Asgard
The warriors of Asgard had been trained to face any sort of monster, creature and army to protect their Realm, however, no amount of training could have prepared them to face the full power of Jotunheim's winter.
Ice covered the Bifrost, the waters, the rocks. It froze their trees, the cliffs, waterfalls, the nearest fishing huts, and houses. With no signs of stopping, no way to run or fight the snowstorm, Thor ordered his people to evacuate to the center of Asgard. He sent soldiers to go and find anyone still on the edges of the Realm and bring them by force if they had too. No one would freeze to death as long as he was King.
And so, he brought his people to the center of Asgard, inside the palace. He ordered every window, door and crack to be sealed shut and all fires had to be lit at all times. He stood by the main doors, welcoming the soldiers and civilians himself into the still warm Palace halls, commanding his guards and reassuring his people. His noble friends stood beside him, the Warriors Three and Lady Sif, each doing everything they could to help their King. Heimdall too was by Thor's side, giving him information about Jotunheim, the Jotnar army, Queen Farbauti and the ice creature that had previously been his adopted brother.
"The creature has begun to move," Heimdall informed him. "Farbauti calls him Hveðrungr."
Thor clenched his teeth.
"Loki. His name is Loki," he muttered, shaking with rage and grief. "That monstrous woman already took my brother's body and mind, she will not take his name. She has no right to it."
Heimdall stared at Thor but said nothing. Suddenly, the Watcher's golden eyes grew wide.
"What? Heimdall, what is it? What do you see?"
"Hela and her army have teleported to Jotunheim," Heimdall told him. "As well as the Warriors of Valhalla."
The Asgardians close enough to hear Heimdall burst into surprised and then excited cheers. The word quickly spread to every man, woman, and child and soon, everyone was asking news of the army of the dead, who was among then, what were they doing and how they were going to save them all.
Because this was nothing short of a miracle. The honorable dead had left the golden halls of Valhalla to save the Nine Realms from Jotunheim's ice.
Sitting by himself in silence, Odin had closed his one eye and heard attentively Heimdall's reports. Unlike Thor, who demanded to know everything that was going on that battlefield, the All-Father said nothing when the Watcher revealed that he could see Asgard's previous King, Bor Burison, Odin's father among the warriors, as well as his deceased brothers, Vili and Ve.
Though on the outside he appeared calm and almost listless, the old King's heart was racing. If one were to look closely, they would notice that his hands were clasped together in order to stop them from shaking.
With his one eye closed, Odin could also see. He saw his father, as tall and strong as he remembered, charging towards a horde of Jotunheim's warriors, slashing and punching everyone that dared to come near him, all the while shouting at his two twin sons to not fall behind. He saw his brothers, young and filled with life, fighting alongside their father.
Then, he saw her.
"I see the Queen," Heimdall told the anxious crowd.
Thor quickly moved near his old friend. "What?"
"Queen Frigga. I see her leading the charge against the Jotun forces," Heimdall told them, refusing to let Thor's ragged breath or the people's screams interfere with his account. "She fights gracefully yet swiftly. Her attacks are as precise as her sorcery. She's moving head... towards Farbauti."
"Mother..." Thor whispered, his knuckles white from grabbing Gungnir.
All around him, he could hear his people crying and praying, blessing Queen Frigga from coming to their aid in the afterlife. Though he knew his mother cared deeply for their people's safety, he knew they were not who she was thinking off as she charged to fight the Jotun Queen.
Mother... you're the one who never lost faith. If there is anyone who could save him...
Thor held Gungnir even tighter but he saw and felt nothing, whatever connection he had with Loki it had been severed when he was turned into Hveðrungr.
A blast of icy wind blew one of the doors. Thor and several Einherjar ran to it to close it down again, but the ice that covered it made it almost impossible, even with their godly strength. Thor moved away from the door and summoned all the power of Gungnir in his hands, just like he had seen his father do many times before. The ice began to melt and the door closed a bit, but the result was far from what he had imagined.
He had seen Odin seal the entire palace with a single move of Gungnir, and yet his entire strength was insufficient.
With another blast of wind, the door opened again and ice began to form on the walls and the floor. Thor dropped Gungnir and ran to his soldiers' aid, forcing the door shut with his own body, feeling the ice on his clothes and back.
As the ice began to engulf his hair and face he heard a loud knock on the floor and suddenly, the door was completely sealed. Magic surrounded the palace, protecting it with a powerful force-field.
Scrubbing the ice from his skin, Thor looked up. To his surprise, he saw Balder holding Gungnir, shinning with a faint, golden light. His brother walked towards him and handed the golden spear.
"I thought you needed some help," Balder told him, as Thor grabbed Gungnir.
"Thank you, Balder. I guess I need more practice," Thor looked at the spear, wondering once again why it didn't work as easily with him as it did with his father and now Balder as well.
"It's understandable, Thor. You're exhausted and worried," Balder told him, placing a warm hand on his shoulder. "Any news on Loki?"
