On the way to the Dark Man's fortress, the companions tried to imagine what would be the challenge of the mission.

"I bet he is a giant and that he is not very friendly. After asking him if he is with or against us, he will try to kill us and we will have to fight him!"

"Thank you for this story, Fandral!" said Volstagg. "And who will win the combat?"

"We will win the combat, of course!"

"No, I imagine him more like a mysterious man." said Loki. "Who else would call himself the Dark Man, anyway?"

"Loki is right." said Thor. "The guy seems a bit strange. And if our father wants to know his intentions, it means necessarily that he has something to hide."

"What? A terrible secret?" asked Volstagg.

"Does he use magic?" asked Hogun who had not spoken until the morning.

The companions looked at each other, then at Volstagg, who surely had the answer.

"I don't know…" said he.

"Maybe we should send Loki first." said Fandral. "He will be able to tell us if the man has powers or not."

Loki was ready to answer but Volstagg spoke first.

"No, no, no!" said he. "We will go together. Remember that it is a test for all of you. Loki doesn't have to face the stranger alone. Moreover, we should start with diplomacy. Nothing tells us that he will be against us."


In the afternoon, they reached a hill from which they could see the fortress.

"Here it is!" said Volstagg.

"It looks lovely." said Fandral. "Someone who lives in here can't possibly mean any harm."

"Do you see the entrance?" asked Loki. "It is shining! I think there is a golden bridge to cross before entering the fortress!"

"Well, I don't know if he is a dark man, but at least he is a rich man!" said Fandral.

"We should hurry." said Hogun who was always the voice of reason in the group. "It is going to rain heavily."

Indeed, he was right. When they reached the bridge, it was already raining and it seemed the weather was turning into storm.

"Come, we must get to the entrance before the wind blows too hard." said Volstagg. "Otherwise, golden or not, the bridge will be too dangerous to cross."

Volstagg was worried because the bridge was very narrow and without railings. Under such a storm it was unlikely to cross it without any harm.

"Enough fall for me during this travel." said Loki. "We should better hurry."

The group took the bridge and arrived to the huge doors of the fortress.

"Anyone wants to knock?" asked Fandral. "Maybe showing some courtesy will please him and he will be more inclined to listen to us."

"I doubt he could hear a knock on his door with this storm overhead." said Thor. "We should go in."

"I have a bad feeling about this." said Sif taking a look around.

"She's right." said Loki. "This… place. It's surrounded by bad waves. I can feel it. People died here..."

"We are here to accomplish a mission. We can't return home without fulfilling it." said Volstagg.

Thor pulled the giant doors and entered the fortress followed by his friends. Strangely, it was all quiet inside the castle. There were not many lights, so Loki made a light appear in his hand and made it move with them along the corridor in order for the companions to see where they were putting their feet.

"Is there anyone?" asked Volstagg out loud. "We are a delegation sent by the King Odin of Asgard. We would like to talk to the master of this house, the man calling himself the Dark Man."

But no one answered him.

"It's cold." said Hogun.

In fact, it was so cold that they could see their breath.

"We should go on." said Thor. "Maybe there will be someone in the main room."

They were all very scared and intimidated by the creepy appearance of the hallway. Nevertheless, they all got to the throne room, following Thor. They found a strange decoration in it. They were a lot of statues alongside the way to the throne, like a guard of honour made of stone. And it was still very quiet.

"Maybe we should go." said Sif. "It really makes me nervous. Look at their faces." said she showing one of the statues. "It seems so real. They look like real people transformed into stones."

"Don't say things like that!" said Fandral. "It is scaring me to death."

"I often provoke this feeling." said a loud voice in the back of the room.

They all turned in the direction of the voice but saw nothing, because the person was hidden in the shadows. He took a step forward and they discovered a tall blue man. He was only wearing a loincloth which let his musculature visible to all. With his serious face and his arms crossed on his chest, he was very frightening. The man was looking at the Asgardians with such intensity that they all missed a heartbeat. Volstagg was the first to regain his composure.

"I guess you are the so called Dark Man."

"Indeed I am."

"We are here to…"

But the Dark Man didn't let him speak. He answered with a calm tone, which was amplifying the warriors' anxiety.

"I know why you are here. I heard you the first time. What I don't know on the other hand is why you entered my home like it was yours."

