A/N: Welcome to Black Magic! This is an idea that I've had for a while and I'm super excited to work with it. I'm not sure about an updating schedule yet, but I'm hoping to have a new chapter out weekly!

Word count (estimated): 1.6K

⋆*･ﾟ:⋆*･ﾟ: 𝑷𝑹𝑶𝑳𝑶𝑮𝑼𝑬 ⋆*･ﾟ:⋆*･ﾟ:

✧.*༄ BUT NOTHING EVER
STOPS YOU LEAVING

          It seemed like you were hallucinating, in all honesty.

          Too surreal to be true. However, it was nothing but.

          Your father was dead.

          It wasn't like he hadn't pulled stunts like that before, for he had, and you were quite familiar with them. This time, though, it was all too real. Thanos stole the air from his lungs and the life from his body while you were restrained like your uncle.

          The Black Order had pulled you back as you thrashed, screamed, kicked, and did anything and everything in your power to save Loki. Your magic had been temporarily numbed by Ebony Maw's, and even though there was a large gap between your abilities and his, he managed for long enough so that the brutal task could be completed.

          It began with a sudden attack on the Statesman that wrecked the ship and most of the Asgardians on it. They laid scattered across the debris, their demise already delivered by Thanos and his children.

          Your vision failed you as you tried to recover from the impact you experienced, and Ebony Maw's speech became a jumble of phrases. When your eyes adjusted at last, you saw a towering figure that loomed by your side. It had begun to speak, but it was still a blur. Only when it grabbed you by the front plate of your armor did you regain your senses. They teemed with horror.

          The monologue of your captor became clear, and you recognized the voice of the man you once worked with. "It's frightening," Thanos said. To whom you were unsure. "Turns the legs to jelly. I ask you, to what end? Dread it. Run from it. Destiny arrives all the same. And now, it's here. Or should I say... I am."

          You heard your Uncle Thor's voice from a short distance away— from where he laid in the rubble, still recovering. "You talk too much."

          Struggling within Thanos's grasp proved useless, and he simply shifted his grip to hold your head in his hand. It was then that you were able to see who he spoke to. "The Tesseract, or your child's head," he continued. His gauntlet, already armed with the Power Stone, neared your face while he stared down Loki. You could feel the energy emanating from it. "I assume you have a preference."

          "Th-The Tesseract was destroyed along with our home," you pleaded before your father could answer.

          You were the dearest person in the galaxy to Loki; you hated how Thanos so easily used that to his advantage. You hated how the mortified look on your face made it that much more difficult for your father. You hated that you may have been considered as ruthless as your captor in the past.

          Your eyes glanced past the bodies at the Black Order's feet. "And our people."

          Loki couldn't gather the words to respond to Thanos. Remorse showed on his face as he spared you a glimpse, holding out his hand. The Tesseract appeared in it.

          "You really are the worst brother," Thor muttered.

          As he advanced towards Thanos, Loki addressed you and Thor. "I assure you, Dearest, and brother," he said, "the sun will shine on us again."

          Thanos merely chuckled. "Your optimism is misplaced, Asgardian."

          "Well, for one thing, I'm not Asgardian. And for another... We have a Hulk." At that, the Hulk burst into the scene, tackling Thanos to then pummel him. Loki rushed forward to pull you from danger, freeing you from the Mad Titan's hold. He led you hastily behind a pile of wreckage while Thanos was occupied.

          Peering around, you realized that your father no longer had the Tesseract with him. "Why would you do that?" you asked, terrified.

          Loki looked astonished that you would even ask that. "You thought I would allow you to suffer? Do you truly think so little of yourself?"

          "The fate of the universe is at stake. If giving my life meant saving it, then surely that was much more important—"

          "Stop," Loki snapped, his only intention being to cut off your train of thought. He then returned to using a softer tone to calm your panic. "Don't speak so despairingly, Dearest. We will overcome this."

          Your trouble with believing him prompted you to lean over and catch glimpses of what was happening in the meantime. You watched Thanos quickly best the Hulk in their duel, you watched Ebony Maw trap Thor within metal scraps with his magic, and you watched Heimdal summon the Bifrost for a final time. You then watched him die after Thanos pierced his heart.

          Tears filled your eyes upon witnessing the misfortune that fell upon everyone's shoulders, and your hands covered your mouth out of worry.

