Chapter revamped December 14th and once again on Jan 2nd 2013.

To all regular readers these updates are mostly tidying SPAG but also adding some descriptions and filling one or two plot holes. You don't have to re-read it all if you don't want to as the changes won't ruin the rest of the story for you.

Many thanks to everyone who reviewd and gave advice and to Redheadedmarina for her valuable input andf SPAG corrections.

Please note that this Morgan (not Morgana - thank you :-) ) is partly based on legend but with a completely different perspective. She is a thing of my own invention.

Through Mystery & Madness: Chapter One

A Whore and a Bitch

The strange creature, known only as The Other, walked away, leaving Loki prone on the desert floor. He gritted his teeth as the pain coursed through him in waves and his back arched in an agonised spasm. It was almost worse than when he first landed on this accursed planet. He couldn't get up, he couldn't fight back and he didn't know what they wanted from him. He wasn't sure how much longer he could take this so called 'nurturing' He'd wanted to die when he fell from the Rainbow Bridge, but even that luxury had been denied him.

He had no idea how long it had been since he had fallen - since he had watched the disappointed faces of Odin and Thor as they let the abyss swallow him up. There had followed the desolation of space and his all-encompassing grief for so very long - and then he had hit the ground. After that, he remembered very little - only sporadic images of people he had once loved. The physical memory of his mothers hand, warm in his. The convulsive, violent spasms that tore at his body and soul.

And then, in a rare moment of respite and lucidity, The Other had appeared. Loki had never seen anything like this being before. It was grey and craggy, as if it had been hewn from rock, and it wore a cage over it's face that may have been there to protect it from injury - or possibly to protect others from it - Loki hadn't made up his mind. Today it had talked about its master, some being it called Thanos, and how they were 'nurturing' the fallen Asgardian for some purpose.

Wherever he was - whatever these creatures were - Loki was alone, disabled and at their mercy. Unable to turn his head, he could see nothing except rock and dust out of the corners of his eyes. He closed them and tried to think.

A soft, feminine voice drifted out of the air. "They don't stop you know. They're relentless. It's better to just give them what they want."

He tried to look for the source, forgetting his predicament for a moment. Hissing as the movement in his neck sent a red hot stabbing pain down his spine, he screwed his eyes shut once more.

As his misery gradually subsided, he ventured another look and discovered her standing above him, peering back curiously. Long, dark hair fell around her face; he couldn't tell if it was just shadows, or if her eyes were actually black.

"Who are you?" he managed, his jaw clenched against the pain.

"Morgan le Fay. Who are you?"

He knew that name. "The sorceress? Merlin's whore?" He narrowed his eyes to try and focus better.

Her face seemed to harden. "It is a fact that any woman, with any kind of power, will inevitably be called a whore and a bitch. I am one, but not the other. If you insult me again, I promise that I will stand on you until you pass out from the pain." She placed a leather booted foot on his chest. "Now, answer my question, who are you?"

To be fair, she had the upper hand here. "I am Loki," he said, although every time he moved his jaw to speak, it tugged at the ragged nerves in his back. He could feel another spasm building.

"Loki, the Mischief Maker?" She looked at him in surprise. "Well, you don't appear to be up to any mischief at the moment, Loki. How did you end up here?"

"I fell…" he could only whisper now, "…from the Bifrost." He blinked away the lights flashing across his cornea and tried to focus. "I could ask you the same thing…?"

"I was sold to Thanos and his creeping, toady sidekick that was just here. They haven't killed you yet, so they must want something from you." She paused to look him up and down and added an aside, "You're rather scrawny for an Asgardian."

It was Loki's turn to harden his face. "I have no idea what he wants from me," he snapped, "…sold? How so? What can Thanos possibly want with a half-talented Midgardian witch?" The effort of uttering so many words at once clouded his mind with pain, but he still noticed the shadow pass over her face.

"What does any male want with a female slave? I hear you are blessed with more intelligence than most Asgardians so why don't you use it?" she spat the words at him and punctuated them with a swift kick to his ribs.

The veins on his neck stood out as he strained against his damaged body. Finally, he let out a long breath and forced himself to speak, "Thanos keeps you as his concubine?" It wasn't the choice insult he had lined up but it was all he could manage.

"He certainly intends to, perhaps that what he plans for you also? He likes a pretty face." She gave him a nasty smirk. "Oh, don't look so scared. I heard that you gave birth to a horse, so accommodating Thanos should not be too hard."

He glared back. "And I heard you bore your brother's child, whore. The Midgardians are nothing if not inventive." The discomfort of speaking didn't matter, because she kept her promise. He felt her weight on his chest and the last thing he saw before he passed out was her face, twisted in a sneer of triumph.