He finished his sentence with a smile but his eyes were betraying his real feelings. He was furious.

"I told you, we should have knocked." said Fandral whispering.

"I hope you would forgive our impudence." said Volstagg. "There was a storm outside and…"

"Don't go any further." cut the Dark Man. "I don't care. By entering in without my permission, you have put yourselves in a greater danger. Don't you know what I'm capable of?"

"In fact, no." said Loki. "We have been told that you were a fierce warrior. That you had great capabilities. Odin would like to know more about you."

"You try to soothe me. I could be tempted to reveal you all my powers but it won't work, young man."

Loki didn't like being called 'young man' as it was said to diminish him.

"Perhaps, you don't know who we are neither." said Loki with arrogance, provoking him.

The Dark Man seemed taken aback.

"Explain yourself."

"I am Loki Odinson. Of Asgard. And this is my brother Thor."

"Odin's sons! It looks like I'm a great deal to the King if he sends me his sons!"

"Yes, you are." said Volstagg, trying once more to gain his trust.

But it was all ruined by Thor:

"And if you don't cooperate, I can assure you we will take measures to make sure you will never be a threat to any Asgardian!"

Thor had talked out of rage and had clearly angered the master of the fortress. Volstagg closed his eyes:

"We are doomed…"

"Well, Asgardian, if you seek quarrel with me, you'll find it! I will never bend before anyone. Now, if you don't agree with me, fight me! I will even let you give the first blow."

"Don't do that, Thor!" said his brother.

"This is ridiculous!" said Volstagg. "We are here to speak with you, not to fight you!"

"My home, my rules! You want to get out: your prince fights me or you die. Clear?"

"I don't care about your rules! If I want to fight at his side, who will try to stop me?" asked Loki.

"Me." said a female voice.

Loki and the others turned to see who had spoken to discover a blue woman, draped in a red gown.

"I'm sorry my dear, I forgot all politeness." said the Dark Man. "Everyone, please welcome my wife, Desire."

"I guess your name means something special. What is the purpose of it?" asked Loki. "Are we all going to fall under your spell?"

"I should ask you." said she closing the distance between them. "Are you?" asked she in return, touching his cheek.

Sif looked at her with anger. She was going to take her blade out and hit her, when Volstagg took her wrist.

"Don't." said he in a low voice.

"Or, are you?" asked Desire to Fandral.

Fandral was some meters away from Desire, not insensible to her charms. In fact, it was his biggest weakness: women. He was irresistibly attracted by her.

"Be warned, Asgardians, if someone succumbs to me, my kiss may be fatal. He will be transformed into stone. I'll watch your friend if I were you!"

Suddenly, everything was clear. The statues in the throne room were not only statues, but real men who had fallen for Desire and died of it. They had to do something about Fandral before it was too late. Loki cast a spell to prevent him for getting closer to the woman and Sif took out her sword.

"I've lost enough time with you all." said the Dark Man. "Fight me!" said he to Thor.

The Dark Man had taken a few steps to the companions saying his last words and he looked taller this way. The tone of his voice didn't let much of a choice to Thor, so he took position to fight.

"Thor, Son of Odin, do I have to repeat myself? I let you give the first blow!"

The Asgardian didn't wait much more and charged the Dark Man. He swung his blade and made a move to decapitate his opponent. He didn't think it would work but he wanted him to show his abilities. Against all odds, the Dark Man didn't do anything to prevent the blade to cut his head. It fell to the floor under the frightened look of the others.

"Were we supposed to kill him in case of disagreement?" asked Sif.

Volstagg was going to answer but instead they all heard from the head lying on the floor:

"He didn't kill me. I've just lost my head."

Then the corpse walked to the head and put it on his neck, becoming one again.

"The blow was a worthy one!" added he.

The companions looked at him with terror.

"What is this trick?" asked Volstagg. "Are you able to do that too, Loki?"

"I don't." He added in whispers: "He is dangerous and invincible. We should go while we still can."

"I heard you well, prince Loki. If you think you can still go, you are mistaken. The only way you can get out of here is if your brother beats me."

He fired two blasts of energy in Thor's direction, projecting him out of the throne room and followed him in the corridor.

"Go help him!" said Loki to Hogun and Volstagg. "I'll deal with Desire with Sif."

