"This is the way the world ends. Not with a bang but a whimper."

―T.S. Elliot, The Hollow Men

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Chatter & Notes:

I already have this story thoroughly developed! I can't really ever say that anymore. Most of it is lighter than my other stories, but there WILL be snippets where it gets heavier. I've found a perfect balance! I can't wait to pursue this story with you all. Thank you for all the kind words from chapter 1! I wasn't expecting that to take off as quickly as it did. I'm using this story as a chance to further my writing style, so it may be different than others you've read from me. I hope that's a good thing. :)

Enjoy! I had so much fun writing this specific chapter with Jane! For background music, I was listening to "I Ran" by Hidden Citizens for this one despite the need for epic music. :p

Synopsis:

This story begins when Thor is banished to earth. The twist is that an unsuspecting astrophysicist is swept away from earth at the same time. With the Jotun breach and his brother's banishment still fresh, Loki deals with her on Odin's behalf concurrently as he faces the crossroads of a path of betrayal or a path of redemption. And will Thor ever be truly worthy?

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Between the potency and the existence

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A tender brush of life stirred within Jane, who only felt the comfort of a cold object against her cheek. A distinct burst of groaning emerged as she sprang out of the blackness that swept her away. She threw herself toward the noises sliding against her ears. The voices heard were not familiar. Neither sounded like Erik or Darcy. The male's articulation sounded both pompous and young. Far too young to be Erik's. The woman oddly sounded quite old...much too old for the boisterous Darcy Lewis.

Light began penetrating her eyelids, and she eventually opened them. Only when she tapped on the door of consciousness did she actually hear what was being said. The language sounded foreign and forgotten. In fact, as she tried manipulating her memory to recall the chants, Jane felt disappointment invade her chest. As her vision adjusted, the astrophysicist moved her arms to her head to nurture the hurt there.

Sparks of blurriness clouded over her until her eyes had time to fully adjust. Red holograms were drifting above her. A tipper heartbeat palpitated against her ribcage as she swelled with excitement. Her fingers inched up to the hologram and began to calibrate the alien device. The shapes reconfigured into the general shape of the astrophysicist.

She squealed with delight, "This is a quantum field generator!" Echoes bounced about the dreary area. "Fascinating!"

Eir could not tolerate a menial human working the Soul Forge, so she aggressively (but gently) tapped away the mortal's restless hands. "It is a Soul Forge," she sternly corrected.

Jane precociously lifted a brow and sighed with a pronounced, impatient sigh, "Does a Soul Forge transfer molecular energy from one place to another?"

The old healer paused in her place and casted an appalled frown at the prince. She spoke something in their decrepit dialect until the older woman whipped her attention back down to the human, "It is a Soul Forge."

Curious brown eyes electrified as they examined the contraption. A smile grew the longer their attention was settled above. Jane laughed and lifted her hands again to the device's holograms, "It is a quantum field generator! I never thought I'd actually ever see one...I-I-I mean to be this close? What are the specs of this thing? How exactly are you able to―"

A large, lethal grip snagged her hands toward the side of the flat examination table. The action warranted Jane's attention for the moment. Hands as those holding hers captive were too bitter to be friendly. They were smooth and had only hints of calluses around the lines across the pale expanses. Those fingers claiming hers clung onto her as if an extension of her own soul. The man those hands belonged to moved a hand to her throat and openly squeezed without care to the old healer.

Frosty mountain backs defiantly broke through a dull haze of sharp green fragments in his gaze. Those eyes secured a tremble deep within, close to her heart. He would kill her if he set to that course of action. This was a man who would not spare another thought after doing so.

He was dangerous and wildly curious to her.

His guarded stare was met with challenging, determined eyes so bold it caused him to narrow his own frosty hues. As her attention crept closer to the unsatisfied curiosity vacating her senses, Jane studied his eyes. At the core was the large center, a powerful central nucleus to the environment beyond the blackness. Shocks of blue catastrophically dominated those softer, sharper shards of that unique green. The shade branded to him like a signature for him alone. She never seen anything quite like it, and that fascinated her terribly.

"Stop staring and keep still. You've suffered a broken leg and other troublesome wounds Eir needs to heal without your unwanted distractions," the man snorted suddenly as he swallowed noticeably.

Jane saw no point to ask the most logical and more ridiculous questions...'How'd my leg break? How'd I get injured?...Why were his eyes insistent on throwing daggers at me?' Instead, the astrophysicist insisted, "Where in the universe am I, who was in the rainbow cylinder, and why are you acting like I am some rare species of fungus?"

The pale man narrowed his eyes rather quickly and leaned over her. His grip tightened at her throat, "You will not ask me questions. My patience is in limited supply."

