A flash of pain and then there had been darkness. He remembered the hand around his neck. That giant marshmallow had held him captive like a child. There had been nothing he could do. The monster had a strength Loki had never possessed. His struggle, his fight, his final moments when all of his tricks had failed, it had left him naked. Regret and fear stabbed him before Thanos switched off the lights for good.
And now something came back. It was the shock at first and the lingering memory of pain. Then thoughts joined and with their evaluation came despair. This was not the afterlife he had imagined. His mother. His father. That was what he had imagined. But there was nothing... just him and the darkness. He was a consciousness and nothing more. It was a crippling loneliness that engulfed him. Would this be his eternity? Was this what awaited everyone? Were his parents stuck in a similar hell or was it reserved for people like him? Thoughts turned around and toppled over and collapsed. There were no sensations to hold onto. But there were memories. New ones. Old ones. Moments of happiness. Of a tenderness he had never felt before.
Suddenly there was something other than himself. Voices. He knew these voices. He longed to hear them, longed to understand. But he couldn't reach out, couldn't get through. He wanted to tear down the walls but the only weapon he had were his screams. Anger and fear drove him forwards, made him reach out with his magic, might him fight with nothing but his will. But there was nothing. Nothing but those voices and they were miles away.
~~~
Katherine stepped closer, letting a hand rest on Shannon's shoulder. Her mother's pain was as unbearable as her own and she wanted to make sure she had at least a lifeline. At the implications, however, Katherine shook her head. They could not let this be real. "No, Mum. No... we can't. He - we need to find out who did that. Someone did that! We need to find the person responsible." As long as there was a murderer to hunt down, they did not need to face anything else.