Response to reviews (from the last chapter in my last story in Salty Ice Crystals, Inquiries and Misgivings):
Camitake: Why, thank you!
Gammawidow67: I can't say I agree with you, with all Loki has gone through, but in a way it really looks too much like the rebellious attitude all teens have.
Justme (Guest): Your review almost made me snort with laughter too. XD And concerning Loki's age, the only theory I've heard so far is seventeen and plus yours, twenty two. Oh well. *shrugs*
Salty Ice Crystals
Time
Chapter One: Navigating Nothing
"Tony!" Loki exclaimed in exasperation. The all too familiar sensation of being suffocated as they descended into the darkness was wearing thin on his nerves. Luckily this time they were treading on one of the thinner branches and had a faint silvery glow to guide them. "Stop poking around! You might fall!"
Tony grinned at the comment. "Ooh, you're worried for me?" he put on a high voice as he peeked over the edge and nearly fell over and the sheer sight of the overwhelming darkness. "How touching." He put a hand to his arc reactor.
"Tony!" Steve reprimanded him. "I'm sure you want to live to one hundred and die at home, not here. Besides, if you fall, you could meet what Loki met."
"But this is a great opportunity for Science!" Tony protested. "Right, Science Bro?"
Bruce smiled, though he didn't defend Tony. "We need your brilliant mind to deduct and analyze the data, Tony. Stay back."
"You will do well to heed the words of the good Doctor, Friend Stark." Thor boomed. "Other than Loki, none have been known to return from the darkest depths of the Void. And Loki has not returned unscathed."
"Which is the reason we are here now." Steve said sternly as Loki looked down, not meeting their eyes.
The portal closed without a sound behind them, and Clint made his report to SHIELD via a secure phone. Natasha proceeded to burn all of the lab equipment. If any of this leaked out, any scientist with harmful intentions could do a lot of harm with this. However, this also meant that Steve, Bruce, Tony, Thor and Loki were stranded out there now. No one would be able to help them.
Their hope of getting back lies on Skuld, for her to take them back when she rides to any of the realms that is currently at war.
Natasha wasn't sure whether it was good or bad news when Asgard was the most likely destination.
"What are we going to do if we don't get there before our food runs out?" Steve asked over dinner, while munching on the beef jerky Stark had brought along. "I don't see anything around here except a never ending path and branches all around. Branches but no fruit."
Thor was eating half his usual amount today, and Bruce guessed he had already thought of the problem earlier, and hence his reduced appetite. Loki didn't eat anything, just watched and gathering warmth from the crude fire they had managed to build with a few glowing twigs here and there. Tony had protested strongly on burning those, but apparently the atmosphere around there was enough to distract him. Bruce had to admit that he was curious too on how the oxygen was formed here and whether there would be oxygen when they were further down their path. The gravity also intrigued him too-they would be floating for ten seconds and then suddenly they would be 10 kg heavier than they were on Earth.
"I do not know, Friend Stark. I have never pursued my studies in these fields. Even if I did, the records we have in Asgard's library are scarce on this place, for many have entered-"
"-and few return alive." Loki said, gazing into the nothingness beyond their branch, targeting the other faint silver glows snaking their way across the realms. Steve noted worryingly that despite he hadn't eaten or drank anything for two days, he always had something to throw up. It was either the strange blue liquid flecked with blood, or whatever he had eaten before he started to starve himself. The God of Mischief was degrading, but despite Thor's fussing and protests, Stark's teasing or Bruce's facts, he still insisted on walking by himself, unwilling to be carried like some maiden.
"I do not have much knowledge on the subject either, and I have been too busy on my last visit here to learn much." Loki elaborated.
Steve polished off the last of his beef jerky and stretched with a sigh. There was no way to measure time here, but judging from how his eyelids were drooping, it was way past bedtime. "We should all grab some sleep. One of us needs to stand on guard. This place is too desolate for my liking."
Tony got the vote of honor to have the first watch. Loki insisted that he help out too, but the rest of them silently agreed that they won't wake Loki unless absolutely necessary. The poor guy looked totally wrung out after three coughing attacks which lasted ten minutes each, and resulted in Loki being unable to breathe and panicking, with blood splattered all over the ground, five more vomiting fits and one fainting fit. Tony couldn't resist a light jab or two at his pride, but a stern look from Steve and a reproachful glare from Bruce and Thor shut him up.
The night was freezing, and Tony's teeth began to chatter before long, even with the extra blankets Steve brought in his backpack. How nice it would feel to just curl up on himself for extra warmth…
Tony did just that, and eventually fell asleep.
The next day came with a very annoyed Steve and a bemused Thor. Bruce and Loki were still sleeping when Steve woke Tony.
"What were you thinking?" Steve hissed as soon as Tony opened his eyes blearily. "You didn't wake any of us to take the second watch! If you were tired, just say so. Don't fall asleep on your watch without anyone else to take your place! Who knows what could have happened while there was no one awake to watch our backs?"
Steve would have continued ranting if not for Thor smashing the compass they'd brought on a nearby jutting rock at that precise time. Tony mouthed a 'Thank You' to the puzzled God of Thunder.
"Tell me, Friend Stark, what is this abomination? I cannot get it to function!"
