Come to Pass
Chapter 1: The Arrival
It was early dawn when the fading moonlight traded places with the bright sunlight as the rays stroked the rainbow bridge in a frenzy of dazzling colors. The wind blew through the trees, the gold of the Asgardian city sparkling with hope and promise. Citizens began to rouse from their beds, preparing themselves for the day ahead.
But today was like no other day.
Darkness was brewing just on the horizon. A lingering shadow at the corners of the Asgardian's vision clouded the rest of their frame of reference. Something was coming for them and they were not ready for it. Something was hunting them and the creatures' spindly arms and claws broke trees in half as they rustled on the outskirts of the forests. Heavy footsteps shook fear into Asgardian blood as the creatures began their descent. They clambered off of their spaceship in droves and began to infiltrate the compound.
Screams erupted into the quiet air as the alarm rang out and the guards scrambled to their feet, weapons at hand. They were just beginning to face the onslaught of the creatures, the alien species lacking visible eyes with grey reptilian skin and razor sharp teeth, when there were suddenly hundreds compared to the mere handful moments before. Horses neighed in alarm and guards began to be pulled apart by the torso in one quick swipe from the creatures' claws.
Families took cover within their small homes but no one was safe. No one was off limits. The creatures cackled with glee as more fell from the sky, jumping off the spaceship from hundreds of feet above and spraying red blood of their victims into the blue sky.
Chaos erupted one after another as the guards only just managed to injure a few of the creatures.
But overall, Asgard was no match.
And if the large purple figure lying within the shadows of his spaceship, smiling and admiring his work was anything to go by: this would mean the fall of the kingdom.
{*!*!*}
Back in the dungeons, Loki feigned indifference as to why there were guards leaving the quarters in a hurry. He tried not to cast his green eyes to the commotion but to say his year in exile within a prison cell was anything more than boring would be a lie he knew not how he would believe.
So, despite himself, he found his eyes trailing over the guards frenzy as they came in droves in and out of the doors. They held their weapons up high, in poor form by the way, shouting orders at each other while a few of the prisoners nearest to the doors screamed and cried.
"A war! A war!"
Someone pleaded with mercy in their veins for the Allfather to protect them and another tried to negotiate their way out of their cell.
"We are doomed!" A woman, a thief earlier in her life, yelled, sinking to her knees in shock.
At this point, Loki couldn't help but find he was intrigued.
"We are to be killed by the hundreds in here!" A man slammed his fist against the golden interlocking shield on the cell's windows.
Another piped up, mercilessly, "You are no match for Him! He will have His way, the Master does not forget!"
Another prisoner interjected right away, "Oh shut the fuck up, Ron! You're full of shit and you know it!" A quick shove was tossed as Ron was forced to his knees with the unknown named assailant's boots on his back.
"I do not lie!" Ron assured, a smile growing on his face. "The Master has come and the Master will have all ye see the truth for what it is!"
Someone else within their cell groaned.
"Enough of the tropes, Ron, no one is listening to your old flavor of crazy."
Ron shook his head, laughing. "You will all see-you will see when He comes. He is not with mercy, He will make you bleed and will declare you His before He's ready to use you for the fight! Blessed be our Master!"
A skirmish arose within Ron's cell after his recent words but Loki was already on his feet, shaking from head to toe.
If what the fool was saying was true, it meant that Thanos had come for him.
For Loki.
Or was that too pretentious to think it was only about himself?
If this was true, if this were reality, then Loki was fucked-incredibly and irrevocably fucked.
"I have to get off this planet," Loki whispered. But how?
He was alone in his more lavish cell and he knew not how he could leave together in one piece before Thanos came for him, found him and tore him apart limb from limb.
He swallowed hard, uncontrolled panic toiling through his body as he sunk to the floor himself, uncertain as to how to approach any form of problem solving to this particular scenario.
The noise around the prison's cells faded into a chatter and static of unclear conversation as more shouts and cries plunged into the air. Loki felt like he were about to pass out, having this moment to think about everything he had done in his life and every place where he had fallen and failed. He had failed his (not) father, killed his actual father, failed in the mission of Midgard to claim the planet as his and ultimately failed Thanos and the Other when it came to bringing them everything that they wanted. But maybe most importantly, Loki realized he had, too, failed himself.