Thor shook his head, his inadequacies with Gungnir would have to wait.
"Nothing. I've lost the connection. I cannot hear him anymore."
Balder nodded. "Loki's mind is strong. He'll fight this."
"Yes. He has to."
A few meters across from his sons, Odin remained quiet with his eye closed and his heart heavy. The old man watched his beloved Queen, looking more beautiful and fierce than he remembered, fighting through screaming Jotnar, never wavering. Her bright blue eyes shifting from Farbauti to Hveðrungr growing form.
Loki. I named him 'Loki'.
Despite his many attempts to erase his memories and harden his heart from any feelings he still had towards the boy, Odin could still recall vividly those nights after the war. He could still remember the feeling of the silken sheets around him, Thor's small, sleeping body between him and Frigga, his wife's smooth skin against his chest and the new baby's wispy hair under his fingers.
"It's your turn," Frigga told him quietly, trying not to awake Thor or the baby sleeping in her arms.
"My turn?"
"Aye. You named Thor. I named Balder," she looked tenderly at the infant boy. "It's only fair you pick the name of our third son."
At the time, it felt so astonishing to hear his wife call that small baby their son and yet, it felt so right. Odin remembered lowering his hand and the feeling of the baby's tiny fingers curling around his much larger one.
"Knowing you, I'm guessing you already have at least ten names in mind."
"Fifteen, actually," Odin answered.
"Well, I'm sure you will pick a great one, my love," Frigga told him, kissing him softly on the lips. "And if you do not, I will personally intervene and save this little one from his Father's bad taste."
Father. He was going to be this baby's father. Laufey's son. The Jotun crown prince.
How in the Nine Realms was he going to do this?
Because of the child's nature, Odin realized that the names he had considered where all somehow related to ice, snow, and cold. But as he stared at the future raven-haired, green-eyed baby, he understood that none of the names applied. The boy might have been born in ice, but his spirit was something else entirely. Something untamed, persevering and a different kind of strength, like fire.
"Loki," Odin muttered as he stared at the boy.
Frigga looked at her husband and then at the child. "Loki… Loki Odinson," she whispered, her lips curling into a smile. "Hello, Loki. Welcome to your family, my love."
Odin shook his head, pushing the memories away. He thought he had purged his heart from them, but they refused to leave him. Norns knew how hard he tried to feel nothing at all for Loki, but every time he grabbed one of his green leather-bound journals with the intention to burn them, his one eye filled with tears and he always ended up putting them back.
"If you strike him down, you will regret it to the day you die," Frigga had told him, just after they had gotten the news that Thor had captured Loki after his attempted conquest of Midgard. "Imprison him, for as long as it takes, but do not give up, Odin. Our son is lost, but we can still find him."
"Our son is dead!" he had yelled, shaking with anger. "I do not know who this monster is, but that's not the son we raised! Or maybe the monster is what he truly is! And we have been fooling yourselves thinking it to be something else."
Frigga stared at him as if he had slapped her. In the end, he had listened to her plea and condemned Loki to life in prison, in part because he knew that it would pain him more to be cast aside, alone and forgotten in the dungeons while they regained control of the Nine Realms than a public execution, but also because when he stared at Loki's hate-filled eyes, as they both acted like they meant nothing to each other, Odin knew he could not deal the finishing blow.
The King in him knew Loki had to die. He was dangerous to all the Nine Realms, to Thor and Balder. If Odin wanted to keep them safe, he knew Loki had to die.
Now Loki was dead. He would never speak another lie again. He would never attack his Realm or his sons directly, but the creature Farbauti had turned him into would make certain that they would all freeze to death.
Loki would never reach the afterlife, what remained of him would be tied to Jotunheim forever. The Jotnar would bless his name for all eternity, they would prosper in this new frozen universe. But there would be nothing left of the man who had been sacrificed to create their paradise.
Nothing.
Odin lowered his head into his clasped hands, his eye still closed. Inside his mind, he saw the vast fields of ice, the fighting warriors and slowly walking towards the mountains, Hveðrungr.
The creature was obedient and feeble-minded, nothing filled its mind aside from the need to grow larger and reach the mountain to fulfill Farbauti's wishes. It did not question her orders nor try to think for itself. There was nothing of Loki in it. No intelligence, no cunning, no fear, no rage... except...
Odin pried closer into the creature's mind. There was something. An ache, a feeling of curiosity and sorrow towards the blonde warrior woman it had seen. Frigga.
The All-Father almost opened his eye. Summoning all the power he still possessed, he tried to grasp the small piece of conscience. It was a small thing, a mere flicker of a vanishing mind, but it was all that remained of Loki.
Despite the cold, sweat ran down Odin's forehead as he moved his fingers and held the shattered piece of Loki's mind. It was such a fragile thing, so easy to destroy with one swift move.
The shattered piece took notice of Odin. He could feel it's confusion and then fear.
