Chapter Ten - Revelation
Disclaimer: The characters in this story are the property of Marvel and are based on Norse and Germanic mythology. The Tarnhelm is a creation of Richard Wagner. A lot of creative license has been taken...
Asgard - Present Day
"Take care, my son. And be wary, for there are many things we cannot see." The Allfather said taking Thor to one side after he had said his goodbyes. "I am confident that Sigyn can be reasoned with. These are merely the actions of a woman desperate to protect her people. She will see sense when she realises we have her outnumbered. I believe she is more likely to listen to you than me."
"And what of Loki?" Thor asked. Even if Sigyn could be convinced, his brother was beyond reason.
"If Loki is under her control, then that makes him her weapon and her bargaining tool. You must insist she return him to us to face trial. And be sure to keep him alive. Tell her I shall be lenient if she releases your brother to us and returns with you, but if she refuses she must either live in exile or face immediate arrest should she ever set foot in our Empire again."
The only places beyond Asgard's control were Earth, Jotunheim and the desert world of Muspelheim, should Sigyn choose exile she would be reliant on the humans to grant her asylum. Earth was protected by the Treaty of Midgard, which forbade any invasion or claiming of territory from outside worlds. Before the wars it had been declared a neutral zone and the official meeting place for the Council of the Realms. As such, Asgard would only be able to intervene if she violated the treaty as Loki had done months before. Even though she possessed magic and probably had the strength of at least ten Earth men, it still felt wrong to abandon her on a strange world.
"Father, when we fought, Lady Sigyn was able wield Mjolnir. How is that possible?" another thing about this situation that felt wrong. He would not have believed it had he and Sif not seen it with their own eyes.
"I already told you, she can bind and unbind magic. That is where her power lies."
"But this was your magic. How did a girl, with barely any schooling in such a thing, break a Valknut seal cast by the most powerful being in all the nine realms? I may know very little about magic, father, but even I know that should be impossible."
"You're right, it should be impossible. For us, magic is a rare occurrence and must be studied for many centuries; we must use tools and artefacts, sometimes we must make sacrifices in order to use it." The old man touched the metal plate where his eye used to be, almost unconsciously. "But for the Vanir, children often inherit magic similar to that of their parents; it is part of them. That is why they are so dangerous."
"Father? What are you saying?" Thor's eyes widened at the insinuation. He couldn't be serious.
"I should have told you this long ago. Sigyn is the child of Gullveig the fallen queen of the Vana and she is also my child."
Earth - Present Day
The odd group made its way back to Kiruna. The woman, Linda, had taken the wheel, Loki and his not-wife had crammed onto the bench seat and Selvig had been forced to ride in the back of the van with all their equipment. He had found himself squished between the object of his desire and the car door, her thigh and upper arm pressed flush against his, it was maddening. Sigyn seemed a little confused by how the car worked, as he began fiddling with the dials on the air conditioning and the radio, switching through several stations with more than a few derisive comments, some music (if you could call it that) "awful", local news "boring", an advert for insurance "do they honestly expect people to fall for that?", another song that seemed to be made entirely of screeching "Odin's beard! No!" and finally a Rolling Stones song he recognised but didn't remember the name of on a Classic Rock station "That's more like it."
"I don't recognise that language you're speaking but I can understand it. How does that work?" Linda asked, unable to bear the tension any longer.
"It's called the Alltongue." Sigyn answered, since Loki pointedly ignored her. "Long before the Vanir wars the nine worlds assembled to form the Council of the Realms that aimed to facilitate cooperation in our laws, trade, that kind of thing."
"Like the United Nations?" Linda asked.
"I don't know what that is, but it sounds similar." Sigyn went on "Anyway a former tutor of mine, Kvasir, invented an enchanted language that would be understood by all who heard it, so that we might find peace. But it seems to have caused more problems than it has solved." She said.
"I'm sure the mortals have no desire for one of your history lessons." Loki interjected, these humans didn't need to know anything more than they had to.
"Ignore him. Imprisonment has done a number on his manners." Sigyn shot back, her dark blonde hair brushing across his face as her head whipped round and she gave him a look that could whither forests. She was always so marvellous when she was angry. "And he is still sulking because I tricked him into being my lackey for this trip."
"I prefer indispensable guide and protector." Loki sneered. "It's less mortifying." The nerve of her. She would have been captured or worse if it hadn't been for him, the ungrateful witch. It would all be worth it in the end though, if they were successful. The Tarnhelm was a powerful weapon, but he was in it for the grand prize. What use did he have for trinkets when he no longer had a place to call home? Vanaheim was beautiful and temperate, much like its heir, and he would have both if he played his cards right. It might have been a world devastated by war and poverty, but it had been powerful once and could be powerful again.
They arrived at the human woman's house after picking up some greasy Midgardian food from a building with a giant bottle on the roof. It was a squat little bungalow on the edge of town, clad in painted timber. There was truly nothing special about it other than that it had a spare bedroom and a room to wash in.
