Avengers: The King of Kings.
Summary: "One year after Ceil Zak'Vael's defeat, tensions are running in all new highs as anticipation for the Black Hunt's return takes its toll. After reaching a breaking point with Loki, who has grown distant as "the inevitable" looms closer, Thor returns to Earth in hopes of clearing his head before the fight that is to come. However, his "pity party" is quickly interrupted when he inexplicably reunites with the Avengers, who give him some disturbing news: millions of people have been disappearing, and some of the biggest cities in the world have gone dark. With S.H.I.E.L.D scrambling for answers, they are finally forced go after the one man they believe capable of such chaos- Loki. Now, tasked with saving the Earth from certain doom- and his brother from wrongful imprisonment- while at the same time trying to find a reason to keep fighting, Thor's got to decide what's worth what and, most importantly, why, before an old enemy returns to wreck havoc on the one place that was supposed to stay safe- and with a near-silent, morose Loki by his side and constant infighting within the Avengers to boot, Thor's got his work cut out for him… but when tragedy strikes too close to home, it's time to get serious."
Warning: "This will be a relatively tame fanfic, with the exception of some blood, violence, angst, some language, a character death or two, and other adult situations. So, to be on the safe side, we'll be going with Rated T. I have watched the Avenger's movie and all relating Marvel movies, but this does not mean that I am perfect and/or know absolutely everything there is to know about, and I'm bound to forget or misuse some small detail. So, with that, please forgive me if I screw up, and just enjoy the story."
Disclaimer: "I do not own Thor. Please don't ruin my day by thinking I do."
N._.s._.S
Chapter One: The Year of Silence.
"Your silence will not protect you."
- Audre Lord.
It had been a year.
A year since the All-Mother's death at the hands of Malekith, a year to the day of Loki Odinsson's would-be death and his subsequent resurrection by Odin, and a year to the day of the Dark Elf King's plot to use the Aether to converge and destroy the Nine Realms, and his so-called "miraculous" defeat by Thor.
Yet, no one said a word about it.
Usually, by the ancient traditions, Asgard would mark a day such as this with both mourning at the terrible losses, and celebration at the great victory that came of them, but this time, there were merely only whispers and odd, almost lost looks about the palace; and to top it all off, a terse explanation to the Honored King, Axel Hernsson, when he dared asked the specialness of the day.
Isn't it odd how people say that certain dates are so sacred, He remarked that afternoon, in a cautious, though amused undertone to one of his ever-present Advisers, Even while the date's true purpose is disregarded or almost entirely forgotten?
They moved on to more pressing matters from there.
Or so it truly seemed.
N._.s._.S
The Courtyard was covered with thick, rolling layers of mist, and it only worsened as Thor Odinsson slowly made his way down the gilded stairs toward the lake, where he could just barely make out a tall, thin figure standing there, surrounded by a strange, translucent golden light that somehow easily speared through it.
As the God of Thunder approached, the mist seemed to part silently away in an oddly sharp, fixed manner, to reveal Loki, wrapped in an old, heavy traveling cloak and trailing jade-green woolen scarf, standing on the shores of the lake, arm stretched out to accommodate the large, luminescent golden bird that perched there.
The past year had been hard for them both.
Especially on Loki.
As Thor made the last few steps toward him, the golden bird gave a single flap of its powerful wings and took off, disappearing into the murky, miserable-looking gray sky as the God of Thunder made to stand next to his younger brother, who waited a few long, tense silent moments before he spoke.
"Come to check whether or not I'm still breathing, are we?" Loki's tone was bitter, without a hint of that old, sarcastic facetiousness that Thor had come to expect and, eventually, even love.
When Thor doesn't answer right away, the God of Mischief chuckled mirthlessly at the uncomfortable silence that ensured as he finally turned to look at him.
And it showed.
The strange-looking, sharp veins that had started around his brother's eyes had reached half-way down his face by now, making his already too-pale, gaunt face look even worse than it already did, and patches of the blackish things had even begun emerging elsewhere, especially around his torso- thus the black cloak, gloves, and scarf. He rest of his body looked even worse, having become even thinner during the course of the year.
Thankfully, Thor managed not to flinch.