Hush, Odin told the shattered mind. You're safe. You have to hold on.
Odin felt the mind's confusion. It wanted to let go into the dark and disappear. Staying meant to hurt.
No. You're not letting go. Not again, he ordered it. Think. You do not want this. It is Farbauti's will. Not yours.
So, he pulled the shattered mind towards him and held it tight. In Odin's mind, he felt like he was holding a small child's hand.
You're stronger than this, Loki.
Lo… ki?
Sweat ran down Odin's upper lip to his chin, his hands were shaking and his head pulsing, but he ignored all of it. Every bit of his concentration was focused on his fingers as he shielded the shattered mind from Ymir's power.
It's your name.
Hveðrungr…
No. That's who Farbauti wishes you to be, not who you are.
It… hurts…
A drop of blood ran down Odin's nose to his beard. He could feel Loki's mind growing weaker and slipping through his fingers in an attempt to free himself from pain. With a grunt, he held his estranged son's mind even tighter.
Why?
Instead of answering, Odin focused on holding the shattered mind and pulling every single fragment that had slipped away. He didn't have the strength for anything else. It felt like he was grabbing a small, child's hand against the full power of the ocean, which threatened to take it into its depths forever.
As another drop of blood ran from his nose and his head pounded against his skull, Odin felt something. A small pull, very faint, like a baby's small fingers grabbing his much larger hand.
Jotunheim
Frigga's sword landed on another Jotun neck just as another prepared to attack her from behind. Unfortunately for him, his scream gave her more than enough time to send a magic blast that sent him flying across the battlefield.
Behind her, she could hear Bor yelling at his sons, the other warriors and the Jotuns that had the misfortune to stand in his way. On her left, Hela fought in complete silence, finishing off more Jotuns alone than all of them combined.
Frigga wondered where the young girls had gone, hoping they were safe. A sudden movement alerted her to her right, where she saw that the oldest girl, America, had jumped off towards Loki, landing on his back but barely making him stop. The two other children, the Hel maiden, and the red-haired Midgardian girl teleported a few miles head from Loki's path in order to intercept him.
It took every bit of Frigga's self-control to not do the same and run towards her child.
Loki... What did she do to you?
For a brief moment, right before the battle began, their eyes had met. The last time Frigga had seen her son, they had been inside his cell. He a resentful prisoner, filled with sorrow and hate towards Thor and Odin, she an astral projection, trying to reason with him in vain.
"Does Odin share your concern?" he had asked bitterly. Frigga remained silent. "Does Thor? It must be so inconvenient, them asking after me day and night."
Her husband had refused to even speak Loki's name, even though she knew he was aware that she visited him constantly, but she could not tell Loki of that. Loki would not understand Odin's grief, let alone believe in it.
"You know full well that your actions brought you here."
"My actions? I was merely giving truth to the lie that I've been fed my entire life. That I was born to be a king."
"A king? A true king admits his faults," she had told him, trying once again to make him understand all the harm he had brought. If only she could make him see it. "What of the lives you took on Earth?"
"A mere handful compared to the number that Odin has taken himself."
"Your father—"
"HE'S NOT MY FATHER!"
Frigga had stood there, facing Loki's rage and grief, knowing she was paying for all those centuries of deception. She knew the truth would come out eventually, but she had been too cowardly to tell him. There was a fine line between love and hatred, and Loki had loved and admired Odin for all his life, trying endlessly to please him and make him proud, only to learn the worst way possible that he wasn't related to them by blood.
"Then am I not your mother?" she finally asked.
Loki's eyes widened and she could almost see into his mind. If he denied Odin as his father, that meant denying her as his mother as well. After a few seconds, the young man composed himself and tried to face her with an emotionless expression on his face.
"You are not."
Those three words had hurt her more than any slash or punch she had ever gotten. Her lips curled into a smile, though she could feel her eyes brimming with tears.
"Huh. Always so perceptive about everyone but yourself."
And the last thing she had seen, was her son's mournful expression as he touched her hands to dispel her illusion. Now, years later, Loki had once again stared at her and he did not know who she was.
A blast of green magic shattered the ground in front of her, causing several Jotnar to fall into the crack. Frigga turned her head and saw Hela pointing at the palace.
"We'll deal with the army, Queen Frigga," the Goddess of Death told her. "Farbauti is all yours. Do not waste much time."
Frigga nodded and ran towards the city. The shard on Loki's chest carried the spirit of Ymir, but it was the wound on Farbauti's hand that allowed her to command him to do her bidding. Hela's hand-maiden was going to try and remove the shard, while Frigga dealt with the Queen of Jotunheim. There was no guarantee that doing either would save Loki, all they knew was that it would stop him and save the Nine Realms from Jotunheim's winter, but it was all Frigga could do.
She would either save her son or kill him.