He quickly found the bathroom and closed the door, before tentatively removing the helmet from his brow. For a few moments his altered face remained the same in its bland humanness but soon the colour of his skin paled into white, then grey, then icy blue. The drips from the tap in the stilled into tiny icicles and his red-eyed reflection in the bathroom mirror frosted over with perfect frozen flowers, as quickly as his throat closed up.
He didn't know how long he stayed there until his Aesir form slowly returned. Did the Helm of Terror interfere with the spell Odin had used to disguise him? Did it happen the more he used it or if he wore it for too long? He had had it on for a good hour and a half until they had reached the safety of the house. How long had he worn it in Asgard? What if it grew worse, then the blasted thing would be useless to him? His face had returned to normal but the shameful Jotun image still lingered as he smashed his fist into the glass.
"Loki?" he heard Sigyn call at the noise. "Are you all right in there?" He mended the mirror with a flick of his wrist and healed the cut it had left on his knuckles. He ventured out to where the others were.
Without a word, Loki dropped the cursed helmet on the kitchen table; he did not wish to touch it anymore. His stomach roared in response to the greasy food. He had been starved for so long that it felt like hunger was his permanent companion even as he gorged himself. Luckily they had bought up half the restaurant and he ploughed his way through two burgers the size of footballs filled with cheese, bacon, onions and just about everything else before he felt even remotely satisfied. The two humans could only look on in fear and disgust at his horrendous table manners.
"Well don't say I don't feed you. Feeling better are we?" Sigyn said, eyeing the food suspiciously.
"So much better." Loki grinned and noticed her reluctance to try anything. "It won't poison you, I promise. I swear ketchup and mustard are humanity's only great achievement. No offense." He turned to the humans; they were definitely offended but were too afraid to show it. "No, I take it back. Condiments and coffee, you wouldn't happen to have any would you?"
"Oh, yes. Of course." The woman answered, and set about making him a cup.
"So, Dr Selvig, what do you know of dark magic?" Sigyn asked.
"Dark magic? You mean like…evil magic?" Selvig answered, looking all the more confused.
"There's no such thing as evil magic, only evil applications. No. Magic, as we understand it, involves changing things that are already in the physical world, even Loki's illusions are merely the manipulation of light." She explained patiently.
"It's a bit more complicated than that, but in layman's terms that will suffice." Loki grumbled, "Constructing a good illusion is an art, like composing a symphony or a masterpiece. They take centuries to master, only to be dismissed by philistines such as yourself."
"Loki, don't be a drama queen. Anyway, for a long time the concept of dark magic only existed in legend, as a sort of undetectable force of great potential power. It's difficult to explain, but since then Odin Allfather discovered a way of harnessing it."
"Wait, are you talking about..?" Dr Hellqvist asked taking a drag from what was her second, possibly her third cigarette since they had got in. "Do you think that thing has something to do with dark matter?"
"It's possible, they might be one and the same. What do you know on the subject?" Loki asked.
"Nothing concrete, I'm afraid it's all hypothetical at the moment." Linda went on "But from what you've described it could be a possibility."
"Then, perhaps a little divine intervention is in order then." Sigyn smiled and reached into her bag, bringing out a tiny vial of dark red liquid. "This is Skaldic Mead, it gives the drinker the gift of knowledge, it might give you a spark of inspiration on the matter. I was saving it for a rainy day, and it seems as though there's a storm brewing."
"Have you kept that hidden all this time?" Loki interrupted suddenly, staring at the tiny bottle with renewed interest. "Had I known, I would have tried my hand at breaking into your rooms."
"I would have enjoyed watching you try." Sigyn challenged, raising a blonde eyebrow.
"You can't give that to a human. What if it's too much for their tiny brains and their heads explode?"
"Explode? What in the world is in that stuff?" Selvig asked nervously, he was obviously not happy that he was about to be forced to drink something dangerous.
"Oh nothing from this world, I can assure you. It is the blood of a God."
"I don't know, my mother always told to just say no when it comes to God blood." Linda said, also apprehensive about the morbid drink. Loki could feel himself beginning to lose his temper.
"My lady has bestowed a tremendous honour upon you both. Now you will each take a drop and you will be grateful, do I make myself clear." Humans really were stupid sometimes, he mused as the two scientists hastily accepted the offering.
Asgard - Many centuries ago
"And when I went to confront him he had already left. He hasn't spoken to me since." Sigyn recounted, recalling the incident where she had brought Thor to the library three weeks earlier. "I know it might be foolish of me, but I thought we were friends."
"Friends? Loki doesn't have friends, just people he knows." Sif said sarcastically, hitting her target dead centre. They had set up an archery range on the palace lawn, neither of them took much sport in such an art, both favouring hand to hand combat over ranged weaponry Sif held a preference for spears, Sigyn remained partial to the traditional Vanir sabre, but a bow had its uses nonetheless and Sif always thought better when she was armed. "You should just forget about it, be thankful he didn't turn your hair into snakes or something." She was obviously still sore about the hair-cutting prank.
"I didn't even realise he and Thor had quarrelled. I don't see why he should turn on me for it, it's hardly my fault."
"Really, that's what you think it was about? It's funny, for someone so well read, you really are oblivious sometimes." Sif laughed.