And now, with only a year undergone in his punishment for the lives he had taken, he was meant to be found and castrated by the large purple man himself?
Sometimes, and Loki shook himself for forgetting this, but there were fates out there worse than death.
Loki buried his face in his hands, the cool touch of his fingers coming across his sweaty forehead in a way that was both relaxing and terrifying. It reminded him of when the Other would break his arms and legs together at once with their creepy six-fingered hands and malicious voices like rasps of a smoker. A chill ran through Loki as he lay there for what felt like hours for his inevitable fate. It only barely registered in his mind that after two minutes, four and seven that he was still alive and he was still in one piece.
Flashbacks crawled through his vision, distorting the world and reality around him, until he felt a warm hand on his shoulder and he cried out in fear and agony at the sudden touch.
"Brother," Thor, foolish and incredible and disgusting Thor said to him in his right ear and Loki opened his eyes again, not realizing he had ever closed them.
"Thor," he whispered quietly, barely even a whisper.
His voice was gone, his soul tattered and his body was all that remained. Abuse after flashes of abuse came back to him in a pristine and clear way that felt wrong and right in all the ways that he felt he had deserved it. It felt good to feel like shit because it felt familiar. And familiarity was something he found himself clinging to in that moment, when Thor's red cape nestled into him in a wave of comfort and warmth and he clung, he clung to it because it was something external to him that rooted him back into the present moment.
"Loki, we must go. A war has befallen Asgard."
Fuck it, Loki wanted to go back into his traumatic memories. Maybe the present moment wasn't as great as he remembered it to be.
"I-I can't."
Thor, from what little Loki could tell, seemed to be looking around them for something.
"I can't, Thor." Loki repeated again, a little sterner, a little more afraid. "It-It's him and I can't have failed him. But I have. And he will kill me."
He swallowed hard, green eyes staring out blankly to the air before them.
"Loki, you are all right. I know not what is happening but I promise you that Father will not come to harm you."
"That's not-" Loki made to correct him but he conceded to going with this lie instead, for now.
"Brother, it's time. I will be there for you each step of the way. But we must not stay here, it's not safe. Come," he lifted Loki to his feet and ushered him outside of his cell.
"Where are you taking me?" Loki asked meekly; he was suddenly ashamed that he hadn't paid enough attention to Thor to know if it was truly him or an imposter.
"To the throne room," Thor answered immediately. "Father will know what to do."
Loki laughed, mirthlessly, "You think too highly of the Allfather."
Thor shot him a look of question and confusion. "Don't talk like that."
"Oh? And should I have grace and patience for the one who placed me in these dungeons?"
Thor shook his head, "You know it was your actions that placed you here."
"And apparently mother's actions that kept me alive. Do remind me to send her a thank you card." Loki retorted, rolling his eyes.
But the conversation felt good. It felt calming and right and fair and like he was back in the present, back when things were less confusing and less hurtful. It was something, at least, and he felt warmth spread in his chest, wanting in part to thank Thor for this moment and also battling with the will and pride within him to remain stoic and uncaring.
Instead, he just smiled through the pain, hoping things would be okay.
Oh, how very, very wrong he was.
{*!*!*}
"Father!" Thor commanded the throne room as he scurried both himself and Loki inside quickly.
Mother was nowhere to be seen but Loki hoped that she was all right.
Odin turned to Thor immediately, almost completely ignoring Loki, and pointed to the now closed doorway.
"Thor, continue to fend off the army with the other guards. I must speak to Loki alone."
Thor made to protest and Loki felt something in his stomach drop with dread.
What game was Odin trying to play?
Distrust colored Loki's vision as he stepped away from Thor and smiled calmly up at the Allfather.
"Yes, Thor, leave us to chat, will you?"
He tossed a quick glance towards his not brother to strengthen the effect that he felt nonchalant and relaxed.
Internally, his insides were on fire and the panic in his chest was causing his heart to flutter rapidly.
Thor, obviously hurt and slightly fearful (for who, Loki knew not) but turned away, not before telling his brother, "Father does want what's best for you."
In retrospect, those words would come to both haunt Loki, remain painful and confusing.