Hogun and Volstagg get out of the throne room to rescue their prince. Sif, Loki and Fandral were left alone with Desire. Loki was still holding Fandral with his spell. This time, Sif wasn't interrupt by any falling head, so she attacked Desire with her sword. It shocked with Desire's and the two women fought with rage.

"A woman!" said Desire. "Why does Odin send us a woman? I have only seen men before. Everything was perfect. I'd always win!"

"Time to lose then!" answered Sif giving another hit. "Loki get out with Fandral. I will take care of her!"

Loki stopped his spell and headed to Fandral to take him outside. But he didn't want to go. Loki had to pull him with all the forces that he had. Once they get on the corridor, everything got back to normal.

"We should help Sif." said Fandral, ready to come in again.

But Loki stopped him.

"No! You see how you were. If you enter this room, you will be under her spell again. I trust Sif. She will succeed."

"Fine." answered Fandral. "Then we should see how it is going outside."

They headed both to the giant doors and opened them. The sight was not pleasing. Thor was fighting the enraged Dark Man. They had landed on the golden bridge under the heavy rain. The Dark Man was fighting with a large axe and Thor was not up to the challenge. He was good, but not good enough. However, he was not giving up and was fighting as hard as he could. Volstagg and Hogun were lying on the ground after an energy blast that they had received from their enemy. Loki tried to cast a spell too, but worried to touch his brother, he missed the Dark Man. Unfortunately, Thor slipped on the moisty bridge. He was holding on the edge but with the water it would not last long and the Dark Man was upon him before Volstagg could arrive. However, the man could have strike but he did not. Instead he reached Thor's right hand and helped him to raise. Suddenly the storm went away and the rain stopped.

"All your friends here, they are scared." said the Dark Man. "They fight bravely, but they are afraid of me. You, on the contrary, you aren't. I don't feel your fear. I have nothing to feed upon. Either you are very courageous, either you are the silliest man I have ever seen. In both case, I can't say I've defeat you if you don't fear me. This is the reason why I will spare your life and your friends'. Go back to your king, and tell him I will not stand up against him. But let me be clear: I am still free to do whatever I want with the people who dare enter my house!"

In the throne room, Sif had defeated Desire. She was taking her outside to bargain something.

"Everything is fine!" said Volstagg. "You can let her go." said he.

She released her reluctantly.

"A woman warrior!" said the Dark Man to Sif. "It is not common. You have my full admiration, my Lady."

She felt proud but didn't say a word.

"Well, it is time for us to go." said Volstagg. "Soldiers! Forward, march! Farewell to you both." said he to the Dark Man and his wife.


When they reached the first wood, Sif declared:

"I still don't fully understand why he let us go."

"He discovered that Thor is a silly guy. That is all." answered Loki.

"Mock me, Brother." said Thor. "But without me, you would all be dead."

"Or maybe, we would not have entered the fortress and nothing would have happened!" retorted his brother.

"Boys, don't quarrel." intervened Volstagg. "It is time we call Heimdall to return home!"

"With the Bifrost?" asked Fandral. "But I won't be able to fight anyone or any bilchteim if we don't go by foot!"

But Volstagg didn't listen to him.

"Heimdall!" called he.

A few seconds later, the ray of the rainbow bridge took them back to Asgard, in Heimdall's Observatory.

"Welcome home." said the guardian to the princes and their friends.

Everyone saluted Heimdall and got out of the observatory.

"Now, if you'll excuse me." said Volstagg. "I will make my report to the King. We'll see each other very soon."

"But it's unfair!" said Fandral. "I was under a spell!"

He ran after Volstagg to stand for his cause.

"Poor Fandral…" said Thor. "I don't know what kind of report will make the captain to our father."

"I wonder mostly if we had something particular to achieve during this mission." said Hogun.

"Of course, we did!" said Loki. "We had to fight, prove our courage. But except for Thor and I, I don't think any one …"

"Proved his worth? Is that what you meant?" asked Sif angrily.

Loki looked at her.

"Yes. I mean… No!"

"Well, I DID! I was fighting Desire! But you are so selfish and arrogant and proud of yourself, you didn't even notice. I thought you different..."

Then she walked away.

"Sif, wait!"

He was ready to follow her but Thor talked to him.