After finishing off half a dozen Jotnar, Frigga finally entered the frozen palace. The place appeared empty, just like the rest of the city. She supposed the civilians had been evacuated when a large ice sword almost hit her had she not jumped back. In front of her, stood a young Jotun, two huge ice swords on his hands. From the lines on his face, she realized he was one of the Princes, the son of Laufey and Farbauti.
Loki's biological brother.
"Filthy Asgardian!" he yelled, swinging another sword at her. Frigga blocked it with her own magic, shattering the ice. "Witch!"
"Býleistr."
Both Frigga and Býleistr looked up. Farbauti was walking towards them, two red axes on her hands. She looked stronger and more beautiful than Frigga remembered, but her eyes were still the same, cold and unforgiving. Frigga tightened her grip on her sword's tilt, a few blonde hairs had loosened from her braid under her helmet, with one swift move she removed the helmet and faced the Jotun Queen.
"Býleistr, go with the civilians. Keep them safe. I will deal with Asgard's Queen," Farbauti said, without taking her eyes from Frigga's face.
"No! I will not leave you, Mother!" the Prince said back, his youth apparent despite his size. "We can kill her together!"
"No. I will face her myself, our people need you," she finally stared at her son. "Do not make me repeat myself, Býleistr."
The young Jotun stared at his mother for a few seconds before grunting and storming off the palace, leaving the two Queens alone to face each other.
"Queen Frigga, it is so good to finally meet you face to face," Farbauti said, her lips curling into a grin. "How noble of you to give up the comforts of Valhalla to come to the Nine Realms' aid. I would not expect less from..."
"Release my son at once, Farbauti," Frigga interrupted. Every second they wasted, the chances of saving Loki's soul grew smaller.
Farbauti's lips parted and her eyes widened before her expression changed from surprise to disgust. "Do not tell me you've come all the way here for that filth?"
Frigga took one step closer, watching as Farbauti's muscles tensed. The wind blew from the large windows, her long braid waved with it.
"I will not repeat myself, Queen of the Jotnar. Release my son and we will leave your Realm. No more blood needs to be shed."
"Your son?. The mighty All-Mother has left paradise to rescue the creature who betrayed her Realm?" Farbauti spat, losing her temper. "You threaten me, my children and my people for that damn thing?"
"I do not wish to bring you or your people harm. However, you have kidnapped my son, tortured him and forced him into becoming a second Ymir! For that, I will never forgive you. This is my final warning, Farbauti. Release Loki from your control or I will make you!"
The two queens began to walk around each other. Outside they could hear the screams of the warriors fighting and the sound of the icy winds. Somewhere near, a block of ice shattered.
"You are more foolish than I thought. The creature is gone, All-Mother. Replaced by my darling Hveðrungr. He is perfect now. He will save Jotunheim and bring us glory."
Frigga shook her head. "No, Farbauti. He was always perfect."
And the two queens clashed. Red axes hit Frigga's magically enhanced sword, shattering the ground underneath them. The pillars of the palace cracked and the walls shook dangerously. However, none of this mattered to the warrior queens as they fought each other.
"Helblindi should be King. He should rule Jotunheim but that creature holds the title of First Born instead. A worthless, traitorous, repulsive runt!" Farbauti swang her giant ax but hit an illusion of Farbauti instead of the real one, who was right behind her. "It killed my husband. Destroyed half of Jotunheim! It is only fair that it pays for it with its flesh!"
Frigga blocked one of her axes and pulled her away with a magic blast. Part of the ceiling collapsed, forcing the two women to move away from each other.
"My condolences for the loss of your husband and the attack on your Realm, but Jotunheim declared war on Asgard. Would your children act differently if they had the chance to do the same to Odin and Asgard?"
Farbauti smiled, baring her white teeth. "Yes, yet they would not fail as it did."
Frigga glanced at Farbauti's glowing hand. She couldn't hear the sound of Loki's heavy steps. He was moving closer to the mountains with each second.
Loki, hold on, my love. I will come to you soon. I swear.
America felt the skin on her arms itch underneath the armor. Even though she had told them that she didn't need anything, Frigga and Leah had insisted that they wore protective armors before teleporting to Jotunheim. Leah had healed her frostbite in silence before covering Verity with layers upon layers of protective spells.
The red-haired girl refused to glance at America or even speak to her. She didn't blame her. If America had rescued Loki when he was drugged, none of this would have happened.
It had always seemed so easy. She was one of the good guys, all she needed to do was punch the bad ones and everything would be solved. It felt good to know that she was a hero.
She had told herself that she was doing the right thing. Loki was a villain, a lying, backstabbing little shit, who had already tried to take over Earth once. After watching over Billy and Teddy for the last few days, she decided that she was going to protect them at any costs. They were not the friends she had lost on Earth-616, but they were Billy Kaplan and Teddy Altman and they deserved to be happy.
Loki was a threat. That's what she had told herself. She was a hero, she needed to protect the innocents, just like her mothers had done. It was the reason why she had left her Utopia. To fight, protect and save the world.
