Foreboding
A/N: Characters' paths are starting to cross. Loki's role becomes more prominent and we meet up with Jane!
Sophie stood on a dark and barren plain. The sky shrouded with a thick blanket of clouds. The air was still. The whole world seemed gray as granite and obsidian created a scale like surface. The plain seemed devoid of sound. All of Sophie's senses seemed muffled, as if she was underwater. But slowly, they began to awaken. Walking forward with seemingly no purpose, the jagged rocks cut into her bare feet and she could feel the overwhelming pain but she could not make herself stop. Snow began to lightly dust the ground. As she walked further and further out on to the plain, the cold air ensnared her lungs and encased her body in an unrelenting grip. A strong odor permeated the air, sulphur and iron. Looking around, Sophie realized that she was in a valley and atop the valley walls there seemed to be giant rock pillars but as she looked closer, she realized that they were armies. Drums began to faintly reverberate around the basin of the valley and mad yells and chanting rose in the air to deafening proportions.
She was standing in the middle of a battle field.
Sophie began to panic and covered her ears in attempt to block out the sound. The two armies began to rush down the slopes towards each other, towards Sophie. She tried to run. The rocks cut deeper into her feet. Suddenly the ground became wet and slippery and she fell. Her arms reached out to break her fall and were met by the knife-like rocks. Roars from the armies and the clashing of metal muted out her agonized scream. Her vision soon focused on a single red ribbon that stood out against the black and gray of the rocks. It was tattered and frayed. Suddenly, a searing white hot pain erupted from her wrist.
Sophie woke with a jolt to see her dad's hand on her left. The gentle look that had painted his face quickly changed to concern.
"Are you ok, Soph?" Looking around, Sophie noticed that Sten was sitting upright and Jarl had placed his head on her lap, whining with concern. Sophie's heart was still pounding in her chest and she still felt the faint burning pain in her hand which her dad now held. Regaining her composer, she looked over at her dad and nodded. "I didn't mean to wake you up like that. I know that you don't like being woken roughly."
"No, no, dad you're fine. It was just a bad dream, that's all."
Looking down at her, he asked "Can you tell me what it was about?" She shook her head and said that she couldn't remember. Her dad grimaced and left it at that.
It had grown darker outside. The weather apparently hadn't improved while she slept.
"Did you just get back from coffee?"
"No, I've been back for a while. I was working on some bills. I was just waking you to ask what you wanted for dinner." Sophie frowned, but she tried to pick up the dreary mood that the weather had caused.
"We have the tri-tip in the fridge, how does that sound?" a weary smile crossed her dad's face.
"I suppose that sounds good." He glance over at the clock, it was 3:32. Looking out the window he asked, "Did you by chance see what the weather was going to be like."
Sophie stood up and walked over to where her dad was and nudged him with her shoulder. "Well the meteorologist said that it's supposed to be foggy in the morning but sunny for the rest of the day, but you know that you can't always trust the weather person." She teased, but her dad tsked and walked away to start working on the meat. He had slipped into a quiet mood. Sophie felt as if a heavy block had been pressed on her chest, as though it was her fault that he was like this. Breathing a heavy sigh, she went over to the fridge and brought out some herbs, garlic, and butter to make some garlic bread but noticed that there was, in fact, no bread.
"Shit." She muttered as she dug through the freezer just in case they had put any in there.
"What?" asked her dad.
"We don't have any bread for the garlic bread. I'm going to run to the store real quick to grab some."
Sophie's dad nodded his head as he seasoned the tri-tip. "That's fine, but be careful out there in case it starts to rain."
"I will, dad." She grabbed her keys and purse and headed out to her truck.
As he watched Sophie pull out of the driveway, Sophie's dad slid the tri-tip into the oven and washed his hands. His hand passed through his gray, thinning hair and he sighed deeply. Walking over to his desk he sat down wearily. He opened his glasses case and picked up a letter. He only needed to read a few words on it: "progressed rapidly," "level 4," "brain." The numbness he felt showed on his features. He had tried to hide it from Sophie for quiet sometime. It wasn't until he went in for his heart attack that the doctors noticed something was wrong and after examining him they found a tumor in his brain. He stared at the black letters "cancer" for a very long time before folding up the letter again and sliding it into the shredding machine.
After grabbing some French bread and snagging a chocolate cake, Sophie made her way out of the grocery store and to her truck. This should cheer him up for sure, she thought to herself with a smile as she gentle placed the cake on the floor boards. Because she lived a ways out of town, the drive back home took about twenty minutes. She turned on the radio and began blasting Van Halen in her truck. As she pulled out of the parking lot a light rain had started. Driving further down the road, the rain picked up and soon it was as though someone had turned on a shower head which forced the California drivers, unfamiliar with weather, to slow down. Sophie growled at the traffic and muttered curses under her breath. Driving in this weather was nothing new to her after going to school in Oregon for a while, and it was really a breath of fresh air.
Up ahead, Sophie noticed a car on the side of the road. A small figure was under the open hood peering in with a phone in their ear. No one had bothered to pull over to give them a hand and Sophie flicked on her blinked and pulled over to the other side of the road where the broken down car was at. As Sophie trudged over in the rain she noticed that it was a small petite woman who was stranded on the side of the road. She had dark chocolate hair and eyes to match.
