Hey gang. Sorry I took so long to update. This chapter was harrowing for me to write and is more than twice the length of my usual chapters so I hope you will forgive me. As always, please review and tell me what you think.

Loki's magic teased Aislinn's consciousness from her body. It was a difficult spell: like trying to reach in to a living oyster and pluck out a pearl without harming it. He tugged gently at the corners of her mind, suppressing his fear for her as a surgeon would have to for a patient. All at once, it gave way.

He was not at all ready for the intimacy of sharing his body with the soul of another. Aislinn's life energy felt glorious: she was pure and full of hope and joy, things he had felt fading in himself since he was a child.

As much as he wanted to explore her mind and learn as much as he could about her, he did his best to refrain. The point of all this was to learn about her missing time, not to satisfy his curiosity. He began to cast the complicated spell to create a vision of her body's past, completing it from memory without error.

He found himself standing just at the edge of the circle, looking down on their two bodies on the bed, unconscious. It was not until he tried to walk around the bed to try and see the figures at a better angle that he felt a small tug at his hand. He turned to see Aislinn there, looking slightly ashen faced. He remembered himself and turned to her, holding her close and asking if she were alright. "This feels strange." Aislinn replied. "As though I might float away."

"Hold on to me, and you will be safe." Loki tried to comfort her with gentle touches, but she did not seem to respond. "Let's just start going back. The faster we can get this over with the sooner we can get back to our bodies." Aislinn nodded, and Loki began to channel his magic once again.

They watched themselves going through sped up motions, seeming dizzy and jerking in their speed as Loki began the spell to reconstruct what had happened to Aislinn's body in the past. They woke on the bed and sprang apart. Loki expunged the magic circle on the floor while Aislinn watched, the wall and bed disappeared and they walked out of the room backwards. Loki was fascinated to find that they did not have to try to keep up with their figures in the vision; they simply floated behind Aislinn as she left the library and went running backwards to her room. It made a certain kind of sense, however. Without any rational mind, the body could not conceive of a world outside of its senses. A room with a closed door might as well not exist.

Aislinn watched her memories of her happy time in Asgard spin backwards, surprised at their speed and marveling at how short it all seemed. She smiled as she watched herself and Loki kiss or show signs of falling in love, although Loki squeezed her hand possessively whenever a memory with Thor came up.

Eventually her time in Asgard spun its way out. It was the first day after she had been healed when Loki halted the passage of time within the spell and turned to her. "You have no idea how gravely you were injured." He said. "You know I saved your life, but you do not know how close you came to losing it. Are you sure you are ready to see this?"

Aislinn considered this for a long time, biting her lip and looking up at Loki for some sort of guidance. When none was forthcoming she said, "I just have to know, Loki: even if it hurts."

With a sigh, Loki began the spell again. They watched as the miracle of healing undid itself, leaving behind a small, bloodied, battered frame, unrecognizable as the beautiful woman by his side. Aislinn choked, lost somewhere in disgust and grief as the golden bonds reassembled themselves across her wrists and neck. Loki steeled himself, and knew that he had to be merciless in his progress. She had decided she needed to know, and there was no turning back now.

They watched Heimdall scoop the body up from the table and carry her out, back towards the Bifrost. He had run at a terrific pace to get her to the healing rooms as quickly as possible. Loki was startled by the power in the frame of the gatekeeper, a quiet and watchful figure who seemed to have stood at attention his entire life. They watched as he lay her down before the great gate, and watched as she was sucked back into the beam. They found themselves barreling after the broken, bloody body along the bridge of light to another world.

When they arrived, the crumpled figure lay on the top of a stony hill. They looked around from its top, they could see no life. The small planetoid seemed entirely covered with dusty grey rock with no sign of plant or animal life at all. A trail of gore could be seen running up the hill, like an errant red flick of a painter's brush. It led towards a smoking crater, glimmers of magic still sparking through the great cloud of dust.

They watched as the broken body climbed down, cleaning the blood off the rocks as it went. Some of the smaller wounds and damage to the skin vanished as it scraped itself over the stones, winding its slow way down the hill. Loki felt nauseous, felt ice spreading in his veins and rage boiling in his mind as he saw what Aislinn had gone through in her fight for survival. The figure of Aislinn at his side clung to him, sheet white and obviously horrified. He could not imagine what she felt, and he knew it would only get worse from here. He could not know how much worse.

The broken body eventually came to rest at the bottom of the crater, and lay there still for some time. What must have been many hours of unconsciousness to the body was several minutes to Loki and Aislinn as they stood watchful, waiting for something to happen.