You're so full of shit, America, the girl thought miserably.
She was not a hero. A hero helped everyone in need and would not stay still as someone was drugged, beaten and molested, even if that someone was a supervillain.
A supervillain who happened to be one of her friends. A hero would not abandon one of her friends to be turned into a brainless ice monster.
Using all her strength, she jumped across the frozen field and landed right between Loki's shoulder blades. She expected him to lose his footing and fall, but her feet were suddenly surrounded by ice and snow. He didn't even seem to notice her.
"Fuck!" she kicked the ice from her legs and jumped towards his face instead.
For a moment, she stared at the glowing, blue orbs that were his eyes and it hit how wrong they were. This thing wasn't Chico. It was all wrong. Loki would never stare with blank eyes like those, his head was always working, thinking overly complicated plots that suited him. This thing didn't think at all.
"Chico, wake up!" she yelled, punching him in the ice-covered cheek.
The ice creature seemed to stop for a second but then continued to walk as if nothing had happened.
America swore and looked down. There was a glowing, blue, ice thingy on Chico's chest. She didn't know much about magic or curses, but she bet that was the thing that had turned him into this giant, dumb popsicle.
She noticed a green flash of light and turned around. Leah and Verity were only a few miles from them. Leah was covered in green and black armor, looking like a mini version of Hela. She was holding Loki's staff.
Verity was also wearing an armor, silver, and blue. America could see her little face looking directly at Loki, worried but hopeful. They shouldn't have brought her along, but she refused to stay behind and leave her best friend.
Gritting her teeth, America dropped on the glowing shard, which was also growing larger as Chico grew. The thing was freezing. Even though she was wearing all that armor and protective spells, she felt her skin freezing from its touch.
"Chico. Take. This. Fucking. Thing. Out!" she yelled as she began to pull.
That seemed to do something to the ice monster. Finally, he staggered and looked down at America with his parted mouth and big, dumb eyes.
"For the love of God, I'm not letting you turn into a freaking iceberg!" she screamed, trying to pull the shard, but the thing didn't budge an inch. "Snap out of it and take this off!"
After a couple of seconds, the creature finally moved. It raised its big arms and backslapped America from its chest. The girl flew across the field, finally landing on the ice and creating a big crater.
Muttering obscenities in both English and Spanish, America stood up and jumped again towards the shard on Loki's chest.
"You did that on purpose, you little shit!" she screamed, once again grabbing the shard with both hands and pulling, while trying to avoid his huge fingers. "I'm trying to save you, dumbass! This is not how you are going to die!"
The creature didn't stop, it didn't even seem to hear her. It continued to try to push her away from its chest while continuing to move forward, growing even bigger as chunks of ice broke free from the ground and floated around his body.
"LOKI!"
America looked down and her heart almost stopped. Verity had left Leah's protective field and was running towards them.
"No!" America cried out, still grabbing the shard.
But Verity didn't stop and kept running, right into Loki's path.
Verity felt her heart racing inside her chest as she ran through blocks of ice, her new silver armor protecting her from the cold. She slipped and fell a few times, but she stood up and kept on running.
Leah had tried to keep her on the protected field as she tried to complete the spell to summon the shard from Loki's chest. But it was taking too long and America couldn't pull the shard by herself.
Meanwhile, Loki was growing bigger and larger, the scribbles on his skin glowing like the ice shard on his chest. To Verity, it all screamed wrong. It was all wrong.
There was something about the scribbles... the runes. She didn't understand what they meant, but she felt they were inaccurate. All this, the shard, the runes, the magic, it was for Jotunheim's sake, to save the land and its people. It was meant to be done to someone who loved this place.
But Loki didn't love Jotunheim. He didn't even think of himself as a Jotun, and that was where all the feeling of untruth came from, screaming into Verity's brain.
This was all a lie.
Above her, she saw America holding on to the shard, looking down at her with terrified eyes. Verity was just above them, her ragged breath forming clouds of vapor in front of her as pieces of ice and snow floated from the ground around her into Loki's ice body.
"LOKI!" she screamed again. "LOKI, STOP!"
The ice monster's glowing orbs finally noticed her. They looked like a doll's glass eyes, empty and fake.
"Verity! Run!" America screamed. "Get out of here!"
Verity forced herself to stand straighter. She was shaking, both with cold and fear. Loki was so big now that he could squash her like a bug if he stepped on her. But she couldn't run. Her friend... her best friend was in front of her. She couldn't leave him.
He was inside that ice thing and she had no pull him out.
"Your name is Loki! You're the God of Mischief! You like books, and stories, and video games and movies! You lie a lot, but you always tell me the truth! Your favorite color is green!"
The ice creature tilted its head to the side and stretched one of his giant arms towards Verity.
"NO!" America screamed, jumping from the shard towards Verity.
The little girl remained still, shaking amidst the ice, her blue eyes filled with tears as the huge arm grew closer to her.