"Come again?"
"When Loki cut off my hair, I thought he wanted me and was getting his own back because I favoured Thor over him. But in hindsight I think it was because he thought I would take his brother away." Sif said wistfully.
"So do you think this is the same thing? He is simply jealous."
"All I know is that Thor woke up the other day and there were scorpions in his boots and both his eyebrows had been shaved off. Trust me, he may have a gift with words but that boy is completely demented. It would be better if you didn't get involved." Another arrow hit its mark.
"Oh." Sigyn replied, trying to sound non-committal.
"I know! Who would want the attentions of such an insidious creature? I'm just sorry I wasn't able to keep him away from you."
"You exaggerate. He really isn't that bad. I just think he feels caged, not being allowed to fight while Thor may roam as he pleases. I can understand that feeling." Sigyn explained.
"I'm sorry, Loki must be the least of your worries, I didn't even think." Sif began.
"Don't worry, there's nothing either of us can do." Sigyn cut her off and looked beyond the warrior maiden's shoulder to where two guards kept their distance. Judging them to be out of earshot she continued. "Have you heard anything?"
"Njord is being kept under house arrest on Naotun, they could not find enough evidence against him to make an official arrest. Freyr is still missing; they found evidence that he had been building a ship out of Vanir Applewood. They believe him to be hiding in Jotunheim. " Sif told her, keeping her voice low and continuing to shoot as though nothing had happened. Sigyn gasped, the wood was the source of their world's magic which allowed them to sail too far away stars, and Asgard currently held strict control over all of Vanaheim's surviving orchards. Sigyn wondered how in the nine worlds her friend and foster brother had managed to procure such a thing.
"I can also tell you that Freya has been missing since the night the Nidhogg comet crossed the sky."
"Missing? You think she fled Asgard?" Sigyn whispered.
"I don't know, I shouldn't be telling you this you understand. I know you still care for them, even after all that has happened." As far as Sif was concerned, Sigyn had not been aware of the uprising the Vanir hostages had been planning and had only been guilty of publicly expressing a few nationalistic sentiments. Sigyn preferred to keep it that way, the two women were friends but Sif's loyalties lay firmly with Asgard and with its eldest prince.
"Thank you, I know you're taking a great risk. And I know you think they abandoned me and let me take the fall for their crimes. You may be right. But they are still subjects and my family, I would rather they found sanctuary in exile than face execution here." She only regretted that she hadn't been able to escape herself. But to flee the Realm Eternal would mean forfeiting any legal claim to her own birthright. To try and claim the throne from exile would only bring war and certain defeat. That was not an option, not when Asgard was so strong.
"I shall bring you more news from the outside when it comes." Sif smiled reassuringly. "And tell me if Loki starts troubling you again; I will break his ribs for you."
"You're concern for me is touching, but I'm sure that won't be necessary." Sigyn laughed, but on the inside her heart sank. For she now knew for certain that the young prince's fondness of her was more than friendly. She knew that she was in grave danger of falling in love with him. And she knew already that her heart would be broken.
Asgard - Present Day
"This is madness, how could he just announce something like that without offering an explanation?" Thor cried as the All-seeing guardian of the rainbow bridge led him to where the Tesseract was being held.
"The king worries you will think less of him for his past indiscretions." Heimdall replied in his usual monotone. "But even the Allfather can make mistakes, my prince."
"Did you know of this?"
"Of course I did." The Watcher said, making Thor feel a little stupid.
"And mother, does she know? It would break her heart!"
"She does, and it did. You were probably too young to remember but she refused to speak with the Allfather for over a century after she found out." Said Heimdall
"And what of Sigyn?" Had she known all this time? No, he did not think so.
"She knows nothing of this. Claiming kin with her would have caused… more than a few problems."
"What else do you know?" Thor demanded rather than asked.
"The king has forbidden me to speak of it. And I am bound by honour to obey."
"I'm sure he has. Very well, what do you know of the girl's mother, Gullveig? You once served her did you not?" he asked, trying a different tactic.
"The Fallen Queen was the most powerful sorceress that ever walked the nine worlds." Heindall replied carefully "Not even death could vanquish her, for she had devised a spell that would resurrect her in a new form. Before becoming queen of Vanaheim she had a different name and a different face and was known as Heid the Harvest-bringer. I know not what she was before that. That was before my time."
"But she was executed long ago; surely death claimed her in the end."
"So it is written. But let it be known that the Allfather had to burn her body three times before he was sure she was dead."
"Are you implying there might be a chance that she's still alive out there?" Thor said, raising an eyebrow. If that was the case, then perhaps they were in more danger than he thought.
"I can neither confirm nor deny that."
"That's all you're going to tell me isn't it? You really aren't the most helpful of fellows are you?"
"I can say no more." The Watcher said with an air of finality as he finished whatever he was doing with the cube to make it work. "I have located the human woman, Jane Foster. I will send you directly to her. I wish you luck and may fate be on your side."
Before Thor could answer he had already been engulfed in the bright blue light and could feel himself hurtling towards the Earth.