A Godly Being

Slowly, Katherine drew a step back diagonally, then another until she could feel something hard behind her. The cave's wall was cold and rough, but for now, it was the only support she had. It seemed quite sturdy. Hastily, she glanced at Loki's leader. He wasn't closer than before, his arms still crossed behind his back, seemingly watching the scene with mild interest. At least for now, he appeared to have no ambition to involve himself. Good.

Focusing on her cousin again, Katherine noticed with a start that he'd stepped closer. The researcher in her grip also struggled weakly, huffing and puffing in pain. Right, she suddenly realized, though he is in my hands, he's no hostage so long as I can't threaten his life. And even then, would someone here care enough to stop? Especially Ethan? Ridiculous. What can I do? I need to buy time to think! Talk to them! Try to bargain until I find a chance to flee!

The first thing that came to her mind was still the same question and she blurted it out in a haste. "What do you want with me? What is your plan? What big scientific results do you expect from this craziness? And - and -"

She began to stutter when Ethan took another step. Neither his pace nor the orange flame in his hand were influenced by her speech. It must be imagination, but she seemed to feel the scorching heat even from her position. He was only a men's length away now.

Katherine's face hardened, and she retreated sideways, following the cave's curve while still pulling her human shield. Though nobody might care about his life, the child in her belly was too precious to be left unguarded, even at the cost of her stamina.

The man hardly struggled but whimpered weakly instead. "Let go... let go. They'll kill me. I don't want to die. I don't want to!"

For Katherine, the words were harder to bear than a fight, but she gritted her teeth and took another step toward the opening. "I also don't want to - "

Woosh!

" - Ahh!"

Katherine stumbled back from the impact of the fireball exploding on the wall right next to her. A burned smell instantly filled the air. Her hair was singed, and the coat of the researcher holey on the side as he threw himself in the opposite direction. Katherine was so shocked that she'd loosened her grip and he slipped out, came to his feet, and ran away without looking back.

There was no time to curse. Katherine already saw a new fireball forming on Ethan's palm. Still retreating, she raised her arms desperately. "Let's talk! Let's talk!"

Ethan halted for a moment, glancing in Ve's direction. The red-haired scientist lifted a brow as if to say he didn't care. Yet at that moment, Katherine's former hostage reached Ve's side and, catching his breath, whispered something into his ear. The cold grey eyes narrowed then he lifted a hand as a sign to pause.

The fireball vanished and a smile again painted Ethan's face as if it had all been a lie - or perhaps, a game. Katherine exhaled. If Ethan didn't stop, she would've had only one other option: jumping out of the cave. Uneasily, she glanced behind her. Only a bit further and the floor ended in a steep cliff. She couldn't see the bottom from here, but it must be deep. Still, should she just... jump? If not, she didn't know what inhuman experiments they would misuse her power for. She could probably survive the fall, but... as she lowered her hands, one fell on her stomach. Could her little angel survive as well?

"I will tell you what exactly I expect from you."

Katherine's body jerked and her gaze shot back into the cave. Just as quietly as the first time, Ve had closed the distance between them and stood right in front of her. His hand fell on her shoulder with the weight and finality of a cell door snapping shut. "Come."

That was it. Her opportunity to escape ended just like that. As she followed him, Katherine glanced back regretfully. Maybe she should have just jumped. But as a mother, there was more to protect than her own life.

Trust, she told herself quietly, you have to trust that someone else will come. That you will get a better opportunity. However, the hope was slim.

Then, Katherine was surprised when Ve lead her to the place where he stood before, right next to the cliff. "Look down. There is what I want your help with."

When Katherine looked down, it was as if she was a tiny crumb lying on the edge of a chocolate cake. That part, where the knife had cut down sharply and a piece was removed, turning a perfectly straight surface into a dark, vertical chasm. On the bottom of the canyon, a bottom that seemed closer than she expected - though a fall would have hurt nonetheless, - was a black river.

Confused, Katherine turned to Ve. "What exactly should I do with that? Just to clarify: my power is to heal, not water or earth manipulation."

"Yes, I know. But that is not all. I can assure you, Princess, thanks to my new instruments and insight I know more about your power than you. I had an inkling when I first heard about you, but I didn't know you would be so well-matched. It is perfect."

"Perfect for what? Excuse me, but I can not quite follow. I thought your experiments were on children and fetuses, not... landscaping?" The less-than-helpful explanations started to annoy Katherine, so her tone turned increasingly sarcastic.

Ve, though, seemed unbothered as he stared down into the abyss thoughtfully and tilted his head to the side. "But it is a child. It does not appear like one, yet mentally... oh, well, someone like you would not understand. But I can say this: even with a childish mind, it is also a godly being. I fed it and saved it from certain death, thus it agreed to enlighten me. Through it, I gained deeper insight into the plane beyond our plane. For a long time now, I tried to reach it through human bodies, break the gate open far enough to slip in - but it wouldn't work. As expected, the human flesh is too weak and impure for such overwhelming power. They just die without even getting close to their purpose."

He turned silent for a while, and Katherine was glad for it. She could hardly stand listening to his arrogant attitude and blatant disregard for the deaths he had caused. However, keeping him talking was also good. Every minute, every second was one more for the battle to end and hopefully - hopefully - someone would find her here. If only she was sure that Nathaniel was safe, her heart would be much lighter. Quietly, she sent prayers to the phoenix and the goddess of ice to protect him.

"Subsequently," Ve started again as if he had never stopped, "I gained an idea, an inspiration through talking with this unmatched godly being. I thought: What if we do not widen the gate already installed in the human body but instead built a gate of our own? Without a bearer, it would not collapse when humans die. The only thing I needed to find out was how I could open such a gate. What would be powerful enough to rip open the membrane between planes? Yes... that was what I thought."