"Yes, Darcy, I did try to turn it on! It won't turn over!" The woman yelled on the phone over the rain and passing traffic. Sophie came up beside her.
"Hi, do you need help?" The woman looked up surprised at Sophie and smiled a beautiful smile.
"Oh! Thank you so much! My car stalled and now the engine won't turn over do you mind trying to help me jump it?" Sophie said of course and the woman grabbed some jumper cables from the trunk of her car still talking on the phone, "What? NO! There's no way he can help! He's millions of miles away! I don't think he would help me with the car, he doesn't know the first thing about cars . . . NO MJOLNIR DOES NOT WORK LIKE THAT!" Sophie clamped her mouth shut and tried not to laugh as she began hooking up the cables to her truck which was already facing the other car. The woman said a few more things over the phone before angrily tossing it into the car.
"Boyfriend not good with cars, ay?" Sophie asked smirking. The other woman laughed.
"I guess you could say that. Thank you so much for your help by the way, I truly appreciate it." Sophie waved her hand dismissively.
"It's no problem, really. But if your car isn't turning over there must be something wrong with the transmission." The woman nodded in agreement.
"In the meantime," the other woman said looking up at the sky, "we should probably wait in our cars before we drown in this rain."
Sophie smiled, "Good idea!" she said as she hopped into her truck and started up the battery. She pulled out her phone and texted her day saying that she was on her way home but helping someone with car troubles. After a while Sophie got out and told the woman to try to start her car but to no avail.
"By the nine!" she cursed slamming her hands on the steering wheel. Sophie took note of the odd saying but shook her head dismissing it.
"I think that you'll have to call a tow truck, unfortunately." Sophie said sympathetically, "If you want, you can come over to my place while your car is being worked on." She offered. The woman's eyebrows rose in surprise.
"Oh no, I simply couldn't impose on you. Besides, I have very important equipment and it would just make a mess." But Sophie wouldn't have it.
"No, don't worry about it. Go ahead and call the tow let me give you their number." The woman looked at her gratefully and began punching in the numbers on her phone. After she set up a tow truck to come out, Sophie helped the woman carry a bunch of her science equipment over to her truck. After the tow truck came and picked up her car, both of the girls huddled into Sophie's truck.
"So I don't believe that I caught your name . . ." said Sophie as she pulled back into traffic.
"It's Jane Foster, and you?"
"Sophie Gunvaldsson, it's nice to meet you Jane." Jane smiled at Sophie, "So what's all that equipment for back there?" Sophie asked curiously.
"Oh I'm an astrophysicist and I use that equipment to track different molecular disturbances and anomalies that connect to different astro-plains. Those instruments measure molecular density and converts them to small electromagnetic waves so therefore . . ." Jane suddenly stopped when she noticed the glazed over look in Sophie's eyes, "I'm sorry, I got carried away there." Sophie blinked a few times and looked at Jane briefly.
"Don't be sorry! This is your work and passion and that is nothing to be ashamed of. I'm just not very good at that kind of stuff. I only took a few science classes and they were basic at best." Jane laughed at Sophie's good natured reply
"So what do you do then?" asked Jane.
"Well, I'm not technically employed at the moment. I just graduated from a liberal arts institution up in Oregon where I majored in Communication Arts." Now it was Jane's turn to be a bit confused.
"If you don't mind me asking, what kind of job would you pursue with that kind of degree?"
Sophie shrugged it was a common question she got when people asked about her degree. "You could really do almost anything with it. Every business needs someone who can 'communicate' well. But I'm not exactly sure what path I want to take just yet." Jane nodded in understanding. The two chatted some more until they arrived at Sophie's house.
"I hope you like dogs." Sophie chuckled as she and Jane pulled into the driveway. Both of the women ran like men trying to get all of the instruments out of the rain and into a dry place in the car port.
"You go and get some bread and you bring a person back home with you." Sophie's dad chuckled as the two sopping wet girls walked into the house. Sten and Jarl bounded towards the two and sniffed curiously at Jane and the bags that Sophie held. He shooed them away and took the bags from Sophie.
"Well I brought some chocolate cake to make up for it." Sophie said with a bright smile, she noticed that he was in a slightly better mood, but that may have been because he was trying to save face for Jane. He greedily took out the cake and laughed manically.
"Tonight we feast!" he looked over and Jane and extended his hand "Hello, my name is Ralph Gundvaldsson, and you are . . ."
"Jane Foster," she replied, "You're daughter was kind enough to help me out with my situation. I'm sorry to be such a burden." Sophie and her dad waved away her apologies.
"Come on Jane, I'll lend you some of my sweats so you don't have to stand around in drenched clothing, although," Sophie paused looking over Jane, "they might be a tad big on you." Jane was just a little taller than Sophie's eye level but she was a bigger build than Jane. Sophie ushered her to the back of the house so that the pair could change right before dinner.
