Hope you understand the need for a little delay—Bauldr's Tears Book III is now published on Amazon!
Oh, and another treat for you! A lovely friend of mine made a trailer for this story! Go to youtube and type in "Loki/Jane Frozen Heart" and it will lead you right to it! Leave her comments! She did excellent, hard work!
For the first two sections, I listened to the TDW soundtrack "A Universe from Nothing."
Next section, from the same soundtrack: "Uprisinig," then the Thor 1 soundtrack "Laufey."
Then, "The Trial of Loki."
Enjoy!
VVVVV
CHAPTER FOUR
Dissociative Fugue:
"One or more episodes of amnesia
in which the inability to recall some
or all
of one's past
and either the loss of one's identity
or the formation of a new identity occur with sudden,
unexpected,
purposeful travel away from home.
As the person experiencing a Dissociative Fugue
may have recently suffered the reappearance of an event
or person
representing an earlier life trauma,
the emergence of an
armoring or defensive personality
seems to be for some,
a logical apprehension of the situation."
VVVVV
"Beautiful! Powerful! Dangerous! Cold!
Ice has a magic can't be controlled
Stronger than one,
Stronger than ten
Stronger than a hundred men!"
-Frozen
Loki rested.
His heart had slowed to less than a beat per minute. Ice enclosed him. Ice embraced him. Ice held his whole body fast, like swaddling clothes, numbing the stabbing pain that had needled through every limb, until it eased and vanished. He didn't have to bear any of his own weight—the ice served as his frame. His support. His shield.
His flashing, fluttering thoughts had long ago lost their edges and turned to gray fog that settled down through his bones and disappeared, leaving darkness and silence in his head.
Blessed silence.
Blessed, empty silence.
Nothing could touch him within this frosted iron shell. Nothing could find him. Nothing could hurt him. Not ever again. Desolate and small, for certain—but this was a fortress of his own making, and he would stay inside its walls.
Loki rested.
Darkness sank down through him. True quiet—for the first time in centuries—shrouded his soul. His stabbing memories released, one at a time, rolling away from him like snow in a great wind.
His hands did nothing.
They did not fidget; they did not rub against each other. His fingers didn't snap, didn't rifle through pages of a book, didn't toss a ball, didn't grip a knife or an ice casket or a staff or reins or a helmet; didn't slap, wrench, punch, pry or stab.
They lay motionless upon each shoulder.
His mouth did nothing.
It did not whistle. It did not sing. His tongue did not taste his lips to test for magic in the air. It did not smirk, it did not open to speak—it did not insult, it did not lie, it did not tremble, it did not cry out.
His eyes did nothing.
They hid behind closed lids. They did not glare, they did not wink—neither did their gaze penetrate or cut. No tears fell from their lashes. Darkness veiled them. They could not—would not—see. Anything.
Ever again.
And in that sure knowledge, Loki rested.
Finally, at long last, he felt nothing.
Thought nothing. Remembered nothing.
He slept.
In deep…
Impenetrable…
Frozen…
Solitude.
VVVVV
A…shiver.
A…whisper…of…a shiver…
Like…a feather…against polished…marble…
…soft…
Deep.
Down.
Below.
…heat…
…heat…?
…No.
…deep down. Heat.
Shivering.
Closer…
…warmer…
…something…coming.
Something.
Something…alive.
Something warm.
Something…hot.
Something…
Big.
Danger.
Wake up.
A voice. A man's voice.
A voice…? From where?
Loki's heart beat once, hard.
It hurt.
His mind frowned. The black shadows within his head writhed. The fog in his soul twisted in discomfort.
It beat again.
His whole chest panged. His ribs riddled with sharp spasms.
Wake up.
THUD. His heart slammed against his breastbone.
Heat gushed through his veins. His gut clamped down. He moaned. His fingers tingled.
Adrenaline pumped through all his muscles—they clenched.
The ice around his face and throat slowly began melting—sliding in icy streams down his cheeks and into his collar. He commanded his fingers to move. The ice resisted.
Wake up!
He clenched his teeth. Closed his hands.
The ice cracked. Snapped away and crumbled. He tightened his hands to fists.
The ice tumbled from his face.
He opened his eyes.
He could see straight through the three-foot wall before him.
He braced his arms.
His heart pounded again.
Summoned all his strength—
Flung his arms out and away from his chest.
The ice exploded.
It burst outward, straight into the rocky corridor, shattering to the floor.
Feeling rushed back into his legs. He lifted his chin. Stepped out into the cave.
Turned his head. And saw it.
VVVV
Jane peered down the tunnel at the strange, swelling light. The floor vibrated—she could feel it through her shoes.
A blast of wind hit her.
Hot wind.
"What…?" she whispered.