"She is right, you know. She has fought more than you today."

Loki was angry. At him firstly because he had upset Sif, at her then because she was too stubborn to wait for his excuse and at Thor to finish because he was taking her side against his. Finally, he did nothing and got back to the palace with Thor and Hogun, not saying a word. Then they all got back to their apartments to rest.


Thor and Loki had had dinner with their parents. Then Thor had joined Fandral in a tavern to remember their friend Wolfram. Loki was not in the mood. Moreover, he was still feeling guilty about his death and didn't want to spend the night mourning. Instead he had stayed with his mother to tell her about his journey.

"You know, Desire did not tempt me. It seemed not to work on me. But I already have experienced that. At the Golden Apple ball, I was talking to Lorelei and I felt like she was trying to seduce me. Maybe I was mistaken but it didn't work anyway."

"I was there, during the ball. And I did see what happened. She really tried."

"I have already seen her succeed in seducing someone. The man was like 'compelled' to do everything she wanted."

"Well, you didn't wonder why it didn't work on you?"

"No. I guess it is because I do magic. I am like immune to it."

"Or maybe it didn't work because you were already in love with someone. And that love is stronger that their power of attraction."

"Mother…"

"I won't ask you about it, don't worry. You are the best judge of what you should do. Now I will let you think about it. Good night."

The queen left his son and Loki stayed alone, thinking of his mother's declaration.


The day after, Loki had not decided yet if he should speak or not to Sif. He went to join his brother in the main lunchroom. They were both eating when a messenger came near the table and announced:

"I have a message for the princes of Asgard from the All-Father."

Loki looked at him oddly. Why would their father send a messenger to say something to them? Thor seemed surprised too.

"We are listening." said he.

"The King asked me to inform you that your former teacher and tutor, Master Algrim, left the palace in the night. Although Heimdall and some guards tried to locate him, he was nowhere to be found."

Loki and Thor looked at each other. This was very surprising for both of them. Why would their teacher leave Asgard? Thor had an inquiring look on his face and his brother was thoughtful.

"Well, thank you." said Thor to the messenger. "We should go to Father to see if he knows something else."

They both got up and headed to the throne room.


They were announced and entered the room. The King was sitting on his throne. When he saw his sons coming, he raised and went down of the pedestal where the throne was standing on.

"My sons, I guess you are here about Algrim."

"Yes, Father." answered Thor. "What happened?"

"I don't know much. No more than I have already told to the messenger."

"What makes you think he left?" asked Loki. "He may have been rather kidnapped."

"You are right, I should not condemn him without any evidence… I just know that his horse is gone."

"Maybe he will come back in a few hours." said Thor, trying to find him an excuse.

"You know, or maybe you don't, that Algrim was not allowed to go out of the boundaries of the city."

"Why not?" asked Loki.

"He is a dark elf. One of the last. His kind was a great threat for us and we 'took' him instead of killing him because of his knowledge. I thought he had a good life here and that he had no intention of revenge. But I fear now that I was wrong…"

"What do you mean, Father?" asked Thor. "A threat? Revenge?"

"Long before the birth of light, there was darkness. And from that darkness, came the Dark Elves. Millennia ago, most ruthless of their kind, Malekith, sought to transform our universe back into one of eternal night. Such evil was possible through the power of the Aether; an ancient force of infinite destruction. The noble armies of Asgard, led by my father King Bor, waged a mighty war against these creatures. As the nine worlds converged above him, Malekith could at last unleash the Aether. But Asgard ripped the weapon from his grasp. Without it, the Dark Elves fell. With the battle, all but lost, Malekith sacrificed his own people, in a desperate attempt to lay waste to Asgard's Army. Malekith was vanquished and the Aether was no more. Or so we were led to believe… The power of the Aether was too great to destroy. So, my father asked to bury it deep, somewhere no one will ever find it."

"What does this have to do with Algrim?" asked Thor.

"He survived while many others died this day." answered the King.

"You kept him prisoner?" asked Loki.

"No, we offered him a life among us."

Loki looked at his brother to see if he was astonished by the news too. He didn't say more but he was thinking a lot. He clearly disapproved of his father.

"My sons, I know you liked him very much and I hope this news does not affect you too much."

"If you have more information about him, please tell us." said Thor. "And if you need, we can search for him."

