revealing Loki, still alive, in Odin's place.

"No." He says quietly, "Thank you."

After leaving, Zima returned to her room, once again locking herself inside. This had become more outline for her than it was before, and almost more intense. For hours on end, she just sat in her room, doing absolutely nothing. She stopped practicing her magic, and she couldn't bring herself to do any art, either. She even stopped going to train with Sif and the Warriors Three, only leaving when she absolutely had to. She just felt... nothing. She wanted to do nothing.

Soon, the hours became days, then weeks, then months. Her friends were concerned for her, but every time they tried to check in on her, she just turned them away. She didn't want to see them, afraid that doing so would mean confronting what had happened during their encounters with the Dark Elves, and she didn't want that. She didn't want to face reality and be reminded of it.

Her thoughts were interrupted by a knock at the door.

"Zima? Are you in there?" It was her father. "I'm coming in."

She tried to protest, but he was already in the room.

"We're all worried about you." He says, approaching her. "You hardly leave this room anymore. All you do is sit here. It's not good for you."

"How would you know?" She asks, "Maybe I just want to be here like this. Maybe I feel better doing it."

"I understand you're upset, but this isn't going to fix anything. It's only just going to hurt you more. Which is why I've made some arrangements to help you."

"You have? What kind of arrangements?"

"You are to marry in a few weeks time. To Fandral."

Zima immediately got up from where she was sitting when she heard this.

"What? No. I won't."

"Zima-"

"No. While Fandral has been a good friend, I can't go through with this. I don't love him. You can't do this. Nothing will make me agree to this, and even if you make me, I will still refuse."

"Well, you can't just sit like this forever, wasting your life away. I am just trying to do what's best for you. He's already agreed to it."

"I will not marry him."

"Yes, you will. If I were you, I'd start getting used to it."

With that, he turned and left the room, and Zima let out a frustrated yell. She didn't want this. She didn't want to do it. She had to find a way out of this, and fast, if she only had a few weeks. During that time, preparations were being made throughout the palace. Decorations were being put up, food was being made, dress fittings became frequent, all while Zima continued to openly speak out against the whole thing. It certainly got her on her feet and out of her room a bit more, and she was spending her free time now looking through as many spells as she could to help her. Unfortunately, none of them were what she wanted.

It was now the day before the wedding, and Zima's anxiety was at an all time high. She still wasn't finding the spell she was hoping for, and she wasn't seeing much of a way out like she was hoping for. What if she couldn't? What would she do?

Her thoughts were interrupted by a knock at the door.

"Who is it, and what do you want?" She asked.

"It's Fandral."

"You can enter."

When he walked in, he saw Zima sitting on the side of her bed, nervously playing with her hair.

"Are you alright?" He asked her.

"Of course not." She responds, "Tomorrow is likely to become one of the worst days of my life."

"Should I be insulted by that?"

"No, that's not what I meant. You've always been a good friend, but.... Why did you agree to this? It doesn't seem like you to not be able to flirt with as many women as possible."

"You're right about that, I guess." He responds, giving a small laugh, "But I agreed because your father asked me to. I couldn't exactly say no to him. Look, I know you don't want to do this because you loved... a certain someone else, but we don't have to think of this like that. We can still just continue to be friends like we are now."

"Kind of hard to do that when everyone else will be thinking otherwise. And either way, I'd rather not marry at all if it's not someone I love. If it's not him. Tomorrow isn't going to help me feel any better."

"I understand. I'm not going to ask you to be any different, or even pretend to be. I was going to wait and say this tomorrow, but I'll say it now: I will do my best to help you, and be the same friend I have been."

"I thank you for your words, and your friendship, but I think you should leave now. I'd like to be alone."

Fandral nods and gets up, heading to the door. "I'll see you tomorrow, then." He says before leaving.

When he was gone, Zima went back to her spells, looking more and more frantic with each book. She had almost given up when there were still no results, but then she found it. The spell she was looking for. It was going to be risky, even more so if it failed, but in her mind, she had no other choice. She quickly got to work, doing everything as specified. When the spell was over, there was a bright flash of light, and she was knocked out.

A/N: It only took forever and a half, but I'm FINALLY done with Dark Reality. Gonna take a short break to focus on a couple of other books, then the MCU series will continue, this time taking a break from the Goddess of Arts and introducing someone new. Until next time!