A/N: Just a brotherly one-shot. There are some perspective changes that aren't noted. So, be prepared for that. Please review, I'd love to hear your opinions on this ;). Thanks!

The title is from a song called The Castle Builders by La Dispute.

Loki glared darkly at Thor. Magic thrummed at his fingertips, begging to be let loose from it's immortal bounds within him. It was his. His to wield, his to control and shape. He could mold it into anything, use it for good or evil. Currently, the darkness in his soul was winning over the saint on his shoulder. And then, of course, there was his brother, long lank blond hanging wet on his shoulders and steep azure under glittering eyelashes digging into his soul. He'd be looking for a while, because even Loki wasn't sure he really had a soul any longer.

"Brother, I will not allow you to do this." Thor's thunderous voice crackled with lightning.

Loki grinned, his sharp teeth showing through the blood dripping off his lips. Thor could throw a magnificent right hook. "Whatever made you think I was asking your permission, brother?" Again, the magic called to him, praying for release, praying for the freedom to sprint off his skin and allowed to run wild.

His eyes were glowing green in the darkness of the storm. Crystal drops of water trickled across his skin, soaking him through to the bone, like it wanted inside him to douse out the green light boiling under his flesh and in his marrow. To Thor, he looked like a pissed off feline. "We are supposed to protect them, Loki. You heard father. You cannot do this."

Loki thought it ridiculous. Their little 'mission', like they were Odin's slaves. Hmph. Well, Loki had news for Odin. "I do what I want." And with that, he took one more step, his eyes and body language daring Thor to make a move against him. Nothing would stand in his way. Nothing would keep him from this. Not even a big blond brute who played with lightning, of all things.

The magic in his fingers sprang to life, curling around his hands and roiling like a miniature green hurricane in his palms. He smiled in the verdant light, feeling the tightness in his chest twist delicately. He could see his target ahead of him, just down the mountain. A village among planets, was Earth. And he despised it. He despised it for the love Odin held for it, the same love he had never experienced. And so, he wanted to destroy it. To decimate it for having something he never could, for stealing away the affection his father should have bestowed on him, the pride Odin should have felt for his achievements. And Thor, who followed in Odin's footsteps, lavishing his adoration upon these puny mortals, and this pitiful ball of dirt. If Loki was anything, he was a jealous creature.

Loki hated Earth.

And as with all things he does, he did so passionately.

But, just as his magic prepared to bound forward and destroy this weakling realm, Loki was tackled into the mud by a very large Asgardian prince. "Thor!" Loki yowled, his face getting buried in mud- can you say, ew?- and his body pressed down by Thor's ridiculous weight. He really needed to go on a diet. "Get off of me, you baffoon!" He hissed, kicking and throwing his elbows back into the man now sitting on him.

"Not until you give me your word that you won't harm Earth or it's inhabitants." Thor held his face down, within a centimeter of the mud. Loki felt his fingers tangling into his soaked black hair.

Loki growled. "Get off of me now, or I will blast your idiotic ass back to Asgard." He spat, commination resounding through his voice.

Lightning crackled through the atmosphere in response to his threat. "Loki, you know I will not allow you to destroy Earth." The condescension in his voice made Loki start to fume. Not a good omen for Thor- who still hadn't gotten off his back.

"You have five seconds to get off my back, or you will rue the day you were born, Thor Odinson." Loki felt the magic growling irascibly in his hands, pooling into his palms and whispering dark things only he could understand.

1, 2, 3, 4...

5.

Loki slammed the dirt with the magic whirring within him, shoving himself off the ground, and Thor off his back. Loki whirled, coming face to face with a muddy, pissed-off brother. Then they were trading blows, swinging water and mud and blood intensely. Two steps back when a hit knocked him off balance, rush forward, tackle, earth in his face, a punch thrown into Thor's nose, knuckles bloody, growls piercing the night. Loki caught snatches of light from the clueless mortal city below them, blinking sleepily while two immortally powerful gods battled on the crest above it. It's fate was being decided, while it slept on in blissful ignorance.

Loki's magic erupted, dark green pluming into a cloud of power around them and turning into a galactic hurricane which knew no bounds but those it's master set for it. It was a great black hole, threatening to ingest the earth and all within it. Thor's hair whipped around his face, framing his big blue eyes which were wide with wonder. Not for the first time, the extent of his brother's power shocked and awed him.