Her eyes slid over his as her hand moved over his. Upon their shared, brief connection, he loosened the grip a bit and pulled his hand away. Her fingers coiled over his quickly. He openly attempted to throw her hand away from him. As he did so, she took a moment to fix her attention on their breaking hands. Her adequately sun-kissed skin prominently contrasted to his ghostly, pale, porcelain skin.

Jane configured his reaction that she annoyed him. Leave it to her to capitalize that tenfold. "I can't imagine there's much demand for your patience, honestly," she quipped. That joke never worked on Earth, and she wondered if it would here...wherever 'here' was.

Liquid fury flooded his heavy, vacant eyes, though only for a brief, cosmic millisecond. Otherwise, he remained quiet aloof. Jane wasn't shocked that he didn't laugh. She wasn't commonly known for her humor...or lack thereof. A dazzling array of retorts invaded her imagination. She was intrigued when he chose to remain quiet.

The human conceded and pulled her hand away from him, "You win." Her hands patted down her stomach to smooth the lumberjack button down shirt clinging loosely at her body.

The man relaxed and turned to the healer...Eir. He purposely waited to open his mouth for precisely four seconds, "Continue―"

"Wait!" her hand shot up to catch his armored elbow. He took off his golden horned helmet and magically casted it to oblivion. The act caught her attention until he summoned a knife out of thin air and slammed it on the stone beside her cheek.

He gripped her hair roughly and eased his hand behind her head swiftly as he lowered menacingly close to her face. His eyes were wide with an intolerable frenzy and wild wonder. Somehow they were darker than they were before. When he positioned himself perfectly, strategically, he tugged on her hair as he settled her head to an comfortable angle, causing her to wince slightly as she was forced to stare at his blind rage.

"Do not test me, human. You are not a guest here! You are my captive until we know more information. You will not continue to ask me questions. You will shut your incessant mewling right this instant...or I shall kill you upon the same whim that shares no relation to morals," he warned as a swarm of bitter fury swelled his eyes.

The flickering torchlight cast a devious shadow on his strong, angular features. A flash of orange stained his cool features as it danced between the abbreviated space between them. The bob at his throat distracted her briefly, but her focus strained over his eyes at this close proximity. The long fingers clutching the back of her head eased slightly, and she was able to lift her head higher. Closer.

Those eyes were fascinating...possibly the most fascinating things in the room despite the tricks he showed her with his disappearing helmet. Another curiosity was seeing the old healer speaking unheard words to someone to her left. No one was there, though. These details were dazzling. And he was causing all these curiosities. She was sure of it.

Elastic brown eyes slid back over his inscrutable hues. They were glassy and strong, but only beneath a sheath of vulnerable estrangement. The blue swirled around the globes passing over the fragments of forested flecks. The green there was maddening and something to study thoroughly. Earthy, frosty colors fought within the confined space for dominance.

Her head twitched with realization, and she whispered, "You're eyes are green!" Jane felt a satisfied grin form over her plush lips. This sort of grin proposed she found something to get into she shouldn't have. It was a grin she cracked only on the rarest, glorious occasions. Years had passed since her last...not since finding her first lead of the Einstein-Rosen Bridge theory.

Of all the moments this grin surfaced, Jane firmly knew this was her greatest discovery. This was a secret for her to keep. These were a gateway to his core, his secrets, his soul she speculated. This discovery only brought a greedy need to know more of his secrets...beyond the magic floating in his eyes. A sever burst of hunger leapt in her stomach.

He lowered his head as she felt him raise hers. Nerves ignited within her tightening skin, so she coped by biting her lip lightly. This caught his undivided attention. Those eyes fell to her mouth and studied them for a space of time she was unable to quantify successfully. The man lowered closer to them, almost touching his lips to hers. Static sparked below the pores on her perspiring skin.

Instantly, he shook his head lightly, but remained close to her mouth. The armored man threw his eyes dangerously over hers again. As she examined them again, his grip at the back of her head tightened slightly as his eyes shifted to the blue shade. The glorious green in his eyes disappeared, and she felt a bold disappointment weigh at her chest.

In response, Jane drew her brows close to the center of her face. She watched as the vulnerability translucently fade away, replaced with a clear lack of emotion. The moment was stolen by the frown that worked his thin, but wondrous mouth. The deeper his frown became, the more distance he put between them. He released her gently and stood sharply, taking a step back into a hologram copy of himself.

Eir glanced over Jane and shoved her gently against the table, "You must be still, child. Or does having a broken leg appeal to you in a way I'm not grasping?"

The human caught the laugh stuck in her throat and released it in an attempt to release the tension in her chest. She complied with her order and flattened against the cool surface, closing her eyes, "Why do I feel no pain? How did this happen?"

"More questions, child?" she fumed.

The astrophysicist rolled her eyes, but politely shut up. Her eyes remained intent on the quantum field generator.

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Breviary-Rose

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All reviews and reads are highly appreciated.