Dust began to swirl around the body in a lazy circular pattern, slowly speeding up. It expanded larger and larger, and picked up speed until the dust storm became a spinning vortex, a howling gale. The figure slowly slumped forward and began to rise off the ground, as though being picked up by the wind. It was an extremely strange sensation, to stand in the midst of a hurricane force wind, without even a breeze ruffling their hair.

The body was lifted quickly off the ground, rising into a standing posture with arms spread wide. It now appeared to be conscious, and hovered fifteen feet or more off the ground. The swirling wind began to hum and crackle with energy, which now was obviously emanating from the body. The figure seemed darkened by the magic and its features were difficult to make out, for all that light seemed to ripple around it. Pulses of energy began to race towards the body, absorbing into it in reverse instead of blasting out as they must have done in the past. Around the specters of Loki and Aislinn, the crater began to fill again. A massive building constructed itself around them: a tremendous arena seemed to simply appear out of the ground.

An unearthly screaming sound could suddenly be heard coming from every direction. It sounded strange enough in reverse already, but the cries were not of any humanoid race. Looking up into the stands, they could see thousands of dead and dying creatures, scrambling in obvious terror. The very same strange looking race that had captured her in her childhood home, Loki thought. Another wave of energy coursed back into the body and they were all alive, looking nervous and disquieted.

Beside him Aislinn screamed and collapsed, making a choking sound. Loki maintained his grip on her hand and bent down to speak to her. "I killed them." Her voice was empty and emotionless, in complete shock. "Look at them all." She said, gazing up at the now animated and active crowd. "They are dead because of me."

Loki could not think of anything to say to comfort her. Suddenly the weight of three Jotuns and two Asgardian guards seemed nothing.

They watched the pieces of the arena reset. When the building was intact; the body sank to the ground and lay in a puddle of blood that materialized at its feat, where it seemed to lay down in it. An enormous black feline monster stood over the body breathing heavily, red Asgardian blood dripping up to its teeth and claws, and strange purple blood oozing from a number of gory wounds on its body. The crowd was cheering wildly. Loki looked around the arena and saw that there was a special observation platform as might have been used for royalty. A figure stood there in sharp relief, and Loki recognized him almost immediately as the man that had set the bonds on Aislinn's body in his first excursion into her memories. Of all the observers, he was not elated or jubilant. He was enraged, and something like terror seemed to be inspiring his actions as he screamed and howled and threw his arms up.

Time continued in reverse: the monster struck an almighty blow down on the body that healed it of a few of its injuries and it stood again and fought. The battle was bloody and vicious. The figure did not fight like Aislinn. It was not a graceful, dexterous dance. It was single minded bloodthirstiness, neither fearing injury nor reacting to it with pain. It was monstrous. Eventually all the injuries on the beast were gone, and they sprang apart. The creature regressed into some sort of low cave, and the mangled person did as well.

As they watched, time wound backwards in a horrific dance. They saw the broken body come out and slaughter many things each day as the crowd cheered. Every time she saw one suffer and die only to come alive and explain its injuries in the sordid backwards dance of combat Aislinn turned a little paler and trembled a little harder. As the battles revealed themselves one by one, the figure started to look a little more like Aislinn. A strange clawed beast raked her across the face with bone crushing force, and the shape of her face became reconcilable. Acidic blood rushed off of Aislinn's head and chest into the body of a reptilian monstrosity, and suddenly the skin was not grey. Wounds healed up, bones reset. A fire belching insect the size of a house sucked flame back into a glowing coal-like gland, and Aislinn's beautiful face and hair were restored.

It made it worse for them both, to recognize her for herself. Her beauty in this terrible new light became horrifying, because her eyes were dead and empty. Her face showed no emotion or personality. She was a blank. She was a killing machine. She had been made death.

A routine became evident: each day she woke in a dank little cave to battle and gore and death. Loki saw that she was not restrained; there were no bars or chains. All the fetters needed to control her were on her person in the form of golden jewelry.

He was unsure whether to continue. This was painful and more terrible than he had expected, and the magic necessary to continue this observation was becoming more and more exhausting to maintain. However, as gruesome as this experience had been, Loki was determined not to give up before finding out something of value. Aislinn may have destroyed this building and the crowd within it, but how it had happened and why she had been taken at all was still a mystery.

Moments later, the scene began to change. The empty faced woman before them was now devoid of any injury, and was joined, for the first time since they had been watching in her pitiful domicile, by another figure. It was the robed creature that had enslaved her, and he seemed to be guiding her almost reverently. Because the events still unfolded in reverse, he accompanied the blank faced Aislinn out of the room and back down a tunnel Loki had not noticed before. The pair hovered behind them like specters, watching their every move.