A dull clinking sound bounced against the stone walls of the prison. Loki sat with his back against a wall with his eyes glazed over. He was daftly rolling a metal cup on the ground with the slightest touch of his finger, his boredom getting the better of him. The barrier that surrounded his cell limited his abilities severely, though he could still conjure illusions inside his cell. His dark hair had become more disheveled and his simple clothing took away from his naturally noble appearance. From time to time he found entertainment in playing mind games with the guards who came down to observe the dangerous creature in its cage. He would throw up illusions of swarming ravens, rats crawling out of the walls, or, if he was not particularly fond of the guard, he would create the illusion of the guard themselves going mad in the cell as they tried to claw at the walls and laughing like a lunatic. Some guards couldn't take it anymore down there with him and were transferred to a different post. Other guards, however, had grown accustomed to his illusions and began to ignore them. This disappointed Loki because now he had to think of new ways to entertain himself, and his options were limited. He thought he would go mad with boredom. No visitors ever came to him other than Frigga every so often but he became more irritated with her visits via illusion because he knew that she was doing nothing to try to free him from his captivity.
As Loki sat there with insanity encroaching on his mind, a familiar, foreboding voice whispered in his ear.
I told you that there would be nowhere for you to hide where we would not find you. If Loki's heart could get any colder, it would have in that moment. Thanos' menacing smile could be heard in his voice as he spoke to Loki through his mind. The cup that he had been toying with rolled out of his frozen hand with a clatter.
I have already been captured and imprisoned by the Asgardians, what use would it be for you to end my life while I am in this state? Loki replied, feigning malice as he attempted to hide the cold hand of fear wrapping around his heart. A deep throated laugh echoed around the recesses of his mind.
How keen you are little frost giant. Mocked Thanos, I have no use for you if you are dead. I am in need of your . . . abilities once more. As much Loki wished to refuse Thanos and rot in his cell instead, he knew that he could easily drive Loki to the abyss of madness and push him down into its dark depths leaving him as a writhing lunatic. The push wouldn't be that hard in Loki's current state.
What use am I in a cage? Loki asked hesitantly.
Not much use at all, Thanos replied, I am providing you with a means of escape. Loki's eyes narrowed in confusion. I will grant you limited use of my power for one hour. You must make your escape within that time or your usefulness will have run out for me. Loki could feel the unbridled energy of Thanos' power flow through him and couldn't help but flex his fingers as mad smile broke out on his face. You are to come to me immediately. And if you decide to crawl away and hide . . . Images flashed through his head. Memories of pain and agony as he was relentlessly tortured for months on end flashed through his mind and his hand unconsciously wrapped around his scarred forearm.
I understand. Came Loki's defeated response. Thanos' presence suddenly drained from him leaving him alone in the prison. But accompanied with just sliver of Thanos' power, Loki suddenly felt more like himself again after being trapped behind that damned ward.
He knew what he had to do and luck was on his side as one of the newer guards came down the steps. Loki quickly threw up an illusion of his body lying on the floor motionless and another guard standing over it. The new guard quickly became alarmed and called out to the illusion he saw before him.
"What happened to the prisoner?" He demanded as he stepped closer to the shimmering cell walls. The illusion looked out at the guard and Loki mimicked the husky voice that he had heard another guard speak with.
"The Alfather, made a mistake of letting this traitor live. There was no reason to keep him alive and this was the best opportunity to dispose of him." The guard on the outside of the cell stepped within centimeters of the cell wall. Shock widened his eyes.
"You should not have questioned the Alfather's judgement, there was a pur—" his words were cut off by Loki who had trust his hand through the ward on the cell and wrapped his fingers around the guard's throat breaking the illusion. Sheer panic and terror flashed into the guard's eyes. Then a loud crack sounded and the guard fell limp. Loki carelessly tossed his body into the cell while stepping out of it himself. A surge of energy rushed back to him as the effects of the ward no longer limited his powers. He threw an illusion over the body in his own likeness while he donned the illusion of the foolish guard and strolled out of the dungeons feeling his powers increase more and more with the aid of Thanos' borrowed power.
Loki retrieved his own daggers from the armory and made his way out into the main halls of the palace. Attempting to hide his wicked grin, he made his way to the docks to prepare a vessel to take him through a secret pathway to Thanos. For a brief moment, as he took control of the craft, a thought passed through his mind.
When Thanos is finished with you he will dispose of you. He gripped the oar tightly, alternatives flashing quickly through his head. Loki could speak with Frigga, I cannot trust her, not anymore. He thought bitterly, remembering how she just stood by while he faced Odin in chains. Loki began thinking about different realms that he could escape to when, suddenly, asphyxiation took his lungs and captured his breath.
I will find you. The cold voice of Thanos whispered. Consider this a warning. You should make hast to me! Loki's lungs sucked in air as he was released. Anger and frustration bloomed in his chest but he knew that there was nothing he could do. He sat in silence for a moment before releasing a frustrated growl and pointing the vessel towards the pathway that linked Asgard to Thanos' realm of darkness.
** Alright more Loki! Next chapter I promise that Loki will meet up with some more characters (ie Sophie and Jane) tell me what you guys think and where you would like to see this go ;)