life asked death,
"WHY DO PEOPLE LOVE ME
BUT HATE YOU?"
death responded,
"BECAUSE YOU ARE A BEAUTIFUL LIE
AND I AM THE PAINFUL TRUTH"
unknown
The world had turned into a mess of terrified faces. Surrounding structures cascaded down, smothering the screams. The sky was a typhoon of dark grays and flaming reds.
Loki cocked his head to the side, watching Thor rise from the ashes of a burned hut. They had been fighting for centuries. From earth to Asgard, always meeting with bloody fists and burning rage. It was chaotic, it was angering, it was poetic.
Loki stretched out his cold figures, nails black with dirt and dried blood. It had been so long that he didn't even know why he was fighting anymore.
At one time it was a plea to be seen as strong and useful as Thor. He no longer wanted to be just the younger brother who played silly tricks on their housemaids. Then it was for power, to rule over every ugly face that had ever mocked him. Laugh as he sat above them on the golden throne.
Now he couldn't decipher what he wanted and what he had achieved. It was a mess of blue ice and fading faces.
Thor came at him with all the brute force he could muster. As Loki twisted out of reach he recalled a memory from their childhood. Thor recoiled and went to grab the front of his garb. In the throne room Odin's voice thundered around him. He was speaking of the kingdom both of them were destined to rule. Hands tightened around Loki's thin frame. He gasped for air but all that came out was a horrific moan. Thor's thick, messy face grinned in Loki's direction.
"When I'm king..."
Suddenly Thor was falling back, clutching his side. Blood e around his fingers. Loki watched as sparks tumbled like tiny spiders across his brother's armour.
There was almost no one around anymore. They were either dead or dying. He wondered whether Odin would be ashamed of what had become of his two sons. So much destruction had blossomed out of their fighting.
It was tiring.
"I'll hunt the monsters down..."
He knew that there would be no end. After they laid waste to this planet they would move onto the next.
And the next and the next.
Thor's fists were a blinding yellow flash. But Loki knew Thor wouldn't kill him. He would always see him through those rose-colored glasses.
"And slay them all..."
Loki caught the punch easily and pulled Thor up to meet him chest for chest. He was grinning.
Thor's eyes widened with the realization that Loki was coated in a wet, watery skin. The electricity licked up Loki's body, leaving ugly red gashes across his pale face. For the first time in his whole life he felt warm. It was hot and raw and strangely pleasant. Then he was losing control of his body, his legs buckling from underneath him.
He didn't even recall hitting the ground.