          "I— I'm not so sure we can overcome this," you whispered. You peeked around the corner again to see Ebony Maw kneeling in front of Thanos, presenting the Tesseract to him. "They already have the Tesseract in their possession. We have to stop them—"

          Loki grabbed your arm before you could run over, pulling you back towards the temporary hideaway. "Don't you dare put yourself in danger. Now, I will approach him inconspicuously. You need to stay hidden, Dearest, but when I strike, use your magic."

          "Father, you're sure about this?" you asked helplessly. "You could die."

          "I'll always find a way back to you," Loki assured. "I promise you."

          You rushed into your father's embrace for what you presumed to be the final time. "I love you."

          "I love you earnestly." He pulled back, resting a hand on your cheek for a moment before emerging and revealing himself. "If I might interject," he said to Thanos and the Black Order. "If you're going to Earth, you might want a guide. I do have a bit of experience in that arena."

          "If you consider failure experience," Thanos said, unimpressed and fully aware of how the invasion that he orchestrated had turned out.

          "I consider experience experience."

          Loki approached the Mad Titan while you remained somewhere among the shadows of debris, a presence concealment spell upon your shoulders.

          "Almighty Thanos... I, Loki, Prince of Asgard... Odinson," he said, giving Thor a look of significance before continuing. "The rightful King of Jotunheim... God of Mischief... do hereby pledge to you, my undying fidelity."

          You noticed a dagger materialize in your father's grasp. As he stood before Thanos, his head bowed in a false display of faithfulness, he waited a moment before deftly thrusting the weapon up. You had used your magic to heighten the force of this just like he had asked, but, nonetheless, the blow never struck. The newfound power of the Space Stone prevented it, even if it was just barely so. Terror immediately flooded you.

          "'Undying.' You should choose your words more carefully," Thanos warned. He grabbed your father's arm to twist the blade from his hand, and he winced at the pain. It wasn't even over. You had suspected that— your eyes began watering.

          He then, with the Infinity Gauntlet, took hold of Loki's neck and raised him to his eye level. Loki thrashed in midair.

          "Father—!" You ran from hiding and used a teleportation spell in a frenzy, but your efforts never came to fruition. The Black Order snagged your arm and pulled you back, quick to contain the rest of you.

          Your tears spilled hysterically. Your throat burned as you screamed. "No! Stop, please, no, Father! No! Father! No!"

          Loki never found any more air in that time. Nothing made him struggle more than hearing the desperate cries of his poor child, but he soon accepted the fatal grip that trapped him. "You—" he gasped, "will never be—" Your eyes widened. His final breath— "A god."

          His final words.

          The sickening crack of his neck made your blood run cold, and, even without seeing his face, you knew he was dead.

          You screamed.

          Your body went limp, melting out of the Black Order's restraint. They allowed you to crumble to the ground. You could only stare in complete horror, sobs racking your body more intensely than ever before.

          Thanos took a few steps towards Thor to discard your father's body. It fell in front of him. Lifeless.

          "No resurrections this time," Thanos said, looking at you to punctuate that he knew of your magic craft. You feared that he spoke the truth.

          You scrambled away from your father's murderer, and, with his job now complete, Thanos used the Power Stone to begin the destruction of the ship's remnants, and the Space Stone to take him and his children elsewhere. Only your fallen citizens and broken family remained.

          The metal scraps confining Thor finally rested and let him free. You both forced yourselves, limb by limb, to crawl. Ache by splitting ache. Pain by numbing pain. You reached each other.

          You reached Loki.

          "Father? Father?!" you cried, shaking his lifeless form to receive no reaction. "No... Please, no!" You tried to summon your magic, whispering spells and begging against reality to save him. Your necromancy had never been the acme of your magic, though, and the glow refused to form at your palms.

          Tampering with the forces of life and death was beyond even your control.

          It was a shattering moment. A defining moment. The death of your father was only the beginning of what was to come.

          The disposal of half of the universe was next.

⋆*･ﾟ:⋆*･ﾟ: ⋆*･ﾟ:⋆*･ﾟ:

A/N: The prologue has been edited (August 1st, 2019) and made much sadder :)

The line that I used, "Do you truly think so little of yourself?"  has been borrowed from the lovely loveyou-3000 and her fic, Autophobia. Probably just as angsty as this one, if not more, but her writing is still lovely! Go check out her Fear Series if you'd like! <3