"Loki, no!" As awestruck as Thor was, he could not allow his brother to take down such a vital part of their worlds. Without Earth, even a realm as mighty as Asgard would be crippled.

When and if Earth collapsed within itself, as there was foretelling it would, the mass of it's core would suck in every planet, moon, and star within a billion light-years. But Loki knew this. And, unfortunately, Loki knew something else.

"But isn't this my destiny, Thor?" His voice was loud and ripped raw from shouting at Thor for hours. It made him sound devious, malignant, fatal. "Isn't this who I am? The bringer of Ragnarok? Isn't this my fate?" The depth of his voice dropped so low Thor had to strain to hear him above the wailing winds of his creation.

A small boulder hit the pit of Thor's stomach. He knew. Thor let him go, dropping the collar of his brother's coat, and stepped back. Now, it was Loki's decision. No longer could Thor keep the truth from him, no longer could he protect and shield Loki from who he was said to be, or to become. Now, Loki had to decide, once and for all, who he would be. And if, those scribes from millennia ago, knew him better than he knew himself.

Loki eyed him acerbically. After centuries of fighting- for and against each other- it wasn't often that they surprised one another. "What are you doing? I'm about to destroy your precious Earth!" Thor saw a glimmer go out in Loki's eye. He was doing this for the thrill, the adrenaline rush of almost doing something wicked. But Loki wasn't wicked.

"If you wanted Earth gone, it would be, Loki. You wouldn't be standing here fighting me." And yeah, Thor was treading precarious waters. One wrong word, and Loki would throw a fireball deep into earth's core that would not only burn up this planet, but everything around it.

A feline grin swept across Loki's lips. "These mortals have made you weak. Trust and faith are for the feeble of mind and heart. I am not all you wish me to be. I am not your saintly little brother. When you left, I changed." He spat, venom dripping from his lips, infected with blood and the liquid tone of his ensanguined lips. "I am no longer an Asgardian angel, I am a Frost Giant." The hurricane around them whipped voraciously.

Loki looked like a demonic creature, standing amidst the mass of magic made fierce by his mercurial emotions, his anger, rage, desperation, wickedness. Loki was bitter, the decay of his spirit making his eyes glow with the magic that flowed through his veins. Inky tresses flew around his face, blood dripped from his mouth. His clothes were ripped and muddy and lit by the green glowing around them. The world was shaking with the effort to contain this boiling mass of power and destruction.

"You are not evil, Loki." Thor's voice was nearly inaudible above the winds surrounding them, but Loki's eyes were locked on his. "You can still do the right thing. There is still hope."

Something snapped, and it took Thor a belated second to realize the magic was starting to crackle with electricity. "Hope!" Loki laughed. "Your hope tastes of ignorance."

But the whirling magic stopped. "Does it?" Thor questioned, the silence hurting his ears, the stillness stunning his skin.

Loki smiled sadly. "Ignorance is bliss, is it not?" His eyes ran across the glittering city below them. "They could be taken out with a mere sweep of my hand. Do not think they are safe from the powers outside this 'world,' Odinson. There are those who do not care for the fate of the realms. There are those who would rather see destruction than have mercy on even themselves. Sometimes, the most glory is found in destroying oneself." Loki threw a piercing glance his way. "I would know."

Thor frowned. "You haven't destroyed yourself completely, brother." He reached out a hand towards the frail, dark young god beside him.

Loki flinched. "I am not your brother, Thor. Let's get this over with before I decide to obliterate this realm once and for all." With long-legged strides, and a muddy coat dripping off his shoulders, an immortal god with power to flatten the mountains and scorch the oceans strode to save the Earth yet again.

Thor grinned and jogged to catch up.

A/N: Yay for mythology one-shots. Hopefully the perspective switches weren't confusing. I just kind of went with whatever popped into my head. There's no real rhyme or reason to it.

Oh, and people who know anything about astronomy or mass or earth or the world, don't shoot me. I went fictional, since my knowledge of all that stuff is fairly limited. If anything is inaccurate, I apologize. It's all fictional.

Peace and love, babes.

xoxox, Rayn.