Chapter 46

*Alex's POV*

I groaned and rubbed my sore throat with my hand as I stared up at the rocky ceiling. I slowly sat up and dropped my hand as I looked around the small cave room i was in. It was damp, cold and dimly lit, masking it hard to see. Large rocks sat on the ground and hung from the ceiling above me.

"Where am I?" I asked myself as I stood up. I heard small rocks tumble to the ground behind me and spun around to see two figures standing in the shadows. I put my fists up as they neared me but furrowed my brows in concern when I saw that it was an elderly man and child. They both looked like humanoids but they had leaves and vines imbedded into their skin around their hands and face. I've never seen a being like this before. The man was bald but the little girl had thick dark green hair with leaves in it.

"We do not mean you harm. We too are prisoners here." The man's raspy voice informed me. I dropped my fists and nodded as they cautiously walked closer to me. 

"You are human?" The girl had a monotone voice and blank face as she stared at me.

"Um, yeah. What, uh, what are you?" I asked them as I sat down on a large flat rock behind me.

"We are tree guardians from the planet Vlyria." The man informed me, his voice was also monotone.

"That's cool." I nodded.

"How long have to been here?" I asked.

"We do not know." The girl said as she stared at me. Her bright blue eyes were beginning to freak me out because of how emotionless they were.

"We were taken when our world was attacked." The girl added.

"Did you see who took you?" I asked them.

"No." The both replied with dead voices.

"Are you guys okay?" I asked them as I raised a brow.

"If you are referring to our voices and lack of emotion, we are fine. Vlyrians have no emotions. We also cannot see color." The older man replied.

"Dang, like Vulcan from Star Trek." I laughed a little.

"What is Vulcan?" The girl asked as she tilted her head a little.

"They are a fictional species of humanoid alien who forced themselves to evolve beyond needing emotions to live. They seem cold but not. They know logic is the only way to live life." The man explained for me.

"How do you know that?" I asked him as I also tilted my head, like the girl.

"Vlyrians also have the ability to read one's mind. See what they see, feel what they feel. I have done it once with an old friend, human friend, and seen his likes and what made him feel happiness. It was the television show Star Trek." The man nodded.

"That's amazing. You can really feel and see what we do if you read our minds??" I smiled in amazement.

"Yes. But we can only read the minds of those who give permission. It has to be mutual to truly feel and see what they do." The little girl replied.

"I have never had the chance to do it." She added. I slid off of the rock and crossed my arms as I stared into her bright, emotionless blue eyes.

"Do you wanna feel and see through me?" I offered.

"You would allow that?" The girl asked as she tilted her head again.

"Of course." I smiled.

"Doing this would allow Lithitam to see into your memories. She would be exposed to the bad ones too. I do not believe she is ready to handle the pain." The man protested.

"I can focus on only the good." I assured him.

"Mind reading is difficult and you often cannot control what you think about." The man replied.

"I'm dating someone who can read minds, I've learned a trick or two." I smiled. The man thought for a moment and then looked over at the young girl. She looked up at him with a dull face and he nodded to her, giving her the go ahead.

"Sit." The girl ordered as she quickly sat down and spread her legs apart. I sat down and crossed mine and she inched as close as she could to me, her legs on each side of me. She placed her fingertips on my temples and we both inhaled as the connection was made.

"Show me a color and a feeling you associate with it." She instructed me. I closed my eyes and the color red popped into my head. 

"That's red." I softly said as it slowly formed into an image of Tony in his Iron Man suit. I smiled as the image danced into one of Tony, Pepper and I standing in Tony's kitchen. We were laughing and eating popcorn but Tony was still in his red Iron Man suit. The image was black and white except for the red coloring on his suit and of the apples in the background.

"W-What is this feeling?" Lithitam asked me, her plain voice lighting up a little.

"Happiness." I whispered. The image slowly morphed into one of just Steve and I, the blue on his suit and shield standing out.

"That's blue." I said as the image changed and showed us one of Steve, Bucky, Sam and I at a carnival. Bucky and I were dating at the time...the time when I thought Loki was dead. I could feel the sadness creeping in and furrowed my brows as I forced it out. I didn't want to hurt the girl.

"Happiness is..." Lithitam's voice cracked and I opened my eyes to see tears coming from hers. 

"More." She nodded. I closed my eyes and thought about Bruce and the day he helped me pull a prank on Fury. He mixed a bunch of chemicals together and created what some people know as "Elephant Toothpaste", except he created a lot of it. We placed it in Fury's office and it exploded everywhere. The colors purple and yellow stood out in the memory. Lithitam suddenly began laughing and that caused me to laugh with her. Tears formed in my eyes and I felt so happy that I could do this for her.

"That's yellow and purple." I explained.

"The man's shirt is purple." I clarified. I began to think about a beautiful sunset and the color's that came with it. The memory changed to the first day I started working for Tony. Peter was swinging me through the sky and the sun was setting in the background. Lithitam gasped a little but suddenly began giggling again.

"Orange and pink. Orange is the darker one." I explained.

"Wow..." She whispered.

"Can you show me love?" She asked me. I clenched my jaw and thought about Loki and his bright green eyes. I pictured only his eyes and that's all we could see. His beautiful eyes surrounded by darkness.

"That's green." I softly said. 

"Green is my favorite." She giggled.

"Mine too." I whispered.

"Who do these eyes belong to?" She asked me. I wasn't sure what to show her next because if the evil Loki was the one to take them, she could see me as a threat.

"My boyfriend." I replied, not thinking of his face as best as I could.

"You are hiding him." She bluntly said. I opened my eyes and saw that hers were open too and stuck on me.