Loki hated it when people flinched when looking at him.
"That is not why I have come."
There had even been short stretches of days, usually between two and four, when his brother never made it out of his third-floor room. During these times, someone, usually the Head Medic, Sanat Eir, would sit just outside the door, and upon every hour, enter to check on him-
To make sure the God of Mischief was still alive.
Fevers and fits of illness had certainly taken their toll on him over the past year, but that was the least of their worries, especially as another very important date loomed closer and closer.
"… I am going to die."
Now, Thor flinched without thinking.
Loki noticed the barely visible reaction, and his lips thinned into a tight line and he turned quickly away, grinding his heels in the sand with his haste and making the God of Thunder swear inwardly at himself for allowing those horrible, but long-since uttered words get the better of him.
Again.
"Well, then," Loki finally answered, in a forced, cheerful voice, after letting the silence continue for a long, strained silence, "Care to tell me what you are here for?"
"A meeting," Thor told him, making the God of Mischief look back at him, his tired, jade-green eyes narrowing a little as his thin brows furrowed together in sudden interest, "We need you there."
"... I see."
N._.s._.S
Odin gave Thor and Loki both an approving nod when they entered the meeting room. While Thor returned their father's gesture, Loki, as per usual, did not; instead turning to Axel Hernsson, his voice already taking on that sharp, strong tone that always arose when this particular matter came up.
"Anything?"
Only more sightings and speculations, I'm afraid, The Honored King answered, apparently unperturbed by the God of Mischief's sharp tone, The Black Hunt are- or rather, were- the finest warriors my people had to offer. They shall not be apprehended easily.
"Where were they sighted?" Thor asked of him with a warning look at Loki, who ignored it.
The Jotunheim.
Again, Thor managed to steal a glance at Loki, and this time he found that shock had taken over his younger brother's usually tranquil features- and Thor thought he saw him sneak a slightly trembling, gloved hand into his pocket, feeling for the little, cracked green soul Thor knew was there.
"What are they doing there?" Loki demanded, quietly.
If I knew, I'd obviously have told you already.
"There's no way they can survive in the Jotunheim for very long," Thor answered before Loki could say anything more, "Not without help, at least."
It was well-known by now that the Vael's greatest weakness was water. It cracked their black, clay-like hides and revealed the white, fibrous skin and innards hidden within. After taking out the skin, it only took the slightest amount of sunlight to literally burn them alive.
Thor and Loki both knew this by personal experience.
"I would have seen them," Loki said, suddenly, before Axel could respond, seemingly speaking more to himself than the others, "They could not have gotten in... unless..."
His eyes flashed and widened again, and his shoulders leveled in what could only have been anger.
"Any idea where they've set up?"
I know for certain it's somewhere near, around, or even inside Laufey's abandoned hall.
"Of course," Loki answered, almost knowingly now, "They'd need the stone to protect them from the storms."
Thor knew the look that crossed his brother's pale features at that statement- it was the old, "I've made my decision" look, the one that he'd seen several times over the course of the last year.
Mostly during the rare instances Thor had seen him up close; because Loki had been avoiding him.
"Why the Jotunheim?" This time, it was Odin who spoke up, with his one good, bright azure eye trained on Loki's turned back as he added, "There is nothing of value within that barren place."
Perhaps the place itself is what they seek, Axel answered, looking over at Odin with his abnormally large, bright maroon eyes, A place so isolated that only one alive may venture safely into.
"A trap, then?" Thor concluded.
"If it's a trap, it's a bad one," Loki declared with a humorless smirk, "I am not so dense."
The Black Hunt would never underestimate us, not after Ceil Zak'Vael's defeat, Axel countered, rather sharply, at Thor's guess and Loki's derisive response, No, not a trap. Just simply a place to wait.
"They've spent a whole year waiting," Thor protested, "Why move now?"
Because it's been a year.
The room went dead silent at that statement, and Thor saw Loki's hand clench in his pocket as, for the first time, a truly, painfully worried crossed his already pale, tense features.
"So you think they're..." The thought was so horrible that Thor couldn't finish it.
But Loki could.
"They're waiting for me to die," Loki finished, with an amused smirk this time, "... A clever move, I think."
"Loki."