"Thank you, Son." said the King putting his hand on Thor's shoulder.

The princes left the room together and began to talked in the hallways.

"I can't believe it!" said Loki. "All this time, Algrim was a prisoner!"

"Don't say that. He had a great life here. I do not feel that he was lacking in anything."

"Still, I think this was not what he would have wanted. I would not be surprised if he wants to destroy every Asgardian now. And Father above all."

"I hope he got away for good and that we will never hear of him again." said Thor. "Seeing him again would surely mean no good..."

Loki didn't agree with his brother on the fact that Algrim should have felt good somewhere which was not his home. But he was happy that he was now away for he would have not been at peace knowing what he knew about Algrim now.


In the afternoon, Loki chose to go to the library. Sif, who was sure to find him in it, met him there. He was reading a book in a corner steering clear of the rest of the people.

"Back to your magic books?" asked she.

"Sif!"

Loki was surprised. He didn't think she would come to him after what he had said.

"Yes. I missed it very much!" answered he.

"I won't disturb you any further then."

"No, no, stay. I am finished with it. And I need to talk to you. In fact, would you like to take a walk?"

"With pleasure!".

Loki got up and put back his books in place in the shelf as quickly as he could. He was very excited to be alone with Sif and explain himself. Driven by his enthusiasm, he took Sif by the hand to take her to the gardens, but before starting to run with her, he figured out that this was not proper to appear hand in hand in front of everyone and he released her.

"Come with me." said he instead.


They finally got to the gardens and walked in the alleys.

"Is it not strange to come back here, in a calm and lovely garden, after being almost killed by a giant blue man?" asked Sif.

"Yes. And almost left for dead in a crevasse!" added Loki.

"Yes. The sunbeams are so warm here, it is difficult to imagine that we were freezing in there!".

Loki remembered his magical fire and didn't say a word. He had a smile thinking at the time they had spent together.

"We didn't speak about what hap… could have happened in the cave." said Sif.

She was talking about the kiss that could have occur when Thor had called them in the crevasse. He stopped walking, so Sif stopped too, puzzled.

"What is it?" asked she.

He took her by the hand and looked at her deeply:

"Sif, I'm sorry about what I said."

"No, I am sorry." said she.

Then he put a hand in the back of her head and he let the other caress her cheek.

"I need you in my life." said he in the most serious tone.

Then he kissed her passionately. Sif's heart was flickering. She kissed him back, deepening the kiss. When they released each other, they both smiled. At this time, nothing could have hit them. They were simply happy. Happy to be at last together.

Loki had wanted this relationship since he had first met her and he would not admit it, but he didn't think it possible at first. Beautiful women like her were not for him, he had thought. His brother was the one getting them. He had felt since the beginning a connection between them. He knew Sif would have a big impact on his life and their bond was one of the most valuable that he had.

As for Sif, her liking of Loki had grown more and more since she had met him. From mysterious he had passed intriguing. Then he had been the best friend she had ever had. And she had loved everything she had seen of him. He was good, she was sure of it.

They spent the end of the afternoon hand in hand in the Royal Gardens, kissing from time to time, embracing each other. They would have liked their relationship to be discrete but at the end of the day, everyone in the palace knew that the prince had a girlfriend.


Explanations for this chapter:

- The Dark Man is a character from Marvel Comic Books. His wife, Desire, too. The story is not exactly the same but I wanted Loki and Sif to be part of the fight. The golden bridge, the falling head, Desire's power to transform men into stones, abilities to set up storms, everything of that is from the comic.

- The reference to the teacher Algrim will only ring a bell to those who have read my previous fanfic "The beginning". I "had to" talk about his leaving because it would have been weird for him to come back later (in Thor: TDW) if he was still in the palace. To be continued then...

- Odin's speech about the Dark Elves comes from the beginning of the movie "Thor: The Dark World". I thought it relevant to be here.

- Obviously, Algrim's story is close to Loki's one. I wanted him to be outraged about it. This is why I used the term "prisoner" which seems harsh (Thor thinks it is) but which reveals a lot about Loki's mind on the subject. I could have used "stolen relic" but it would have been too much. ;-)

- And of course, Sif and Loki love story! The beginning of an extremely complex relationship.

- In the next chapter: adolescence (and magic) at his best!