Once Thor had left and they could hear the nearby scuffle happening outside the large, thick doors, Odin peered out at Loki from his one eye.
"He has come for you."
It was more of an observation than a question.
Loki looked down, shrugging one shoulder in a way to hide the shakes, "Yes."
"You have endangered the thousands of lives on this planet just by being here."
Loki blinked.
"And you're surprised by that?" He retorted easily, a questioning tone shimmying into his voice.
"No." Odin said calmly. "Wherever you go there is death and destruction. Why is that, Loki?"
Loki laughed, "Is this your version of a therapy session?"
Odin eyed the door mindfully for a moment.
"And what in me should let you walk free?"
Because I'm supposed to be your son, Loki thought but didn't say anything. The silence that followed was almost deafening if it weren't for the screams of pain and the bloodshed happening just feet away.
"You don't have to," Loki whispered. He gazed up at the Allfather again, resolve strengthened. "If you do not care for me, then give me over to Thanos. You won't have to deal with my bullshit any longer than that."
Odin looked back at Loki with an unrecognizable emotion in his eye.
"If only life were as simple as you make it out to be."
Loki tilted his head in confusion.
"I don't seem to understand. If the problem is Thanos, which it appears to be, then let me go with him and he will save your people…. Well, what's left of them."
The Allfather shook his head.
"You are still young so your naivety blocks your vision. In fact, much blocks your vision. You do not see the world as it is but rather as you'd like it to be. How do we fix this issue?"
A silence surrounded the two again.
"Beauty is not only in what is seen but in what is felt. Do you know this to be true, Loki?"
Loki blinked and rolled his eyes, "Sure."
Odin shook his head again, more concealed this time.
"You do not, for if you had, you wouldn't be standing here today. The answer is not in what life appears to be but in what life is. I will not cast you over to Thanos today. But I will ask you to find beauty in what can be unseen."
Loki shifted uncomfortably, tears springing to his eyes of their own volition.
"I don't like where this is going, Odin."
Odin smiled faintly, "No, you won't, but that is because you see so clearly that you don't see at all. Sight is a powerful sense that you have taken advantage of. The world isn't neat and cozy; it is dark and treacherous. But there can still be beauty found in it. You, thus far, have lost that beauty. Maybe without sight, you can find it again."
Loki backed up instinctively, definitely not liking where this was going.
"Father-?" his voice was small, his jaw clenching in worry and his throat tightening in pain.
A pounding came at the door.
Screams rattled through the walls.
Blood unfallen and already slain sprayed in the sunlight, the gold of the palace sparkling in both beauty and pain.
Disgrace and rage cycled through the air, the creatures just beyond the walls crying out and slashing their teeth and claws into the guards.
It happened quickly-all at once. There was an overstimulation of the environment around him, the question of whether Thor knew about this plot all along, and the pain that shot through his skull when he just glimpsed Odin standing by his throne, Gungnir pointed directly at Loki with a bright yellow-white light that collided into the trickster's face.
He thought he heard a new scream in the mix, his hands tried to come up to his head but he couldn't quite make it there, and he fell back into nothing-no floor, no wall, no ceiling. He fell backwards and further and further before he realized what was happening.
He was going through another vortex. He was being misplaced. He was being tossed into another realm.
He was…He was gone.
A/N: Welcome back!
I finally defeated the writer's block by writing up the majority of this chapter. Thanos took on a deeper presence than I intended for him to in this story but I guess we'll just roll with it. There are now two primary plots: Thanos and yes, blindness. This is a fic idea I had way back in summer 2014 so it is soooo awesome and amazing that I am FINALLY writing about it now! I titled it at the end of Dec 2018 and I think it really fits well. I'm guessing this will be about 60 chapters long, and I hope that you enjoy it as much as I do and will continue to do so!
Thank you for reading and leave me a comment if you have the time! I'd love to hear from you guys. Thanks again!
Title of fic: 12/30/2018, Titled Chapter (all chapters will be individually titled): 12/31/18
Handwritten: 12/31/2018
Typed/Written: 1/3/2019
Edited: 1/4/2019
PS this chapter was brought to you by the background music of Wrabel's 11 Blocks!