Bruce had been woken by the continued smashing, and was folding his blankets, yawning. "That's a compass, Thor. I don't think it can function here since the electromagnetic field here is different from Earth's and that's what it's built for."
Thor was even more confused by the scientific terms Bruce was using and tossed the compass to one side, where Loki's pale hand snaked out from under his blankets and snatched it. He sat upright with some effort, the blanket still wrapped around him, twiddling and fiddling with the compass in an attempt to understand how it worked.
"You won't learn anything from it here. This isn't how it's supposed to work, Rudolph." Tony snatched the compass away from Loki's hands and flung it over to another path.
Two things happened at the same time. Either Loki was clutching the compass too hard or Tony used too much force when yanking it away from the curious dark haired prince, when the object was pulled away, Loki's body went with the force and he fell onto the ground, not hard enough to crack his head, but definitely hard enough to leave a lump. The alarming thing was, Loki didn't get up.
The second thing was a mystery. By the way Tony had thrown it, even if he was no professional, it should have soared in an arc before falling down. But the black, yawning nothingness sucked it right in, almost as if it was a magnet and the compass was the metal. They gawped for a moment before rushing to attend to Loki.
Thor gently turned a very blue Loki over. "Brother, are you well?"
Loki didn't answer, just emptied his stomach onto the hard rock floor. Then, gasping for air and choking on his own saliva, he struggled to sit upright, teeth chattering and wrapping the blanket around himself even tightly, if that was even possible.
"Loki?" Steve asked in a tone he might employ with a lost kitten.
Tony was less tactful. "Why are you blue? Are you reenacting Sully or something?"
"Tony!" All of them scolded, except for Loki, who looked down at his hands, and gave a soft, "Oh."
"Brother?" Thor asked, worried. Then he rounded on Tony. "What is this Sully you speak of?"
Tony held up both hands, nearly backing off the edge of the narrow path. "Whoa, chill. Sully's a character in Monster. You know, Monster, a film. A film, big guy, is a story told with moving pictures in a box. Sully has blue fur all over his body. Geez, even Cap Popsicles here knows more than you."
"Popsicles?" Thor was even confused. "Are they related to Pop Tarts?"
"I'll buy you some when we get back, though I suspect Loki will like them more." Bruce promised, shooting a death glare at Tony, who seemed completely oblivious. Of all the references he could have used, why use the one from a movie called Monster when the guy he was referring to here had serious self esteem issues believing that himself was a monster?
Loki didn't seem to have heard, though. He was more focused on trying to cover himself up completely, leaving no inch of skin bare. Bruce didn't know whether it was because of the cold they couldn't feel or just because of his skin. Good god, Bruce dearly hoped it wasn't the latter.
"Are you cold?" Steve was already asking.
Loki looked torn between nodding and shaking his head, and Bruce wanted to scream. How would he like to Hulk Out on the entirety of Asgard and tell them to teach their children that it's okay to admit weakness, that everyone is weak and no one is perfect.
Finally, Loki just nodded, and Thor immediately ripped off his red satin cape with his bare hands, handing it over to his baby brother. Loki didn't even hesitate before wrapping it around himself like a cloak, though he still shivered a little even after he was wrapped snugly in Thor's cape and the blanket.
"We should go." Steve finally said, as the rational one. No one objected, though Tony did grumble a bit at not being able to sleep longer.
Thor was supporting Loki, who had reluctantly admitted that he needed help walking, and that the poison was making him feel cold like he had never felt before. If it was enough to make him unconsciously revert back to his Jotun form, then it surely must be bad. Thor supported Loki when he swayed or faltered, sweat beading on Loki's brow despite the constant shivering.
It wasn't long before they came to a place that was practically ten times Sahara desert, both in size and in temperature. It only made it worse for Loki. The sand burned his feet, even through his boots, and by the end of the day he finally agreed for Thor to carry him.
At night, the temperature dropped so drastically that despite having nothing to trigger it, Loki vomited again, but this time it was just a colorless substance flecked with blue and red. It froze before it even sunk into the sand.
Tony had already given in to the cold and aside from having three thermal blankets piled on himself, he was snuggling into Thor's side too, claiming that Thor was as warm as any hot water bottle. Bruce did the same, though he went without the snuggling. Even Steve, with his super-soldier genes, was feeling the effects of it but still graciously declined the offer of three blankets just like the others, instead offering the spare blanket to Loki, who was shivering worse than ever. Loki accepted it gratefully.
During the middle of the night, when everyone was sleeping, Loki decided that he couldn't take it anymore, despite four thermal blankets and one satin cape. Curling in on himself the best he could, he snuggled into Thor's side, taking a leaf out of Tony's book. He supposed it won't hurt, since it was likely that the cold or heat would wake him before the others and he could shift positions before they could find out.
When he was properly settled down and already drifting off, Thor smiled in his sleep.
Ten minutes later, when only the sound of snores could be heard, there was a subtle click of a camera, and Tony's footsteps pit pattering back towards his original position.
Another twenty minutes later, Steve and Bruce shared conspiring smiles.
Moments later, a second camera click was heard, and thus another cute photo of a multi billionaire, a mighty warrior and an ex villain cuddling together was stored in the photo bank.