The light surged toward her. Slithering crackling hissed across the floor. The shadows began solidifying, swimming back and forth along the ground—a deep heaving of air pulsed toward her…
Then—
Flames erupted, flaring in a blinding stream toward her.
She leaped backward—
Their fingers didn't reach her—they died and fell back…
But not before illuminating the towering tunnel—
And the beast that clawed toward her.
A dragon.
Flashing black and scarlet scales, a body fifty-feet long, with a lashing spiked tail—a long, muscular neck, a spiny head with huge, round, glowing yellow eyes and thin, needle-like teeth each three feet long; and legs ending in sprawling paws and wicked hooked claws. Its throat glowed like a furnace. It snorted like a steam engine and reared its head, is spines spreading. Its nightmarish reptilian eyes fixed on her.
The ice wall behind her exploded.
She whirled around.
Glowing blue ice smashed all over the stone, spraying and jingling. Huge chunks collapsed, tipped and shattered.
Loki stepped out.
Frost coated his armor—ice slid from his shoulders and down his chest plate. Snow rained from his raven hair. Freezing water trailed down the sapphire skin of his face and hands. The shards of ice cracked and crunched beneath his boots. He lifted his head, turned…
And his blood-red eyes fixed on the dragon.
It saw him, too.
Jane threw herself against the wall and fell to her knees, heart staggering.
Loki set his stance and canted his head at the dragon in a cold, animal-like fashion. The dragon's lips curled back further from its teeth, and its eyes narrowed. It growled deep inside itself, lowered its massive head and took a deep, thunderous breath of Loki's scent. Loki's hair and riding coat rustled.
The dragon suddenly reared.
Opened its mouth and roared—
Fire spewed from its maw.
Loki clapped his hands, cupped them at his chin and blew.
A hurricane of frozen wind swept through the flames.
Steam burst through the tunnel—fog clouded the air. Jane ducked and covered her head. Sleet splattered across Loki's head and shoulders. He waved his hand and summoned the blue, glowing light from behind him. It buzzed straight at the dragon like a bumble bee. The dragon twitched back. Slapped at it.
Swatted it against the wall.
The tunnel went dark.
Jane gasped.
The dragon howled fire—it tore through the tunnel, scorching her skin. She ducked down as far as she could, covered her head and screamed.
Out of the corner of her left eye…
Loki leaped clear, dancing past the flames. He rolled swiftly, hopped to his feet.
Darkness.
Loki clapped his hands.
Flash!
A bolt of glowing blue ice darted through the black.
Struck the dragon in the face.
It howled and reared back.
Darkness.
Fire sprayed against the far wall. Burnt it black. A whirlwind tore at Jane's clothes. For an instant, she saw Loki dart toward the dragon. The dragon's eyes blazed.
Darkness.
Clap!
FLASH.
Blue light slapped from Loki's hands and cracked right against the left side of the dragon's head. The dragon jerked back, snorting.
Darkness.
Huffing.
Snorting.
Snarling.
Claws raking stone.
A wild, blinding stream of fire.
The dragon lunged.
Loki leaped up and over its arching neck.
Darkness.
FLASH.
A lightning bolt of ice careened across the ceiling—illuminating the whole dragon. The dragon writhed and lashed its tail. Loki threw himself back.
Darkness.
Jane covered her face, staring through her fingers, straining to see even a shadow—
The dragon screeched.
Fire burst out from open mouth, rolling across the floor—
Loki, caught in an explosion of hellish orange light, loomed over the dragon's neck. With his foot, he pinned the dragon's head to the stone, and with both hands he rammed a long shaft of ice through its throat.
Bones snapped.
The dragon choked.
The fire sputtered and went out.
Darkness.
Silence.
Jane gasped, then covered her mouth with both hands. Her heart beat as fast as a rabbit's—she battled to stifle her panting.
Soft footsteps. Like those of a cat. Slow and even. Coming closer.
She squeezed her eyes shut, halfway praying for there to be truth to that old childhood belief: if you can't see him, he can't see you…
"I hear your breathing."
The voice purred and thrummed with three undertones—deep as the blackness around it. The words were careful, and delicately formed.
Jane blinked her eyes open…
And gasped horribly.
A pair of glowing red eyes pierced the dark and fixed on her.
"What are you?" the low voice asked.
"I'm…" Jane tried, frantically pushing herself back against the wall. "I'm…Jane."
"Jane," it repeated, as if trying an unfamiliar word.
"Jane Foster. I'm from Earth. Midgard," she corrected quickly. The red eyes blinked.
"You are human," the voice said. Jane swallowed and nodded—finally realizing that he could probably see her perfectly.
"Jane…" it said again, more quietly. Thoughtfully. The eyes turned away, and slowly glanced through the tunnel. "What are you doing on Jotunheim?"
"No, we're…We're not…" Jane began, frowning. "We're on Svartalfheim."