In time, Aislinn's body and her captor walked onto a strange looking vessel, which lifted off the ground and up into the air. Looking out over the rapidly vanishing terrain, Aislinn could see that the planetoid was lush with plant life. There had been none after the blast that freed her. The journey through space took some days, and Loki was visibly straining to maintain control of the vision as the time waned backwards ever faster. It was moving so fast at one point, he almost missed the impression of a hulking, menacing figure standing over Aislinn as she lay prone and motionless on a medical table. Taking a wild stab, Loki exerted his waning magical ability and concentration to focus on the image, bringing them to that scene.

Aislinn found herself transfixed by a building sense of terror and clutched at Loki's arm. "He is important! Loki, I must know what they are saying. We cannot know in reverse. Please, there must be a way!"

He saw that she was frantic, and although he could already feel the exhaustion in his bones, he marshalled what remained of his inner power and began to channel it, attempting to alter the vision's flow. For a time, it did not seem to work; the magically constructed illusiory world around them flickered and warped. With a pained expression on his face, Loki forced it into order, and the spell suddenly snapped into place: The robed alien was standing over Aislinn's sleeping form, and he was moving forward.

The hulking figure emerged through the door. He was huge and menacing, with a large square jaw and blue gray skin that looked like steel. He moved with the grace and control of a warrior without equal, and the robed figure did not seem to notice him until he stood at Aislinn's head.

"My Lord Thanos! I did not expect… it is a great honor…" stammered the robed alien in a mix of surprise and sheer terror. The immense alien did not seem to give any notice to his words, cutting him off midsentence.

"Greetings, little slaver. Do you like the dark magicks I found for you? They serve you well as I can see. Were three bindings really necessary?"

"She fought them. She almost freed herself more than once until I added the third. She even fights me still… it is a constant struggle."

"For now, control her by keeping her injured and fighting until she is too tired to resist your mind control." He paced around the room, looking over Aislinn like a warrior might inspect a favored weapon. "Be sure you do not allow her to be killed. As gratifying as it would be to have this supposed threat gone forever, I have plans for her."

The robed alien squeaked out a promise, but the massive figure did not seem to attend to his words at all. He continued, "… It will keep the Chitauri soldiers entertained at any rate." He smiled down at her with a terrifying expression. "She might be the one fate chose to defeat me, but in my hands she will become a tool to worship death … oh yes. With the power in this girl, retrieving the stones will be child's play. With the gauntlet, I will deliver all the races to my lady's feet…. How Death herself will thank me for my service." He seemed to be talking to himself now as he gazed at her with a manic expression. "So much for the machinations of fate." He spat at her, contemptuous at the delicate vessel of the one meant to defy him. "Be sure she is under your complete control by the attack on Earth." He turned away without listening to the robed ones stammered responses, and walked out the door.

Loki lost his control over the spell, exhausted by the sheer force of will he had to exert to maintain it. The figures began to fade in and out, and then suddenly the magic was broken. Loki and Aislinn found themselves once again within the training room. When they woke, Aislinn immediately scrambled out of the bed away from him and collapsed to the stone floor, unable to run.

Aislinn sat quietly sobbing on the cold stone floor. Loki reached for her, but she cringed away from his touch. "So much death." She whispered. "I have killed so many. Odin could not have known what evil he brought into his house when he welcomed me."

Loki knew that his next words were crucial: the Aislinn he knew and loved stood on a knife's edge, ready to fall apart. He knelt beside her, saying "Aislinn, you are no more evil than a stolen blade would be in the hands of a villain. They used your strength against your will, but do you not see? You escaped and delivered yourself to safety before they could use you for true ill."

Aislinn quieted, obviously considering this. Loki pushed his point home saying, "You did not allow them to use you for his plan, and now we have the chance to defeat him. You have heard the prophesy of your victory over great evil your whole life: and he fears it too. If you had not been here now, we would not even be able to give Odin this warning." At this, she leaned towards him and he gathered her up in his arms. He had been attracted to her strength and power, but now, her vulnerability stirred his affection and made him protective and comforting. He kissed her temple and her hairline, holding her as she continued to cry.

"But he is so strong, so powerful. I was already defeated once, and by one of his servants and his minions! How can I hope to succeed against him?"

"Because you will have the might of Asgard behind you" he said "and I will be at your side." He added almost shyly, taking her hand in his own. "I will protect you in the coming battles, with my life."

Something deep within the prince shifted, an emotional void beginning to fill. He had spent so much of his life without purpose or passion, only to find himself suddenly devoted to this woman. It was a frightening, dizzying feeling to realize his fate was bound to another. Someone had at last put their faith and love unreservedly in him, and he found himself putting her before himself. The small voice that had been plaguing his conscience for so long was suddenly singing: he was a guardian now.

Aislinn rose from the ground, trembling slightly with the exhaustion of what they had just done. "We must see Odin, now. Let us waste no more time."