Thor's voice shook with the warning, and his brother shot him a rather apathetic look.
"Ah, yes, I'd forgotten your aversion to that particular topic," he added, rather sarcastically, "I'm sorry."
Thor doesn't answer and Odin's eye shifts between the two of them, his shrewd, bright azure gaze lingering on the both of them, in turn, until their gazes averted from one another, forced to back off and look away with the force of the it.
Axel Hernsson's bright, maroon eyes shift between all three of them in silence.
N._.s._.S
After it became clear that there was nothing else to be gained by staying, Loki turned on his heels and left the meeting-room without so much as a glance back. He passed Jane Foster on the way out, whom he smiled a little at as they passed shoulder-to-shoulder as the young woman made to enter the room he'd just exited.
"How are you feeling?"
"Fine."
This short conversation had become almost a ritual for the two over the course of the last year. Jane had first asked him that when he first came back downstairs after a full week of being locked in the Med Wing by a concerned (and maybe slightly maniacal) Sanat Eir, who insisted on preforming test after test, until Loki had finally had enough and threatened to flay the old man alive if he didn't let him leave in a reasonable amount of time.
Sanat Eir was all for letting him try.
Luckily, Odin intervened before Loki could make good on the threat.
As Loki continued back up to the third floor, he felt in his pocket for his soul, pulling out a strange-looking, multicolored little cube instead, keeping his head down and his eyes averted from the guards he passed as he reached the door to his room, pulling it open with a swift, strong arm.
Loki stared down at the vibrant colors before stowing it quietly away again, dropping it back into the pocket that not only contained the dim, cracked little soul, but something else that shimmered silver and sapphire as it caught the faint light hitting Loki's cloaked back.
Smiling, Loki slammed his door shut with a bang that echoed throughout the entire palace.
It was the first time he'd smiled for real in ages.
N._.s._.S
Hi! NothingSoSpecial here, and I'm here to give you the winners on this time's competition! As you know, the winner will receive the dedication to "The King of Kings." So, without further ado, here were the questions:
Question One: In Chapter 11: "The Trap II," Ceil Zak'Vael breaks the dagger that Loki was given by Thor. What are his initial (and stated) reasons for doing so? Is there a deeper meaning behind it?"
Question Two: "Now, knowing exactly why Ceil Zak'Vael did what he did thousands of years before the start of "The King of Nothing," do you believe that he is evil and/or responsible for the actions he believes he was "forced" to commit? Why/why not?"
Question Three: "Throughout the story, various characters emphasizes the point that "what" someone is and "who" someone is, are two very different things. Is this true?"
Question Four: "What was the deeper meaning behind Odin's actions with Loki during Thor's final battle with Zak'Vael?"
Question Five: "Do you believe Loki will find some way to break the Curse? Why/why not? Is he capable of doing so? What about Thor? Can he find a way? Why/why not?"
And the winner of the dedication to "The Kings of Kings" is...
A TIE.
(Le' gasp!)
Congratulations to... PhantomLilac AND MischievousChaos.
Okay, so there's actually a very good reason to why you two BOTH got the dedication. For one, ONE of you didn't answer one of the questions, and the other actually didn't answer one of the questions COMPLETELY. In my book, all your answers were too good to not give you both the credit you deserve, plus I'd feel kinda bad for knocking one competitor out just for not understanding something.
So, here were their answers.
PhantomLilac:
Q1: I personally feel that Ceil broke the dagger because it was a symbol of hope and forgiveness: two things Ceil did not understand, yet Loki did. Looking further, Ceil constantly asks his victims who they are, or what they are. He is not willing to look and figure out who he truly is himself, thus he finds that he has to crush those who do. Note that Loki was given the dagger by Thor, his adoptive brother, and both (even if they will not admit it) find hope and forgiveness in each other. It is obvious Ceil was jealous of this relationship between the two brothers, thus takes the dagger and destroys it, in hoping that he will take hope and forgiveness down with it.