"Svartalfheim," he repeated. Considered a moment. "That would explain the dragon."
"It…would?"
The eyes blinked again, and returned their gaze to her. Narrowed.
"Why are you on Svartalfheim, human?"
"I…" Jane stopped herself, staring up at those eyes. This…This was Loki, wasn't it…? Couldn't he remember?
"To find Malekith," she finally answered.
"Malekith," he breathed, as if recalling. "The elven king. I…have only had dealings with him once, long ago…A prisoner exchange in treaty, for the safety of my kingdom..."
Jane stared up at him.
"Wh…Your kingdom?"
"Jotunheim," he answered, looking down at her. "I am Laufey, the king."
Jane mentally stumbled.
"Did you find Malekith?" his voice cut into her thoughts.
"I…Yes."
"What did you require of him?"
"I was trying to…" Jane stopped, frowning hard up at the blackness and the gleaming eyes. "You…don't remember?"
"You have told me nothing, yet," he snapped. "Answer my question."
"You don't…" Jane breathed. "You…you don't remember…!"
"What did you require of him?" he pressed.
"I…" Jane began, treading carefully. "Was trying to stop him from…using the Aether to…He wants to turn the universe back to the way it was in the beginning. Dark…like it used to be." She halted again, biting back the temptation to ask him again why he didn't remember that…
"Hm," he said, low and pensive. "Malekith striving with the Aether—and my suddenly walking from Jotunheim straight into Svartalfheim…I imagine it's time for the Convergence, then?"
"Um…yes…" Jane answered, baffled. He sighed and clicked his tongue.
"The same old story with Malekith. Never any new tricks…"
Jane bit down, theories wrestling through her head. He sucked in a breath and turned back to her.
"Did you succeed?"
Jane straightened.
"What?"
"Did you succeed in stopping Malekith?"
"I…No," Jane confessed, feverishly debating with herself. "He got away."
"Hm," he said again, lower. He fell silent, glancing off.
Then, he returned his attention to her—and Jane sensed him tilt his head.
"Why are you alone?"
Jane said nothing. Her throat closed.
He didn't remember. He didn't even know who he was.
Out there, when they'd gotten off the boat, everything Jane heard and saw had been muddied by a panicked fog. She'd seen Loki turn another color, and fight with Thor—she'd been afraid, confused, and half certain she was imagining the whole thing…
…and then she'd had that vision of Earth, being swallowed by black, crawling tendrils…
She did remember that, in front of Malekith, he'd said he was Loki, son of Laufey. Which Jane knew wasn't true, since he was Thor's brother.
But now…
She'd seen his skin in those flashes from the dragon fire. It was still dark blue, like a frozen ocean. And his eyes…
What had happened?
Something with the Aether? An elf spell?
Why couldn't he remember who he was?
She swallowed again. Well, whatever was wrong, whatever spell he was under, she had to be very careful. He thought he was a king—and not just a king. A Frost Giant king.
"I…came alone," Jane finally decided to lie. "I thought I knew how to stop him."
Loki snorted.
"A little Midgardian witch, hm?"
His feet shuffled. Walked away.
Jane sat up straight.
"Wait—where are you going?"
"Home," he replied—from several paces away. "You should do the same, witch."
"I'm…I'm not a witch, I'm a scientist," Jane protested, using the wall for support and standing up. She couldn't see anything now. Her heartbeat picked back up. "You can't leave me here!"
He didn't answer.
"I do know how to stop him!" she cried, suddenly not caring if he called her bluff. "I can't just go home—he's going to destroy my home unless I do something, but I can't! I can't see in here, I don't know where I am!"
"And why should I care about your home?" came the casual, hissed reply from out of the blackness. "I'm bound to nothing but my duty to my kingdom and my people."
"Your people aren't safe," Jane shot back. "Nobody is. He's planning on taking over everything, not just Earth."
A whisper of movement.
The scarlet eyes blinked open right above her. She jerked back against the wall.
"How?"
"How what?" she rasped.
"How can he be stopped?"
"He can't be stopped from here," she answered, trembling. "But…But I have the equipment to…to disrupt the Convergence, to…control it so it won't do what he wants."
"Where?"
"It's on Earth."
He paused.
"How did you get here?"
"Through a…I walked through. Because of the Convergence," Jane lied again. "Just like you did."
"Where?"
"It's…" Jane struggled to peer down the tunnel. "It's that way." She pointed. "It's outside the cave, across a valley and up a hill. W…I came in a hoverboat. It's still out there."
Her stomach tied itself in knots. She was actually pointing the way back to Asgard. But if she could get Loki to lead her out of this pitch-black cave, then maybe she could lose him out there in the rocks, get back to Asgard herself and convince Odin to finally help Thor…
Loki remained motionless for a long time, studying her. She started to sweat.