"You're my best friend!" she screamed, just as the ice fingers loamed over her head.
And stopped.
Verity looked up and saw the creature's icy hand right in front of her, it's palm turned down, it's index finger almost pointing towards her.
America landed a few feet away from them, her brown eyes wide open.
Around them, everything had stopped. Even the floating ice and snowflakes were floating in the air, without moving. Everything seemed to have stopped, except for Verity's heavy breathing and racing heart.
"Loki... we've come to take you home," she said hoarsely, her throat hurting from all the screaming.
Hveðrungr felt pain.
He could feel the call of Jotunheim urging him to grow, reach the mountains and join the land forever. He could feel his mother's wishes for him to fulfill his one mission.
The ice, the snow, the wind, the sky, the beasts and the Jotnar called to him. They pleaded him to move forward.
At first, it was simple, because their voice was all Hveðrungr could hear, but then he saw the blonde warrior woman and his chest began to ache and pound.
Hveðrungr did not know much, in fact, he knew next to nothing, but he knew this pain was not meant to be there. Though the call of Jotunheim was stronger and he continued his journey, the ache grew more unbearable to the point that he could not ignore it.
He found himself wishing for something else. He wanted to see the blonde woman again.
But his mother's will was strong, so he kept walking towards the mountain, his body growing stronger, taller and larger with each step. He knew everything he needed to know. His name was Hveðrungr and he was Jotunheim's salvation.
And then, there was someone inside him, reaching for the pain in his chest. He did not want this person there and tried to push it out, but the person was strong and held on to his pain.
You're stronger than this, Loki.
Loki?
It's your name.
No... No! His name was Hveðrungr.
No. That's who Farbauti wishes you to be, not who you are.
No. No! That was his name! This was his purpose. He was Jotunheim's deliverance. This person was making him confused and the pain in his chest was growing worse.
Loki... that name did sound familiar, but the more he thought about it, the more frustrated he grew. He couldn't lose sight of his destiny. The Realm was calling him.
When the tanned girl attacked him, he barely noticed her. Her attacks were feeble and his ice body felt nothing. Only when she grabbed his shard, he realized that she was talking to him. Yelling.
Loud. Obnoxious. Brute.
Tired of this person trying to stop him, Hveðrungr slapped her away, but the girl did not stop and tried to pull the shard from his chest.
"LOKI!"
He looked down and saw another girl running towards him. She was small and looked frail and she kept calling his name.
What? No. His name was... his name was Hveðrungr. That was his name, was it not? Why was he feeling doubts? Why did the name his mother had given him sound strange?
And yet as the girl kept calling him, he felt more and more detached from Hveðrungr.
That's not my name.
The little girl kept yelling, just as Jotunheim yelled for him. His head was beginning to hurt as well.
Stop talking. Stop talking. It hurts!
The girl did not stop. She kept talking, calling his name, telling him about books, stories, video games, movies, lies, truths, the color green...
He stretched his arm, in order to squash the girl and shut her up.
None of these things should mean anything to him, and yet they did. He knew what those things were. He saw books on a shelf, a messy room, green clothes...
Memories. Those were memories. His memories.
"You're my best friend!"
His arm stopped, right in front of the girl. Around them, everything stopped, the ice, the snow, even the call of Jotunheim became little more than a whisper. He wanted everything to stop and let him think.
He stared at the girl. He knew her face. He knew her and found it strange that she was wearing an Asgardian armor.
Because she was from Midgard and... they were friends.
Verity.
"Loki..." Verity said she was so small now. She was not supposed to be this small. "We've come to take you home."
Home? Yes... this was not home. This was Jotunheim. Why were they on Jotunheim?
He glanced to his right and saw the tanned girl... America. She was also wearing armor. A little up head, he recognized the raven-haired girl, Leah, surrounded by green magic.
Suddenly, it was as if a cloth had been lifted from his eyes. He stared at the chunk of ice in front of him and realized that was his arm. He glanced at his hands, his legs, his chest... He tried to speak but he had no tongue and no teeth. That wasn't his body.
What happened to me?
The sound of something crashing directed everyone's attention towards the royal palace. Half of the old palace had been destroyed. One of its great towers had fallen, shattering on the ground.
Despite the long distance, he could see two warriors in the middle of the rubble, panting and bleeding. One of them was the Queen of Jotunheim, Farbauti, his mother, and the other was...
The pain in his chest was so sudden and strong that he almost fell over.
The other warrior was the blonde woman. The Queen of Asgard, Frigga, his...
Mother?
This time the memories came without any effort on his part. He saw a white prison cell, golden magic, Frigga standing in front of him, her gaze filled with sadness.
"Then am I not your mother?"
He began to breathe heavily, one of his hands landing on his aching chest, right above the shard.
"You are not."
No. I did not mean that.
His blue orbs widened as he saw Farbauti rise from the rubble and run towards Frigga. The blonde queen tried to stand up, but slipped on the ice and fell.