Q2: Ceil certainly was not evil. In reality, is there truly, pure evil anyways? Yes, he was very much so responsible for his actions. I'm going to make yet another comparison here from Loki in Thor: The King of Nothing to Ceil in this one. A few chapters in, Loki realizes the consequences of his actions and takes full responsibility for them, but also recognizes that maybe they weren't entirely his fault. Ceil also takes this into recognition when he commits suicide. You can't help how you are raised, neither of them could. Both were fed on lies, and both did great evils until they suffered from it. So yes, in a way, Ceil is very much so guilty, but at a parallel, he was forcefully raised into believing he had to hate all Jotun.
Q3: In my eyes, there is no distinct rift between "who" and "what" a person is. That could just be me, but they run like a pair of perpendicular lines, they connect at a given point. If I'm confusing you, here's an example: Loki is a Jotun, but he considers himself an Asgardian. He IS a Jotun, and in his heart, he is still Odin's son. Both of them are part of him, they're both WHO and WHAT he is at the same time. He can't necessarily change either, but he can very much so accept it. And clearly, by the end of this fic, he has accepted so.
Q4: Odin was making the final proof that he loved his son. I don't know how much more in depth I could get into this one (whilst your other questions I could probably write pages on). Odin shields and cradles Loki, and then is the one who gets him overlooked by Medics because like a good father, Odin didn't want his son to perish. He finally was able to look past Loki's crimes and accept him back into the family again.
Q5: Hast thou forgotten Loki is incredibly smart and sexy at the same time? All sexy villains survive, GOSH!Okay I had to do that but speaking more logically, Loki will research into it. He overthinks things, just like Thor said. Nothing's impossible. And if Loki can't undo the Curse, his dolt of a brother will...maybe? Perhaps? Thor has to be good for SOMETHING, right?
MischievousChaos:
Q1: His reasons? Symbolism, showing that he's 'above' Loki... breaking the dagger is showing that Loki has no power over him, that HE is the one in charge, he's the one who knows what's going on. That's sort of a deeper meaning... It's him showing power over his foe, showing that he's in control. I think it kind of symbolizes that he recognizes Loki as an enemy and is doing all he can (on an emotional level) to 'de-throne' (interesting choice of words) Loki, to show that he's not all he thinks he is or seems to be. To us, I think it also symbolizes that breaking between Loki and Thor, that Zak'Vael is trying to take brotherly affection and their strong bond apart, that he's trying to separate them.
Q2: I didn't ever think that Zak'Vael was evil, per se, I thought that he was just doing what he saw (however twisted) as right, which turned out a little farther from the truth than I'd expected. I don't think that he's evil now, especially after this revelation. I think that he is, at least PARTIALLY, responsible for the actions that he committed, forced or not. There are plenty of things he could've done. Thor was right: he could've overruled the council... He wasn't TRULY forced, because he went along with it without fighting. He didn't give all he had against it. We've seen that Zak'Vael wasn't the most courageous of all people, and I think that might be part of the reason that he didn't give it his all.
Q3: Yes. What you are and who you are, are very different things. In this story, you see a lot of people struggling to explain this difference, but I think I found one. 'Who' you are, in the sense that it's being used in here, is not YOU. It's what you're born as, rather than what you are, or what you choose to be. 'What' you are is just that: what you are as a person, what you choose to be, what your actions show you to be. What you are is VERY different from Who you are. Example: Loki as a 'who' is Son of Laufey, Frost Giant, blah dee blah dee blah... Loki as a 'what,' well, that's a bit more complicated.
Q4: I'm not as sure about this one... I think that Odin's trying to show that he approves of Loki's actions, that he's on Loki's side... I don't know this one. It confused me.
Q5: I don't think it will be Loki, no. I think that someone else will be the one to break it, because I think that, deep down, Loki has given up on finding a way out for himself. His actions in this story show that he's set on protecting Thor, but he's kind of given up on a cure. I do think, however, that one will be found. I don't know if it will be Thor, but it may very well be, as he's as dead-set on rescuing his brother as Loki is for him. I think that it is possible. I don't think that LOKI is capable of searching for one, because I think that he thinks that he isn't strong enough emotionally to handle hoping and then being let down. Thor, on the other hand, isn't the type to give up.
So that's it!
That's how it went down!
Congrats to you both, and I hope you both enjoy the rest of the story!
And of course, that goes to the rest of you!
Tell me what you think!
N._.s._S