He straightened up.
"Very well," he growled. "Come."
"I can't see," she reminded him.
"Take the tail of my coat," he instructed.
A rough edge of leather brushed against her hands. She jerked, then reflexively reached out to grab it—
Touched something soft.
Yanked her hand back.
A sensation so cold it burned her fingers.
"Ow!" she cried, gripping her left hand tightly in her right. "What was that?"
"My coat, witch, not my hand," he muttered impatiently.
"That was your hand?" she cried.
"One of the superior aspects of the Jotun breed," he replied—and she could hear his sneer.
The fabric flapped against the back of her hand again.
Carefully, wincing, she gripped the edge of it.
"Come," he said again—and the fabric tugged on her. She stumbled forward, seeing nothing, hearing nothing but their footsteps on stone, knowing nothing but the icy leather gripped between her fingers.
VVVVV
"You told me it was this way."
"It is this way," Jane insisted, straining her eyes but still seeing nothing. His footsteps stopped. The coat slackened. Jane quickly halted to keep from running into his back.
"We've already gone further than we should have," Loki murmured. "Yet there's been no opening. Nothing."
"We weren't very far from the cave entrance to begin with," Jane replied. "I just came in, to get out of the snow—"
"What snow?"
"Snow, outside," Jane said.
"How could it be snowing on Svartalfheim?"
"I don't know," Jane shook her head. "I just woke up in the middle of a blizzard."
"Woke up?"
"Yeah, Malekith threw me down and I think…I must have hit my head."
"Convenient," Loki muttered. "You were lying, weren't you? You don't know which way it is at all."
"Yes, I do," Jane answered, trying to keep herself from shaking. "It's this way. There's only one possible way—"
"Do not answer back to me," he snapped, leaning dangerously close to her—frost stung the end of her nose. "You will reply to my questions as I ask them, and if you feel the need to address me when you do, you shall call me Your Majesty or Sire. Say nothing more. Is that understood?"
Jane clamped her jaw shut and squeezed her eyes closed. He backed up. The air in front of her face warmed a fraction.
"Now," he breathed, and she felt him turn back around. "If it isn't this direction, then what—"
He fell silent. Jane didn't dare ask.
Then—
She felt it.
A whisper of air. To her right.
She turned toward it.
Unmistakable. A low, gentle draft.
The coat tugged. Loki followed the draft. Jane, biting the inside of her cheek, was forced to follow.
VVVV
Jane squinted up ahead. Frowned so hard she gave herself a headache.
But finally—finally, she knew it.
Light.
Some kind of light.
Ahead.
First, she glimpsed the outline of Loki's shoulders, right in front of her. They swayed just slightly as he strode. Then, the edges of his tattered hair.
Their footsteps still echoed against stone, and she couldn't hear anything like wind. But at long last, she could see.
A disembodied blue light faded into existence and soon surrounded them. She blinked several times, adjusting her vision. Loki's coat, still grasped in both her hands, sparkled with a sheen of Jack Frost. He glanced to either side, assessing—and his skin seemed luminescent blue, all lined with patterns, his red eyes glinting.
Then, she realized that the walls were shimmering.
She turned to the right, disconcerted—
And stared right back into the face of her own reflection.
"What—!" she yelped, letting go of Loki's coat. She stopped. So did Loki.
And all at once, the two of them were surrounded by duplicates of themselves.
Loki took a measured breath.
A million Lokis of all sizes and angles all around them did the exact same thing. He glanced up.
"Mirrors."
Jane, wrapping her arms around herself, slowly turned her head to stare.
Mirrors surrounded them. Covered the walls and the ceiling. Disjointed, like a stained-glass-window, some pieces tilted at strange angles. Only the floor remained the same, as far as she could tell, interrupted by occasional narrow boulders. But the floor seemed to march on in a broad field off to either side of them, populated by giant, shattered, miniature or halved versions of herself and the icy, forbidding Loki.
It made her sick to her stomach. She put a hand to her head, trying not to get dizzy.
"Elves," Loki muttered, his lip curling in distaste. "Always trying to be so clever."
He started forward again, which caused all the reflections to jolt and swim. Jane stumbled after him.
"What do you mean, clever? Your…Majesty," she remembered to add, trying hard to just focus on his real back.
He glanced halfway over his shoulder at her.
"The dragon was the first gate. This is the second," he said. "This is an elvish fortress, and it—"
The floor swallowed him.
He plunged down through it and disappeared.
His reflections vanished from all the mirrors.
Jane gasped. It tore her throat.
She stared.
Straight in front of her on the floor, where there should have been stone…
Was another mirror.
But this one's edges rippled.
To be continued…
Review! Oh, and check out "Bauldr's Tears"! Book III is out!
And go find the trailer for this fic! It's a pretty one!