NO!
Without even thinking, he grabbed a block of ice and threw it across the field, above the warriors' heads, right into the palace. It hit Farbauti and tossed her against one of the remaining walls, crushing it.
All of Jotunheim fell silent. Warriors, both Jotnar and the dead, looked at the ice creature with parted mouths and wide eyes. Inside the palace, Frigga also stared into the open field, her eyes meeting once more with the creature.
Loki. My name is Loki.
Loki's ice arms dropped and he stared at Frigga from afar, feeling both relieved and terribly ashamed. When the Asgardian Queen smiled, a tear running down her bloodied cheeks, he felt the shard pounding in his chest, just like a real heart.
This was short-lived, however, as Farbauti burst out of the rubble with an angry scream, holding her two axes in her hands. Her red eyes found Loki and the realization of what had happened distorted her beautiful face into a grimace.
"This not possible," she muttered through gritted teeth. She raised her glowing hand and screamed. "You worthless, piece of filth! Fulfill your duty! I command you!"
The shard began to glow brighter, forming several glowing cracks through Loki's ice body. The pain was indescribable as if he was being ripped apart from all angles. He could not think. All he felt was the pain in his chest the thundering voice of Jotunheim and his mother to keep moving, growing and turn himself into the Realm itself.
He grabbed his head with his hands, his mouth open in a silent scream.
It would be so easy to just let go. Do what they wanted. Be what they wanted.
Underneath him, he could hear voices. The girls... they were calling for Loki.
They were calling him. Their voices coming through the call of Jotunheim.
"Loki! Loki! Don't quit! We're all here! We're all here for you!" Verity yelled. "Me, Leah and America. We came here to get you! Everyone came here to get you! Your mom came too. She's here to take you home!"
His whole body was shaking. Inside the palace, he could feel his mother... no, Farbauti pressing the wound on her palm, ordering him to keep moving.
No.
He lowered his hands from his head and grabbed the protruding shard in his chest.
"You are the savior of Jotunheim! Obey me, Hveðrungr!" Farbauti screamed.
"NO!"
Despite not having a tongue or teeth, everyone heard Loki's scream. Not just those standing on Jotunheim's soil, but everyone where the Jotun winter had gone. The people of Vanaheim looked up in fear, just like elves, the Fire Giants from Muspleheim, the humans from Earth and finally, the Aesir in Asgard.
The ice shattered around him, the clouds lifted as if pulled by a powerful wind, leaving the sky of Jotunheim completely clear, filled with stars and crossed with a green light. An Aurora Borealis.
Red ice began to spread around the glowing, blue shard, spilling to the ground like rubies. Like red blood. Unaware of this, Loki closed his eyes and pulled the shard. He felt someone near his fingers, pulling as well.
"Pull that damn thing out, Chico!" America screamed.
Under them, Leah finally completed her spell. She grabbed the Chitauri staff and pointed it towards the shard, a blast of magic hit Loki's chest. The pain was still horrible, but he kept pushing the shard out of his body. He could feel something ancient and powerful fighting to stay, something that previously taken control of him. He also pulled it away from his mind, ignoring Jotunheim's call and their pleas for him to join them. It was growing easier and he felt the shard budge.
I am myself. No one else.
Inside the palace, Farbauti kept screaming, ordering him to stop. By the time she noticed Frigga looming over her with her sword, it was too late for the Queen of Jotunheim. She could do nothing but watch as Frigga cut off her glowing hand.
As the connection with his blood mother was severed, Loki finally pulled the shard from his body, and it was absorbed into a blue gem inside the Chitauri staff. Immediately, he could feel his ice body breaking apart, the ice turning into bright red and falling around him.
He could hear Verity screaming his name and the last thing he saw as he shattered into pieces was America grabbing her and pulling her away.
Frigga turned around and watched helplessly as Loki shattered into small, pieces of red ice.
"Loki!" she screamed.
Her son... her precious son. He could not be dead. She would not allow it. They had found each other again. He had looked at her and despite the power of Ymir's spirit, her Loki had broken free and saved her.
Please, if there are any Gods above us, please let my son live. Give me another chance. Please...
A cough made her turn around. Farbauti was lying against a broken column, her arm bleeding profusely where her hand had been sliced off. She was injured and emaciated, as if the power to control Loki had drained everything she had.
Frigga willed back her tears and walked towards the defeated Queen. She pointed her sword at her rising chest.
"It's over, Farbauti. Tell your army to yield," she ordered, but Farbauti bared her teeth, her red eyes glowing with tears and rage.
"It was meant to save us. Give my sons a future, but it doomed us again," she said, trembling with fury and sorrow. "If there is any justice in this sick world, it will rot in Hel forever."
Frigga's arm was shaking. She wanted to strike down this hateful woman. Make her pay for all the pain she had caused her child, but she kept her sword steady.
"I pitied you once, Farbauti. You do not know what you've given up. Now, yield."