"Why?" She asked me.

"I just...have some intense feelings involved with him." I tried to lie my way of of it. She closed her eyes and I closed mine as she began giggling again. She was feeling my happiness and love.

"Show me the owner of these eyes." She ordered.

"Lithitam, stop it." The man ordered her back.

"I want to see him." She replied. I could feel the image of Loki slowly building n my mind but I was fighting it the best I could.

"Show him to me." She said as she pushed her fingers more against my head. Loki's imagine quickly shows itself and she pulled away from me as she stared at me, her smile and feelings gone.

"She is involved with Loki." She said as she stood up and looked over at the man.

"It's not the same Loki." I argued.

"Why would you be with such a being?" The man asked me.

"He's different." I shrugged. The man suddenly pulled out a dagger and held it out towards me. I tensed up and put my hands up in surrender as he stared at me.

"Did you help him with destroying your world?" He asked.

"No, I helped him with saving it." I harshly replied. 

"Show me." Lithitam demanded.

"The feelings are intense." I warned as I looked between the pair.

"I will do it." The man nodded.

"No." The girl replied before quickly putting her fingertips on my head. My eyes closed and an image of Loki and I kissing appeared before us. The image vanished and another took it's place. Each image showing Loki as kind and happy. She was going back through my memories and she was doing it quickly. I couldn't keep up with hiding the bad ones and she landed on Oskar. My worst memory. I was screaming for Loki and he was bloody and on his knees in the middle of the runes.

"No." Lithitam cried out.

"NO!" She screamed.

"Break the connection." The man ordered.

"This feeling. What is it?!" She cried even harder. I tried to pull her out of the memory but she was stuck. The scene played on before us and all she was feeling was pain, fear, and defeat.

"You must stop." He ordered again. Tears streamed down my face as I desperately tried to get us out of it. She was so strong.

"It's pain. The pain I felt when I thought I was losing my Loki." I answered through the tears. The scene went back even more and she stopped it right as I killed evil Loki. She gasped and choked on her tears as she pulled away from me. She inhaled hard and wiped her face as she nodded.

"She is telling the truth. She killed the Loki that did this to us and the one she loves is good."

"I'm so sorry you had to experience that." I sighed.

"You have been through so much emotional trauma. I am the one who is sorry. I have lived my life wondering if feeling nothing was a burden. I now know...it is now." She nodded.

"They aren't all bad. You liked the good ones." I pointed out.

"The pain outweighed the good." She replied.

"Thank you for allowing me to experience that." She added.

"You're welcome." I smiled.

"What is your name?" She asked me as she sat back down on the ground. I joined her as I told her my name.

"I am Lithitam and that is Beraoin, my grandfather." She said as she looked over at the older man.

"Of you can't feel anything, how do you have family?" I asked that question before I could even think it through. 

"I'm sorry, that was rude. I take it back." I quickly said.

"This is why emotions are a burden. Had you not cared that it was rude, as you said, you not have taken it back. Learning and questions are often held back due to fear of rejecting or pushback. Our people do not have to worry about such things" Beraoin nodded. It was a pretty good point.

"Well, then I don't take it back. How can you have families if you don't feel anything?" I asked as I raised a brow.

"It's only logic to mate and pass on our genes to the next generation of great minds. We mate with the ones we share the most in common with." He replied.

"Interesting." I nodded.

"So, wh-" Just before I could ask another question, a deep roar came from further down in the dark cave. It was so loud that the rocks above us rattled, threatening to fall.

"We must hide now." Beraoin nodded as he helped his granddaughter to her feet. I quickly got up and followed them towards a few large rocks within the shadows. The same spot they were hiding when I woke up. Beraoin put his back against the wall and ushered for us to do the same. He shushed us just as a large tree branch snaked it's way past where we just were. I furrowed my brows as I watched it slither on the ground around the rocks, like it was looking for something. It pulled back and disappeared into the darkness and the two aliens relaxed as they moved away from the wall.

"Um, what the Hell was that??" I quietly asked as I looked down where it came from. I couldn't see anything but a black pathway.

"We do not know. It was put in here with us a month ago. It has eaten every prisoner placed in here since." Lithitam replied as she shrugged.

"How big is it?" I asked as I looked down and at the large trail it left. It was bigger than my body. Hell, it was bigger than Hulk's body.

"We do not know. It went down that dark tunnel the day it arrived, we have not seen it's full body. Occasionally the branch will show up, looking for food." Beraoin nodded to the hole.

"Well, what do you know??" I asked as I crossed my arms. The pair backed away from the path and stood next to a rock together as they stared at !e with their dead eyes.

"That it is hungry." Lithitam answered.

"And it is only logical to sacrifice you to survive." Beraoin added. Before I could even question them, something wrapped around my ankle and pulled me to the right. I hit the ground with my left side and then rolled on my back as it drug me deeper in the cave. I pulled my right leg up towards me and grabbed the branch with my hands and tried to pull it off. I dug my nails into it, hoping to hurt it, and yelled as I pulled my foot out of it's grip. That lasted for only a second. It grabbed my left ankle this time and pulled me again. I could see that the path we were heading in had a log hanging rock above it. I laid flat on my back and put my right foot up, hitting the rock and stopping myself. I strained as I pulled my left foot up too. With both feet flat on the rock, I pushed myself back as the creature pulled.

"That is not logical, Alex. It will only make him angry if you force him to fight for his meal." Beraoin called out.

"Fuck you." I yelled back. The rock above me began to crack and panic was setting in. I had no one to help and no powers or weapons on me. I was doomed. The rock snapped and I went flying down the dark hallway, certain I was going to die.

-----