Farbauti grinned and spat blood blue on Frigga's boots. "Kill me already, Witch Queen. You already took everything from me."
Before Frigga could answer, they heard a terrified cry. In an instant, a huge, blue figure appeared beside Frigga.
"Leave my mother alone, whore!"
Without thinking, Frigga attacked with her magic and swung her sword. Blue blood hit the ground as the figure was thrown across the room, landing motionless on the ground.
"NO!" Farbauti cried, and despite her serious injuries, she stood up and ran towards the fallen Jotun. It was her youngest son, Býleistr.
"Býleistr, my darling. Talk to me," Farbauti pleaded as she held her son in her weak arms. He had a big cut on his chest, but he was still breathing. In horror, she saw Frigga walking towards him. "No! Leave my son alone! He's just a boy!"
So was Loki, Frigga thought, standing over the crying queen as she shielded her son's body with her own.
"Please, spare my son. Kill me instead," Farbauti pleaded.
Frigga looked at Farbauti, the Cruel Striker, the proud, beautiful and powerful queen of Jotunheim, and all she saw was a terrified mother trying to save her children. Slowly, Frigga lowered her sword.
"This battle is over, Farbauti. Tell your army to stand down. Asgard's debt has been repaid."
Holding her son, Farbauti slowly nodded through her frozen tears.
Grabbing the tilt of her sword, Frigga turned around and ran towards the newly formed red ice that had risen from the place where Loki had been, like petals of a flower.
In the coming years, tales and songs would be heard across the Nine Realms about the invasion of Jotunheim's winter and the Second Coming of Ymir. Skalds would describe in great detail how the gates of Valhalla had opened and every warrior hero had come to the Realms aid, fighting bravely the Jotnar army alongside the undead army of Queen Hela. They would make the children cheer as they described the battle between Queen Frigga and Queen Farbauti and how their powerful blows tore down the Jotun Royal Palace. Some would say that they had fought the terrible second Ymir as well, though very few mentioned how and why the Ice Titan had suddenly turned on his blood mother to save his adoptive one. However, they would all describe how the Second Ymir had disintegrated into red blood ice, warm to the touch like a stone that had been exposed to the sun, forming a structure of red ice columns in a circle. A beautiful sight if seen from above, like a red flower lying on a field of blue ice.
They would call it the Carnation Valley, while the Jotnar would forever call the land cursed because of not only of its color and warmth but also because of the Jotun runt that had created it. A Jotun with red blood.
Ignoring the calls from the victorious warriors, Frigga ran straight into the red pillars of ice, slightly surprised to find them warm to the touch. She continued to walk through, her heart pounding painfully in her chest, her blue eyes looking everywhere for signs of her son.
"Loki!" she yelled, continuing to run.
After turning another corner, she nearly collided with Leah, who was laying against a pillar, panting with fatigue, her hair and clothes a mess and holding the Chitauri Staff in her hands. A blue gem shone brightly in its tip.
"Leah. My son. Is he...?" Frigga could not bring herself to say it.
Leah silently pointed to her left and Frigga ran. She heard cries, someone was crying desperately. It was the sound of a little girl. The little Midgardian child.
Please, no. Please, Loki.
Feeling more and more dread, Frigga kept running through the red labyrinth created from her child's blood, slipping a few times before she finally managed to reach the center. There were no pillars in here, just red smooth ice and right in the middle of it, she saw them and her heart stopped.
The red-head girl was hugging someone, another child her size. Her tiny arms were wrapped tightly around his chest. America was kneeling next to them, she had ripped her cape to cover the child with it.
Frigga saw pale hands hugging the little girl back, a small head with wet, raven black hair resting on her shoulders. Slowly, the child moved his head up and Frigga dropped her sword on the ground, alerting the two girls to her presence.
She stared at the boy's face, her blue eyes wide open. It was a face she knew as well as her own, but it was a face that she had not seen in centuries.
"Loki..." she whispered, still not believing her own eyes.
He looked up and stared back at her with glassy, green eyes. His face, round and innocent, was very pale, his lips bluish and trembling, just like the rest of this small body. There were lacerations and cuts on his small arms and legs and they too were shaking. He looked tired and freezing.
"Mama?" he asked with a faint voice.
It was all Frigga needed before she ran to him and took her son in her arms, holding him close to her chest, tears running down her cheeks.
"Loki, baby," she whispered, kissing him on the forehead and pulling him close to her as she rested her chin on his hair. "Oh, my darling. I was so scared. I thought I lost you, my love."
Loki buried his head in her neck and slowly wrapped his tiny hands around her back. She heard him stifle a sob and felt something wet on her neck.
"I'm sorry," he whimpered, tears falling freely to her neck and armor.
Frigga hugged him closer and rubbed his back until she felt his body go limp as he fell into an exhausted sleep. Rising, she wiped her own tears and left what would be called the Carnation Valley with her child in her arms.